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ChatGPT is going up a gear, and it’s going to be a wild ride; are you ready for the impact? Read on to discover what’s going to happen, and how to get the most out of it.
You know ChatGPT, right? The chatbot that you’re broadly suspicious of, but you’ve occasionally used to draft a difficult email, or speed up a repetitive task, like writing alt text for 30 images?
Well, lots of people in the tech community are excited right now because it’s about to release a new version, going from 4 to 5.
The announcement will take place at 6pm UK time tonight, and tech bros are going into hype overdrive. Depending on how well you curate your feed, posts about this may be all you see for the next few days. Alternatively, this might be the first you’ve heard of it.
Either way, let’s dive into what all the fuss is about and what creatives need to know.
What’s the story?
The main thing you need to know is simple: ChatGPT is going to become significantly better. And given how sophisticated ChatGPT has already become in recent months, that’s big.
I’ll offer some personal perspective here: as recently as 2023, I was testing out ChatGPT 3.5 and frankly it was rubbish. Ask it for anything factual and it would spew out information that sounded authoritative, but at least 30 per cent bore no relation to reality whatsoever. Admittedly, it was okay for making suggestions (such as “Give me five ways to improve this brochure copy”). But even then, the results were so broad and generic, it was hardly worth bothering with.
Over the last year or so, though, in my experience, it’s become wildly better. The ability to search the web has been a game-changer for its factual accuracy (although I’d still be wary and double-check everything). And more generally, it just feels like it understands things more clearly, is more thoughtful about generating useful results, and is far less likely to crash or spew out random nonsense or obvious errors.
ChatGPT5 will push things forward even more. That’s because, unlike version 4, it’s been developed with “test-time compute”: essentially giving the AI more power to work through complex problems step by step, rather than rushing to immediate answers.
Early reports suggest ChatGPT-5 excels particularly in areas requiring logical reasoning, mathematical problem-solving and coding. This means it’s not just better at generating human-like text, but at thinking through multi-step processes and maintaining consistency across longer, more complex tasks.
For creatives, this could translate to an AI assistant that’s better for project planning, research and iterative creative processes.
But then again, that poses the question: better for whom?
Friend or ally?
Let’s address the elephant in the room: AI is taking creative jobs, and that’s only going to continue as AI gets better. So, how bad are things going to get?
Well, my view is that some creative tasks will indeed become automated, and certain entry-level positions may evolve or disappear, as they already have been doing. This isn’t unique to AI – technological disruption has reshaped creative industries throughout history, from the printing press to digital photography to desktop publishing.
But I think the fear that AI will wholesale replace human creativity is overstated and misunderstands what creativity actually entails.
Creativity isn’t just about producing content; it’s about understanding people, their emotions and what drives them. It’s not really about technical skill (“I can use Photoshop”), although that plays a part. It’s really about making decisions based on judgment, taste, intuition and the kind of gut instinct developed through years of practice and observation.
How creatives use it
In the last few months, I’ve spoken to a lot of creatives who use ChatGPT: more than you might think (most wanted to be off the record). And overwhelmingly, they describe using it as a collaborator and sounding board, not a replacement.
A novelist might use it to work through plot inconsistencies or explore character motivations. A marketing creative might use it to generate initial concepts or refine messaging. A designer might use it for research and initial ideation.
To take a more specific example, these days, creative agencies working on a rebrand often use AI tools to explore the historical context of the client’s company, analyse competitor approaches and generate initial visual directions; work that previously might have consumed days of research time.
Does that work suffer from being done quickly? Perhaps. But I’d argue that professionals who know how to do research the ‘long way round’ will instinctively recognise if what AI spits out sounds legitimate or not… and will know how to start again if it’s the latter.
Creative block and admin tasks
Personally, I find ChatGPT invaluable for overcoming creative blocks. I see it as a “thinking partner” – someone to bounce ideas off when I’m stuck. Unlike humans, ChatGPT is always available, never gets tired of hearing half-formed ideas, and you can tell it stuff you might be nervous about saying to other humans.
ChatGPT can also handle much of the administrative overhead that plagues creative work. From drafting client emails and project proposals to creating documentation and managing project timelines, it can significantly reduce your non-creative workload.
Again, there are dangers here: if it’s obvious ChatGPT wrote an email, people might well be less inclined to reply. But as ever, it’s a question of balance. There’s no harm in having AI write a draft, provided you then rewrite it in your own words and make it personal.
Ideally, of course, you’d write every email yourself, from scratch. But sometimes you’re just so tired or burned out, you need that extra push to get started. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using ChatGPT for that kind of thing.
The simple point is that ChatGPT is here to stay, and railing against it won’t change that reality. So I reckon the best thing to do is to make the most of its benefits. In that light, I’ll end with a quick guide to writing better prompts.
How to write better prompts
Getting useful output from ChatGPT largely depends on how you talk to it. Many struggle because they either approach AI like a search engine or treat it like a human. Instead, you have to learn to, well, “speak ChatGPT”. Here’s how.
Start with context. AI works best when it understands not just what you want, but why you want it and how it fits into your broader project. Instead of asking “write a headline for my product,” try “I’m creating a landing page for an eco-friendly water bottle targeted at outdoor enthusiasts aged 25-40. The brand personality is adventurous but responsible. Write five headline options that emphasise both performance and environmental benefits.”
Be specific about format and constraints. If you need exactly 50 words, say so. If you want bullet points rather than paragraphs, specify that. If you’re working within brand guidelines or style requirements, include those details. AI can adapt to almost any format requirement, but it needs to know what you’re aiming for.
Don’t expect the perfect result on first prompt. Start with a broad request, see what you get, then provide specific feedback about what to change. I find that when using ChatGPT to write, adding qualifiers such as “Make it more conversational,” “use shorter sentences,” or “emphasise the emotional benefits more” produces vastly better results than the generic text it would otherwise produce.
Provide examples when possible. If you have existing work that represents the style or quality you’re seeking, share it as a reference point. AI is remarkably good at pattern recognition and is much better at matching tone, structure and approach when given clear examples. (That said, I’d be careful about sharing confidential client work with ChatGPT because ultimately, you don’t know where it might end up.)
If you’re not getting the results you want, keep asking for alternatives or variations. Request multiple options, ask for different approaches to the same brief, or get AI to explore various angles on your concept. It’s the sort of thing you can’t do with humans, because eventually they’ll want to punch you, but ChatGPT will just keep going and going, and you never have to apologise for adding to its workload.
Finally, remember that prompting is itself a creative skill that improves with practice. Those who get the most value from ChatGPT are those who learn how to communicate effectively with it, so treat prompt writing as a craft worth developing.