If you're anything like me, someone who thinks carefully about ethics and doing the right thing in your business, you've probably asked yourself, "Is it OK to use AI in business?" After all, it is a new technology and like all new technologies, the pros and cons need to be examined before we start to engage with it.
Whether we want it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Most searches you type into Google or Meta will initially display an AI response. Most customer service chatbots are AI-driven, and frankly, it's probably in places you haven't even thought of. So, whether you like the idea of it or not, you've probably used it.
I've seen a lot of conversations around the place about how to use AI for business, with entire blog posts dedicated to the perfect ChatGPT prompt for a specific purpose, but not much is being said about whether it is OK to use AI for business. Is it ethical? What about the carbon footprint? What about all the people it seemingly puts out of work?
Even though I am usually an early adopter of new technologies, I was initially very distrustful of AI, because it was basically taking away my job as a copywriter. And then I learnt that the companies behind the various AI programs were stealing copyrighted material, both visual and written, to train their AIs, which is definitely not OK in anyone's books. Even worse, some unscrupulous users were using these AI programs to create publications in the name of these plagiarised authors and selling them for profit. There are many books on Amazon claiming to be by certain authors that were never written by them.
The cynical truth is that unscrupulous use of technology is always going to be around until the laws catch up, and even then, there are always going to be those who break these laww. First, we had pirated movies, music and video games, and now we have pretend books and art.
Then, there is the question of the environment and the carbon footprint that each AI program makes. For example, ChatGPT has a carbon footprint double that of a single human being each year. Each ChatGPT query uses half a litre of water. How? AI programs are powered by huge data centres which consume a lot of power. That power generates a lot of heat, which has to be dissipated, and that is done using water as a coolant. Some facilities can use millions of litres per day for cooling, which can put pressure on local water resources and ecosystems — especially in drought-prone regions.
Multiply that by the many other AI programs in existence - Google has one, Meta has one, Canva has a gazillion AI apps (and I'm sure we've all used at least one to generate profile pictures of ourselves as a Viking or a Norse Goddess) and the implications for the environment are not inconsiderable. Haven't they always been though for any new technology? When cars replaced horses, did anyone do a study of the carbon footprint that cars would have on our planet? We do know better now, though, and we should DO better.
This issue of environmental impact isn't unique to AI, and if we're going to question our use of AI based on its impact on the environment, then we need to be equally fastidious about our overall impact on the environment and take measures to reduce it. One thing you can do is plant a tree through 15 Trees. It costs $9.65 to plant a single tree and it takes 15 trees to offset the carbon footprint generated by a family sedan in one year.
Then there is the issue of transparency. If you're using AI for customer enquiries, are you transparent about that? If you're using AI-generated copy, have you said so?
How we use AI ethically in our business will depend on each of our own sets of ethics and our own testing of what it can do for us. I have been experimenting with ChatGPT over the last few months to see if it's even worth all the hype.
Initially, I was surprised at what it could do and how much time it could save me. To be honest, it helped me find my own unique voice, something I struggled with for years, which, as a copywriter, might be hard to imagine. I was so used to writing in other people's voices that I found it hard to find my own. But once I told ChatGPT to create a Brand Copy Guide for me and then create content using it, it freed me to write more like me. It helped me to write more punchy copy, but, honestly, I still preferred my own slaved over copy to that created by AI.
At the moment, my website copy is mostly my words, with some pages created by ChatGPT and heavily edited by me. Mostly, I like it to write my product pages, my least favourite thing to write, but over time I will probably rewrite them all. All my blog posts are written by me, because that is my favourite thing to write.
What I remain curious about, though, is what my website visitors will think. Which copy will lead to more sales? Which copy will connect with them and lead them to push that buy now button?
This post isn't about what you should do, beyond doing your own experimenting and research.
Weigh the pros and cons. Offset the carbon footprint if the environmental impact is important to you. Or don't use it at all, but be mindful that whether you like it or not, you're already using AI.
I think AI is great for market research, analysis and planning. If you give it the right prompts and data, it can create some good content for you if you are time poor and really can't afford a copywriter. I can't promise that AI-generated copy will connect with your website visitors as well as that created by a good copywriter. I'd love to hear from you if you have some experience with that.
It's never OK to claim AI work as your own, and always make sure you check it and edit it, because AI has a tendency to make things up.
I highly recommend Tory Hayward's blog "AI curious" for more thoughts on the role AI plays in our lives.
Now it's your turn - do you use AI in your business? How have you found the ethical balance?
