How can you stay relevant as a copywriter and still have clients in the age of AI?

Hint: it’s all about keeping your skills valuable, and not letting AI do all the writing.

Igor Omilaev | Unsplash

It’s easy to feel intimidated by the vast amount of AI that’s being used right now, and conversations on social media tell us that people are being laid off or being forced to use it or leave. For freelancers, the future looks uncertain, even more uncertain than being a freelancer already is. 

So, how can we weather the AI storm and make ourselves indispensable in the age of AI?

And,

How can you stay relevant as a copywriter and still have clients in the age of AI?

For many, AI is great at picking up the simple tasks and doing them for us, freeing up valuable time that could be better spent elsewhere. Others believe that even using it for the simple tasks is lazy and not good for us in the long term. Those who are in the creative industries and work for an agency may find they have little choice when it comes to using it. 

For those of us who are freelance, it may seem bleak, but if used sensibly, there is an argument for using AI in certain circumstances. AI, however, is only as good as the person using it, or prompting it, and the margin for error is less if you know what you’re looking for and how you intend to use what it gives you. 

The “cut and paste job” argument has been done to death, but there are clear indications that in the early days, and with little to no guidance, this was what people were doing. There is also a greater chance that those who run a business, but who don’t provide writing as a core part of their offers, e.g., coaches, illustrators, etc., lean more heavily on AI. Their writing may be poor, they may have little to no love of writing in general, and they are quite happy to hand over the reins to ChatGPT.

What people don’t realize, however, is the environmental cost, which is something that I, too, was ignorant of until recently.

AI uses up electricity and water at alarming levels. In an article for Forbes, “AI Is Accelerating the Loss of Our Scarcest Natural Resource: Water,” last year, stated that -

“Tech giants have significantly increased their water needs for cooling data centers due to the escalating demand for online services and generative AI products. AI server cooling consumes significant water, with data centers using cooling towers and air mechanisms to dissipate heat, causing up to 9 liters of water to evaporate per kWh of energy used.”

That’s a lot of water. 

But there’s hope, as GreenPT, a new AI GPT platform powered by green energy, is in development. This may pave the way for more in the future. 

In the meantime, how can you foolproof your business if you’re a freelancer?

What you need to do is to make sure you’re less likely to be replaced by AI, making sure that your core work is more valuable as time goes on.

Be a strategist, not an order taker

Unless your strength is in a niche area and you provide content in the form of articles, blogs, and case studies, then you’re safe, for now. Subjects such as medicine, finance, and law seem to be doing well, and that doesn’t seem to be changing. There are people out there who have enough work for the next few months, but that could change as AI improves. 

If you provide content and you have no specialist area, then you may find it’s more likely you’ll be replaced than not. The days when you could make a living writing about lipstick, colour schemes, interiors, and which ovens to buy are coming to a close. A lot of these used to be covered by content mills (something else we complained about before there was AI) and required little skill, and can be easily replaced. Whether we should be using AI for this when we consider the environmental concerns remains to be seen, but what is clear is that writing-to-order can be easily automated. Generalist copywriters are an endangered species.

However -

Developing key strengths in areas such as framing narratives (storytelling) and interpreting clients’ visions is harder to automate. They require emotional intelligence and an ability to “read between the lines,’ not something AI has mastered just yet.

Client interviews aren’t replaceable - can AI understand nuance? No, I didn’t think so. Work that requires complexity in terms of emotions and empathy can’t be replaced by automation. 

And while execution level writing can be commoditized, the pre-writing parts, like interviews for case studies, workshops, and webinars, can’t be so easily replaced. Working in areas like brand voice and messaging, carrying out audits, for instance, requires a human touch, and while AI can give you guidance on voice and messaging, the work comes from talking to a real person and finding out about their mission and vision, and understanding nuance and context is key.

While AI can’t do empathy, reposition yourself towards high-empathy sectors, and make yourself indispensable. 

Consider branding/voice/positioning/story/messaging/voice workshops.

Learn how to do prompt engineering properly so you can work with AI-drafted content if you have to, and edit it so you don’t lose the voice of the client.

There are lots of psychologists in copywriting, and it's no surprise they always seem to do so well. This is because they have a good understanding of buyer behaviour. If you want to increase your chances of being hired, study psychology or behavioural science - you don’t have to do it degree level, but a few open learning online courses may help. You’ll have increased your leverage in getting that project with the more skills you have under your belt. 

Many of the best copywriters I know who’ve been in business for many years no longer call themselves copywriters; they've mastered the art of creating signature frameworks for anything from brand voice, positioning, launching, and brand storytelling. These require human interpretation, and if you must use AI, use it to create some insights, but make sure you are the one who interprets it in human speak. 

Learn AI so well you can teach your clients how to write with AI, positioning yourself as their strategic guide. Show them the advantages of using Green AI - many businesses have a social conscience, and many are increasingly concerned with environmental issues, show you care and that you’re aware of the implications.

Don’t be a copywriter, be a strategist, and translate projects into meaning.

AI can support your work, but it can’t replace human-driven nuance. It can’t craft authentic story narratives that resonate with other humans. Mission-driven sectors (like nonprofits, which are part of my specialist area) will need people who understand people’s feelings and struggles, and who can draft stories and narratives that resonate on an emotional level with people who will use the service or volunteer/donate.

Interviews and crafting voice and positioning are context-dependent and require a unique understanding of emotions.

By leaning more into strategy and mission-led or thought leadership, you can be shielded from AI’s scythe. 

So, consider -

• Writing persuasively 

• Include client interviews that need empathy, EI, and reading a situation for context

• Interpretation of a business's mission and vision - emotional fluency is key here

• Consider planning and strategising rather than filling in templates. Consider context-rich strategies and authenticating a new brand.

  
  

Also -

1. Use AI if you want to, but let it handle data, while you stick with formulating the meaning

2. Let it give you some options - but you do the voice

3. Remember narrative strategy, emotional resonance, and client empathy.

Let AI do the facts while you do the strategising. Use it to give you factual work that’s time-consuming to do (unless you want to do it yourself), so you can have the time to focus on strategy and emotions.  

Be an expert in a specialist area and retain your value in the market. 

Try to move away from just writing to strategy, spend time looking for and creating work that’s high on empathy and mission-led. Don’t position yourself as just a content writer or a copywriter. 

If you’ve been in business a long time, you’re already more than a copywriter, you’re a strategist already. So remember that going forward.