Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around as a field of study since 1956, but has taken off to another level since platforms such as ChatGPT were made publicly available in November 2022. Over the past three years, it has become more accessible with social media website X, formerly Twitter, developing Grok which can answer user problems within seconds via a tweet.
Is this adaptable when moving across to a professional and fast-paced sporting environment, such as motorsport, where correct and well-presented information is at the forefront of the industry, whether in written press releases or on social media?
AI can be useful in the sporting world with a simple prompt helping to gather valuable information on a certain subject within a matter of seconds. However, being too reliant on the software can be detrimental, as accuracy scores are extremely inconsistent, with certain studies showing success rates as high as 99% and others as low as 23%.
If the content produced by AI is correctly reviewed, then this would be satisfactory to use for things such as internal communications, but when placing information on publicly available platforms is where it can damage reputations. Google punishes low-quality articles, which are commonly produced by AI, meaning that if this is used regularly on a website it could slip down the search results page due to its poor SEO.
Before its launch, ChatGPT was built on a vast amount of text and code from the internet, including publicly available websites, books and articles. This means it can only work off content which has previously been produced to gather the information needed to give the user what they desire. Ultimately this leads to repetitive and meaningless results as it will follow a certain style, only adding in new details about a particular event, driver or team after being created elsewhere.
In a fast-moving industry such as motorsport, this is a major drawback of the software as there must be news materials, such as race reports and results, widely available online before being able to produce quick and efficient written content. This is where experienced journalists and professional PR teams and agencies have the upper hand. With such a quick turnaround, AI isn’t able to produce a detailed breakdown of a race from a certain driver or team’s viewpoint without the information already being available.
When it comes to written content, AI should only be used as a base to help with research on a certain subject. If you want high-quality and impactful press releases or website content on specialist subjects, then the greatest way to achieve this is by trusting the experts and not the computer.
Additionally, AI written text is easy to spot, with dashes commonly used instead of commas as well as the overall feel of the piece lacking personal voice and using repetitive phrases. It lacks character which will also affect the readability and likelihood of a user wanting to return to the platform anytime soon.
Overall, AI can be handy for day-to-day tasks and helping you find quick solutions for problems in your life. However, when looking to make the software work in a professional communication environment, such as the motorsport copywriting industry, it creates more problems than it solves, leading to a low quality of work and unsatisfied readers.
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