I hope none of my colleagues read this because I have a terrible confession to make: I don’t like sport. But this morning on the Today Programme I heard a sport-related news item that I couldn’t ignore.
The Intelligent Information Laboratory at Northwestern University in the US, has developed a computer program called Stats Monkey, which automatically generates sports journalism.
What, I wondered, would happen if the same was done for copywriting? Could I be replaced by a machine?
After some contemplation, I have decided that the answer is no. If George Osborne were to solve the current fiscal crisis by cutting copywriters and replacing our words with computer-generated output, I think direct marketing would face a crisis of its own.
More than any other job in direct marketing, copywriting is deeply personal. When I write a letter appealing for funds for a pet hospital, I pretend I am writing to my dog-loving grandmother. When I try to involve people in Oxfam’s cause, I think of arguments that might persuade my politically savvy mother. And last time I looked computers had neither mothers nor grandmothers.
I believe that writing for direct marketing is something only a human being can do. Can a computer show the uniquely human qualities of empathy and passion? I think not. And you know, I think most of my sports-lovin’ colleagues would agree.
So I think that copy-generating software is most certainly not an example of smart thinking. Smart thinking is what we mere mortals at WPN endeavour to do every day – finding new ways to understand the people we’re talking to, engaging them emotionally and, crucially, getting them to respond.
And the day that I am proved wrong, I will eat my England supporter’s cap. Well, I would if I had one.
[Note: this blog entry was entirely generated by a human being.]
