Is writing texts part of your job? Or advise? Or programming? Then AI will completely change your work. That is not a prediction of the future. I now see it among colleagues and experience it myself.
How do you deal with this? What are wise choices? And what can you learn from Peter Paul Rubens’ business model?
Real estate prose on Funda
“Just imagine: coming home via a quiet, tree-lined avenue…” Anyone who has ever looked at the housing site Funda will recognize these types of sentences. Since the brokerage discovered AI, texts have become a lot more flowery.
Until recently, real estate agents sweated this kind of real estate prose themselves or hired copywriters. Now they use ChatGPT or specialized AI tools like Jasper. And that leaves them more time for other work. Work that cannot be done digitally, such as contact with buyers and sellers.
I tried the Real estate agency websitetekstdie salest.nl. You enter a few details about your house and within seconds you will receive a buzzing text on the screen. With sentences like: “A place where precious memories are made and dreams come true.” I won’t be thinking about moving in the near future.
Woodworking
Anyone who works in creative or business services has to deal with these types of developments. These are three examples from my own environment.
A creative friend who makes websites told me last week that her clients are doing more and more themselves. With AI for texts and images. And with simple tools for building and maintaining sites. She had chosen to spend part of her time on something completely different that she had enjoyed for a long time: woodworking. Something AI has proven to be bad at. At least, for now.
Another friend is a consultant. Thanks to AI, he now makes his analyzes and reports much faster. But because the agency where he works uses old-fashioned hourly invoicing, it still charges clients for the time that consultants used to spend on a job. My friend wonders how many more months they can keep this up.
A freelance journalist I know works with a whole arsenal of AI tools. He uses them to come up with questions for interviews, records those conversations, has it transcribed by a digital assistant, has another tool select the best parts, do the final editing and then goes through the text manually one more time.
From performer to director
What does AI currently mean for the creative, cognitive part of our work? A few observations.
– Anyone who does simple knowledge work is going to have a hard time. AI is much better, faster and cheaper at creating simple presentations, websites, minutes, summaries, analyses, apps and texts. That’s no longer news.
– So you have to upgrade yourself. From performer to director. You will focus more on designing, deciding, controlling and improving. You use all kinds of AI tools for the executive work. You also do things that AI cannot, such as giving personal attention to your customers.
– Billing for ‘eight hours of copywriting’ has become an anachronism. Clients no longer want hours, but results. They want good text. Better still: five percent more visitors to their website. Or even better: sell ten extra lawn mowers every day. Service providers who dare to take responsibility for outcomes that customers find valuable have an advantage.
– A statement that you currently encounter everywhere: you do not compete with AI, but with colleagues who use it smartly. Even if you find this whole AI development unpleasant, you will ultimately have to make choices in many professions. Perhaps it would be wiser to just start today.
In many professions you will ultimately have to make choices for your money
A business model from 1610
Something completely different. I visited it a few years ago Rubens House in Antwerp. The place where the great painter lived and worked from 1610. Peter Paul Rubens’ business model in particular surprised me. Looking back, I think it is an inspiring example for creative and business service providers today.
Rubens ran a kind of art factory with a group of students and assistants – sometimes several dozen at a time. He designed, sketched and gave instructions, after which they did the elaboration. Some specialized in animals or landscapes, others in skies or draperies. At the end, Rubens himself put the finishing touches. And his signature.
The artist also worked with a network of engravers. They made prints of his work to promote his work throughout Europe. Rubens personally wrote a few words for potential clients.
From a business perspective, Rubens had three things in order. High-quality products with a recognizable style. Continuous attention to relations and advertising. Tight processes with smart division of tasks and strict quality control. It brought him great artistic and financial success.
Practical
In short, the AI revolution challenges creative and business professionals to reinvent themselves. The trick, like a modern Rubens, is to find the digital assistant that is most suitable for all kinds of sub-tasks. You can then focus on the work in which your contribution is not so easily replaceable. Such as maintaining personal contact with clients and colleagues, choosing the best approach for a job, directing the process, and quality control. And of course putting a signature at the end, bottom right.
