These days, it is almost impossible to escape the chatter about ChatGPT. The release of GPT-4, an expanded AI engine designed to enhance the written text’s understanding, processing, and development, has storytellers needing guidance on what to think.

Some are already embracing its marketing possibilities, and others are more cautious.

That, in turn, leads to a crucial question: how can brands use ChatGPT, and artificial intelligence in general, to enhance their storytelling? How can they leverage the undeniable opportunities that the technology brings — without falling victim to its drawbacks?

The answer, as might be expected, is complicated. But it is vital to understand how written language evolves in the 21st century, specifically storytelling. We will examine those nuances in this guide.

An Introduction to ChatGPT

At its core, the concept behind ChatGPT is surprisingly simple. The tool is an AI-enabled chatbot that can receive questions and prompts and comb the internet for responses. It also learns from previous interactions with the same user, making the tool more sophisticated.

Because of this relatively general setup, the use cases of Chat GPT reach far beyond marketing. Since its initial release in late 2022, we have seen examples of its artificial intelligence engine used for things like:

• Summarizing complex topics
• Developing basic business strategies
• Assistance with coding and debugging
• Translating text
• Analyzing content sentiment and tone
• Finding and analyzing complex data sets
• And more

The simplicity of the interface, coupled with a powerful AI engine, is likely the reason behind the rapid rise of the tool. ChatGPT gained one million users within five days of its launch and crossed the 100-million-user barrier in less than two months. Given its continued improvements, that rise will likely be around for a while.

ChatGPT and Storytelling — A Natural Connection?

Naturally, marketing has quickly become a core use case for this new type of software. Some of the world’s foremost marketing experts are now prompting their audience to try out the tool in a variety of contexts, including:

• Revisions: Companies are generating new or modifying existing marketing copy, from emails to blog posts, product descriptions, ad text, and more.
• Getting recommendations for marketing tools: Companies can leverage the software’s internet-wide knowledge to summarize what a single review site could not.
• Content ideation: Marketers can get prompts for new potential topics, even when the writing will be human-based and original.
• Feedback purposes: Users can generate unbiased customer surveys while gathering crucial information from core audiences.

These applications, of course, are primarily tactical. A better examination should focus on how ChatGPT influences storytelling within marketing and communication on a deeper level.

Can ChatGPT Address the Core of Storytelling?

Storytelling is, of course, fundamentally unique. Telling a brand or personal story cannot simply be a composition of various other sources. Your business origin or adventures need a personal touch that even the best artificial intelligence cannot achieve.

Yet, early influences have been undeniable. A recent look at ChatGPT in a leadership storytelling context has yielded exciting results, and they can certainly be considered unique. 

Using the software is undeniably tempting, especially in a time-consuming medium like word and visual storytelling. Why engage a copywriter, even one with localized and industry expertise, if a machine could do the work for you? The fast solution becomes clear in that context. 

Remember that this type of technology is still in its early stages. The tool’s release has kicked off an AI arms race, with multiple competitors now seeking to offer similar experiences. As they build on each other, only time will tell exactly how marketing and its various creative arms will be influenced and changed.

Common Challenges of ChatGPT and AI in Marketing and Storytelling

Especially in creative fields like transition, localization, and copywriting, ChatGPT has been met with understandable criticism. After all, the idea of a machine replacing a fundamentally creative process sounds harsh and fundamentally against what the concept of creativity stands for. A look at the initial challenges of the software confirms that view.

Perhaps most fundamentally, ChatGPT puts the very idea of originality into question. If the entire tool is built around pulling content from other sources, how can what it publishes indeed be original? 

While ChatGPT outputs are not technically plagiarism, ethical concerns are undoubtedly justified. In various experiments, the same lack of originality has also resulted in a formulaic approach to copy that cannot indeed generate great stories. Common sentence patterns repeat, sometimes making establishing a unique and distinct voice through AI writing difficult.

Finally, ChatGPT, in its current form, needs help to achieve localized content successfully. While it offers translation abilities into 95 languages, it will not consider the deeper nuances behind these translations. As with a tool like Google Translate, the text might be grammatically correct, but it cannot go far beyond that.

The Opportunities of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence in Storytelling

ChatGPT’s challenges are undeniable. It cannot tell compelling stories independently but can help with the background work needed. AI is undoubtedly a valuable tool. 

Consider its ability to perform background research. You might not be able to ask it for a compelling story in a localized context. But you can get that context by asking about local nuances and customs. Then you can write a better story.

In addition, the platform can help with many repetitive tasks that are an undeniable part of good storytelling. It can create outlines, suggest headlines or subtitles, proofread existing content, and more. These recommendations are likely based on shared expectations from your audience, increasing their chance of being a helpful tool as you craft the story itself.

We are in a fascinating age of digital technological development.