Human-Generated Social Media Posts Are Superior to AI-Generated Ones
By Kristi Patrice Carter, JD
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (like SpongeBob), you’ve probably heard that AI is taking over most industries. Educators, manufacturing workers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, and others have jumped on the AI train. Some people even prophesize that AI will one day replace most jobs or that creatives will start relying on it so much that they’ll lose their ability to think creatively and communicate effectively. “Bleepease. Bleepease.” (I am practicing my robotic legal voice, which combines bleeps with legalese.) Not too shabby!
Whether you believe that AI is taking over or not, you’ll agree that many individuals and companies are looking for better ways to use it to improve productivity and workflow. By simply browsing social media platforms, you’ll see ad after ad of AI companies promising to make your workload easier with AI software or marketing assistants trained in using AI tools effectively. But what does this mean for lawyers, like you? Can AI replace human marketers? Should you use it to write your social media posts? Can AI-generated posts sound equally good or better than human-created posts by a JD-trained social media marketer? Let’s find out.
Typety-type. Type, “Are AI-generated social media posts better than human-generated posts?” The results (in less than 20 seconds) state that AI-generated social media posts can be better than human-generated ones in some situations, but not always. Wow, ChatGPT has now piqued my interest. AI further states that AI could produce dozens (or hundreds) of posts in minutes and that its posts consistently maintain the tone, style, and branding across all its output. It also stated that AI posts can analyze trends, hashtags, and keywords and use them when creating posts. Finally, it states that generating these kinds of posts is more cost-efficient than using a human.
Typety-type. Type, “Are AI-generated social media posts better than human-generated posts?” The results (in less than 20 seconds) state that AI-generated social media posts can be better than human-generated ones in some situations, but not always. Wow, ChatGPT has now piqued my interest. AI further states that AI could produce dozens (or hundreds) of posts in minutes and that its posts consistently maintain the tone, style, and branding across all its output. It also stated that AI posts can analyze trends, hashtags, and keywords and use them when creating posts. Finally, it states that generating these kinds of posts is more cost-efficient than using a human.
On the one hand, I was impressed because the post looked decent enough, but I immediately realized that ChatGPT used the word “experts” in the post. This information is a big no-no in Illinois and is against Illinois’s Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. Besides that, the post wasn’t horrible. Perhaps with a little work, it could be stellar.
Next, I asked ChatGPT to adjust the colors to reflect the logo colors and then it created a different post with a different person, misspelled words, and the wrong URL. I then asked it to fix its mistakes and it kept making more and more mistakes. Eventually, it got back to the original person, but now the man was frowning and looked as if he had a headache. I got frustrated and deleted the entire ChatGPT thread.
This experiment wasn’t a total waste of 1.5 hours. I learned that AI-generated posts can work if you have the time, patience, a bit of marketing expertise, and know how to input queries. However, you must know what to input to get the desired results and in all likelihood the post won’t be original since AI pulls from existing content. Also, you have to verify the accuracy of any information and then check it repeatedly.
ChatGPT posts may be persuasive, but it needs the input of someone who is knowledgeable about the legal field and has savvy marketing skills to steer it in the right direction. It needs guidance and adherence to guidelines. It needs someone to overlook its output to ensure that it matches your firm’s brand and appeals to your targeted audience. After all, no one wants to post content that is against state bar advertising rules. No one wants to portray themselves as idiots as you show off your legal skills that are dead wrong. Instead, you want to be authoritative and credible. Incorrect information can lead to unfortunate legal consequences and not having a JD-powered writer who can verify and clarify (or cite) information is key to your success.
AI-generated social media posts aren’t horrible, but you must be careful when using them. I would certainly create more, if I had a bit of free time, but human-generated posts are better. Much better. So my final judgment—bleeepity bleep—is that human-generated legal posts win the marketing game. Judgment for JD-writers granted. Take that, AI.
