If you were like many people over the holidays, you gathered with friends or family, opened some presents, ate too much food… and tried out ChatGPT . 

Yes, the tryptophan coma from Thanksgiving had hardly worn off before artificial intelligence research company OpenAI released this highly sophisticated conversational bot in late November. ChapGPT does the bidding of users via typed commands and by pulling from a huge database of knowledge with amazing speed and accuracy. Within hours of its release, the internet was teeming with examples of just what ChatGPT could do .

From telling funny jokes to answering deep philosophical questions to planning a day at Disney World , it seems as if this little bot could do it all. But just as quickly as people marveled at its abilities, they began questioning what ChatGPT’s development means for the future of AI. 

Putting ChatGPT to the test

Naturally, those of us in the realm of social media marketing were curious to see if we were on the verge of being replaced by machines . So, we put ChatGPT to the test with the following request for social media copy:

Our first reaction was similar to the majority of those testing ChatGPT for the first time: Well, that’s creepy.

However, we quickly realized that this copy wasn’t really all that amazing. It’s close enough to be convincing, but overall the style of the copy is pretty generic. Also, we aren’t sure what “advanced analytics and reporting tools” is referring to, as we take pride in analyzing and reporting data with our very human brains.

“Free trials” also aren’t a thing. Sorry.

We didn’t stop at asking ChatGPT to produce social copy, however. Other requests included devising a “social media strategy for a B2B focused company posting on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram,” as well as asking, “What are 10 social media content ideas for a B2B company?”

These results and others drew similar reactions: impressive at first, but overall generic and rather unremarkable.

Let’s be fair to the machines

All of that being said, some of this criticism of ChatGPT is unfair. Even as advanced as it is, the bot is still a “free research preview,” as it attests in its opening disclaimer, capable of generating “incorrect or misleading information.” Similarly, the questions we asked about social media strategy and content ideas were relatively generic, so it makes sense we got generic answers.. 

Generating copy is a major draw for ChatGPT style chatbots . It makes sense that future iterations could learn how to capture the exact copy style and feel that you currently rely on people to hone. There are many other functions this bot can perform that are already useful to social media marketing. For example, it can generate pixels to track conversions , and it is a killer at compiling social media research that can point you in the right direction for an upcoming campaign.

Without a doubt, AI can do a lot for social media , and it is certain its ability will only improve.

AI can’t really do the work for you

However, before you start making plans to hand your social media over to the machines, recognize AI for what it really is (even in its most sophisticated state): a tool. There are lots of tools in the social media toolbox today, but their effectiveness depends upon the people who use them.

Like other tools at your disposal, AI will never fully do the job for you. You’ll still need to do things like strategize how to build a social media community , make the final decision on what social ads and graphics represent your brand, know how to utilize video content , and stay organized with your posting schedule to achieve your social media goals. 

Think of it like this: a mechanic needs a wrench to build an engine, but the wrench also needs the mechanic to know how to use it.

We look forward to seeing what the next social media wrench looks like.

What do you think AI means for the future of social media marketing? Let us know in the comments below!