I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Leanne Shelton, a renowned ChatGPT Trainer, whose insights into AI have shaped the thoughts of many in the field.
Leanne is not only a torchbearer in AI training but also an advocate for ethical AI development. Her work in nurturing intelligent systems and fostering an understanding of AI’s potential has been instrumental.
Eager to delve into her expertise, I asked Leanne to share her thoughts on the future of AI and the expanding universe of AI tools. Here’s what she had to say, offering us a glimpse into a future where AI is not just a tool, but a partner in our daily endeavors.
0. 0 being pessimistic about AI tools (AI can’t replace humans) and 10 being the most optimistic (Ai will replace humans), how do you rate the future of AI tools helping/replacing humans?
Well, the future of AI is ultimately in the hands of humans — and the intentions of the developers. I feel there’s a lot of AI being developed that aims to replace the mundane and difficult tasks that humans do every day. I agree with this to an extent — but our developed brains are what sets us apart from animals. If we continue along the path of trying to replace our critical thinking, will we all turn into monkeys?
Or it could even be worse than that… our brains will turn to mush due to being underutilised. I just thought of the movie ‘Wall-E’ and how the humans in the future end up sitting around, glued to their screens all day and making very shallow and basic decisions in every moment.
I really hope we don’t end up like that. Well, I definitely don’t want to be around to witness it if we do! To answer your question, I HOPE it’s at a 5 at the maximum. But I do have fears that the world will go crazy with the potential and that number becomes much higher.
Just like becoming money hungry, those in power might find it hard to stop and discover AI’s full potential. But no one will win in the end.
- How do you envision the role of Artificial Intelligence in the evolution of writers or digital marketing? Are there any AI tools you currently leverage to enhance performance for yourself or for business?
In the past, I played around with AI tools like Rytr and Grammarly. But ultimately, I trusted my own writing skills and instincts — so barely used them. When ChatGPT exploded onto our shores, I was intrigued by my biggest, shiniest, and free competitor and started exploring it. At the end of April, I realised that this tool had the potential to take away my job. I also noted the misuse — i.e. focus on the input rather than the output, especially when it comes to content creation for marketing and other external purposes. People also seemed to fear it.
That’s when I made the decision to become a ChatGPT Trainer — and 2023 became a whirlwind of training and speaking opportunities. I am a non-techy person who can explain it all in non-techy ways. My audiences have really appreciated that. When it comes to copywriters and digital marketers, I feel now is the time to take on an advisory role.
We understand this space. We have experience, expertise, and strategy on our side. Everyone in the whole world can’t instantly become copywriters. They don’t know what quality looks like. The best prompts for them based on their requirements etc. So I’m telling lots of copywriters to dive into the training space as well. Just like it wasn’t competitive when we write (different niches, different personalities, different locations etc), I think there’s space for all of us to jump onboard with training.
The whole world needs educating after all! I also say that ChatGPT and other Generative AI is putting copywriting back on the map. It’s highlighting just how much skill goes into the art. AI can’t do it all for you. It relies on the information you feed it.
Ironically, I’m starting to get more copywriting gigs now in November — when work has usually stopped or significantly slowed down. So my prediction of copywriters and digital marketers being valued even more is starting to occur.
We need to embrace and understand AI so we can teach others. This is our space!
2. What are the most critical challenges that digital marketing/SEO professionals should prepare for with the rapid advancements in AI technology in 2024?
Work will — and probably already has — slow down a bit. As people start to navigate AI for the first time or explore it further, they’ll probably put our skills aside initially. So this is the time to explore and understand AI ourselves to stay ahead of the game. We need to continue advising people on the best practices for using AI — so that their brand authority isn’t affected by generic content.
We ourselves can’t get lazy with AI either. And pump out more and more content ourselves without a second thought. We need to continue adding stories and the human element to our content. We need to step up as role models.
3. Can you share any specific use-cases where AI, like ChatGPT, has been instrumental in improving your digital marketing or writing efforts or other things?
It’s been great for idea generation for me. Like planning a 2-day workshop when the task otherwise feels extremely overwhelming. I’ve also used it to help me come up with catchy headings for articles and trainings. Occasionally, I’ve asked it to create an article draft for me to build upon — but in many cases that creates even more work than starting from scratch if it misses the mark.
4. In your opinion, how could AI-driven analytics and data collection transform the traditional methods of keyword research, content optimization, SEO strategies and content distribution?
I still don’t trust AI enough to help with keyword research and SEO. I still prefer to work on that aspect myself. I’ve been using and recommending Keywords Everywhere for years.
But I find it’s useful for repurposing content for content marketing strategies. I’ve highlighted this aspect in most my training sessions. Generative AI can help draft the blog, then create email extracts and social media posts to encourage click throughs.
This can be a game-changer for many — especially those who invest a lot of time and effort into creating blog articles, then wait for Google to find them. I’ve always been big on repurposing and Gen AI simplifies that process for sure.
5. What is your outlook on the whole AI tools like ChatGPT or Google Bard or any specific tool you use for yourself or for companies?
I’m guilty of having ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’ so I’m sticking to ChatGPT as much as possible. It’s great that all these extra bits and pieces like Dall-E are now coming to ChatGPT — meaning I don’t need to go down the rabbit hole of learning a whole other tool.
The semi-regular updates keep the platform exciting as well! Looking at the bigger picture — there’s been such an explosion of AI this year for the everyday human, that so many people are overwhelmed.
They don’t know which tools to use and why. And you could very easily spend lots of money on tools that don’t provide the desired results or are too confusing to use.
So I’m keeping my training contained to ChatGPT — with the occasional comparison to Claude, which only just got released to Australia in recent weeks. I hope I’m playing my part in keeping the AI overwhelm to a minimum, while also teaching people how to use it all efficiently, effectively — and without losing their humanness in the process.
PS — Images are the representation of a trainer training and coaching mass number of people, and all those images are generated by ‘DALL-E’.
Leanne Shelton can be reached out at leanne@writetimemarketing.com.au Write Time Marketing https://www.linkedin.com/in/leanneshelton/
