Adventures in AI: Is it smart until it’s dumb? (Flying Solo)

Last week, a client and I embarked on putting artificial intelligence (AI), notably OpenAI’s ChatGPT (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer), through its paces.

Let’s preface all this by saying I’m not a computer programmer by any stretch. I dabbled in Turbo Pascal and Visual Basic in high school, which was over twenty years ago. I’m sure we’ve moved on since then.

The task was simple: write a series of 500-word articles about a given topic. Some had to have five FAQs (answers to frequently asked questions), and others had to have three. Sometimes they had to be two long FAQs (100 words or more) or three short (50 words or fewer.) Or four of equal length. They also needed to have links inserted at 100-word intervals, the keywords in the URL substantially or closely matching words on the page.

Seems like a piece of cake for a million CUDA core behemoth, right?

Well, sort of.

Read the rest at Flying Solo.

Turning Phrases, Turning Heads - Seminar Part 1

Part 1 of my 'Turning Phrases, Turning Heads' Seminar delivered at Sandringham Yacht Club on 9 May, 2016 for the Bayside Business Network. Part 1 of 3 focuses on recognising bad writing, identifying common mistakes that lead to bloated, vague or impenetrable prose and more.

Part 1 of my Bayside Business Network seminar, Turning Phrases, Turning Heads is now available on YouTube! I will make Parts 2 and 3 available to seminar attendees next month (October.)

The first part of the seminar covers bad writing, how to make bad writing good, and improving business relationships by looking at how you write and to whom.

I'm also conducting a pared-down workshop-style seminar at NAB Village on 14 November, 2016. Strictly limited spots! If you want to attend, sign up now!

Award Winning Copy (is something I can say)

I've always wanted to say I write "award-winning" copy. Now I can! I've won the 2015 APAC Insider Business Award for Best Copywriting in Melbourne!

According to the mag, "It is the job of the 2015 APAC Insider Business Awards to seek out the very best firms, departments, individuals and initiatives from across the Asia Pacific region and to reward their innovation, client care and, it goes without saying, stellar performance over the past 12 months.

"[APAC Insider] takes rewarding the top performers in this region very seriously and each award programme and category has been meticulously tailored to provide a comprehensive overview of the very best each market, industry and sector has to offer."

A great Christmas present for I Sell Words copywriting, no?