ChatGPT isn’t a person – but it kind of reminds me of you

The Social Intelligence Lab, founded by digital anthropologist Dr. Jillian Ney, is a global community dedicated to the voice of the customer, boasting a growing skills development community for data analysis that inspires action. In a recent instalment of its Cultural Insights Webinar series, David Boyle (Founder of Audience Strategies) spoke about what AI – and particularly generative AI like ChatGPT – can teach brands about human behaviour. 

The key takeaway? ChatGPT can’t replace a person – but it’s awfully like a person in some ways. Here’s how.

1. ChatGPT, like people, will happily lie to you.
   Pulling your facts from the internet comes with its pitfalls – namely that a lot of people in the world have no idea what they’re talking about. And, like people, AI is equally confident in incorrect results as it is in correct ones. That’s why you need a strong process and knowledge base to use ChatGPT effectively – otherwise, you have no way of evaluating its outputs (for example, ChatGPT can follow a prompt to write the next big pop song, but how will you know if it’s any good?)
   
   

2. ChatGPT, like people, often fails on its first try.
   With failure comes learning – and there’s no way around the learning process (in Benjamin Franklin’s words, “I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”) Generative AI can fast-track, but not replace, research. It can get us through 99 of those 100 failures more quickly, but those failures are pointless if we don’t learn in the process. 
   
   

3. ChatGPT, like people, performs best with clear and specific instructions.
   Which would you rather be asked: “Hey, could you put something together for the marketing meeting today?” or “We have a new client in the beauty industry coming up next month – could you pull some ideas together on possible target audiences, and product launch content by 2 p.m.?” Specificity matters – especially for prompt writing. Brands that master it will excel with tools like ChatGPT. Brands that don’t will fall behind.
   
   

4. ChatGPT, like people, learns better with others.
   No one knows everything – we need each other to learn and grow. It’s also why generative AI needs to be embraced, understood, and mastered by all levels of a company, not just junior staff. AI is not a generational tool or “a thing the kids do.” It’s here. It’s staying. And we need knowledge from people with more life experience for it to be used responsibly, usefully, and productively.

You can watch the full webinar on demand here.


The way we leverage AI and machine learning to our advantage, particularly in the creative industry, is up to us. At distillery, we apply our know-how to extract, refine, and perfect the essential parts of a story using the best tools we can get our hands on. Doing that well requires care, expertise, and excitement to learn. Is it a challenge? Absolutely. But it’s one we happily accept.