If you work in marketing, you can’t escape ChatGPT.
Across my various marketing groups and writer Slacks, it seems like we talk about little else these days. And now it’s showing up in my biopharma feeds, too.
Anyone can see the appeal. Fast, easy and free ideation and content generation? Sounds great!
But, honestly, I’m a ChatGPT skeptic. It can help marketers pump out content quickly, for sure. But in terms of creating meaningful content that reflects your brand voice and highlights your expertise, I think it has a long way to go.
What’s more, I think ChatGPT presents a few unique challenges for biopharma marketers, due to the technical and highly regulated nature of our work. Read on for three of my top concerns — and the role I think AI could play in biopharma content development.
1. Medical language is complex, and the story is often in the nuance
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first — ChatGPT is a generalist, and it’s not designed for biopharma content. Put simply, ChatGPT may have no idea what you’re talking about when you start using scientific terms in your prompt.
Coupling ChatGPT with life science data sets can help it respond to life sciences prompts, and I’m excited to see brands working to make ChatGPT more relevant to our needs. But as a scientist, I’m still skeptical it can provide the insights needed to create (or inform) great science writing.
That’s because each scientific paper is really just one piece of a much, much larger story. Often, the devil is in the details, and the most meaningful discoveries come from the ability to observe larger trends across multiple studies and trials. What’s more, creating compelling content often requires pulling information from a range of sources: preclinical and clinical research, business and industry reports and even SMEs’ lived experiences.
I firmly believe that AI can’t replicate the experience of a medical SME to provide the info we need to write great content, at least in its current iteration.
2. There’s so much potential for misinformation
As a writer, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve searched around for the source of a juicy piece of info, only to find a round robin of secondary sources linking back to each other. Often, tracking down quality sources — and ensuring the data really say what people claim it said — takes more time than actually creating the content.
And that’s before the time spent creating annotations and getting through L&C.
As much as I wish there was a way to automate this data-gathering, I don’t think we’re there yet. When superstar white paper writer Gordon Graham tasked ChatGPT with writing a white paper about whether ChatGPT can write white papers, he found its research skills were seriously lacking. None of the 18 sources ChatGPT provided turned out to be solid enough to use in the paper.
If ChatGPT can’t handle this relatively simple and easy topic, how would it fare doing highly technical research for biopharma brands?
This is another area where coupling ChatGPT with life sciences databases could help, especially if you’re creating purely informational content (vs. actionable thought leadership or copywriting). However, the potential for errors — and the lengthy annotation/review process you’ll still need to go through to pass L&C — means I’m skeptical about how much time (and therefore money) would truly be saved.
3. AI still generates snooze-worthy science content
Great writing blends art and science, and that’s especially true in biopharma. Compelling content usually isn’t just about providing helpful information to your readers — it’s also about putting information in context in a way that’s meaningful to your audience, who may or may not be scientists.
Doing this effectively starts from day 1, when I ask questions about your audience’s fears, goals and motivations. These emotions form the foundation for each stage of content development, from brainstorming and ideation, to the way I structure your outline, to the questions I ask your SMEs. Each step of the process is built around inspiring the audience to take an action, and providing the context and information they need to take that next step.
When I read Gordon’s ChatGPT-generated whitepaper, it reads kind of like a book report. The writing style is serviceable, but boring. The quotes lack insight, and just repeat points already made in the text. As Gordon writes, “This is perhaps C-level copy, which could be pulled up to B-level with some stern revisions.”
But if you’re investing in biopharma copy, B-level is not good enough.
Boring copy is the death knell for science-driven content. Even if your piece is scientifically sound (already a tall order for ChatGPT!) your audience may not be SMEs who already understand why the topic is important. You need conversational copy and sparkling quotes to help key decision-makers think “Oh, I get it!” to build trust and inspire action. So far, that’s just not something ChatGPT can replicate.
So, is ChatGPT useless for biopharma brands?
No! I’ve written a lot about AI in the life sciences, and I’m open to any new technology that can make our lives easier or help us do our jobs better. In general, I think well-developed AI can help us automate tedious tasks and focus on meaningful work. But just as AI-assisted biomarker scoring can’t replace pathologists, AI-assisted copywriting can’t replace great writers and strategists.
If you’re interested in using ChatGPT, I’d suggest leveraging it for brainstorming as you fill out your editorial calendar. Given the right prompts, I think AI can provide some thought starters you can adapt and refine to suit your needs.
AI may also be valuable for the early stages of content development and help with developing outlines. However, I still think these benefit greatly from a human touch to make the format compelling…unless your audience really loves book reports.
Working with a content strategist can help you create compelling content that converts.
If you’re tempted by the promise of free and easy ideation and research, I get it. Content roadmapping is often the most intimidating part of content marketing. Even professional writers struggle to come up with ideas for their own businesses!
That’s where bringing in an external content strategist can help.
During roadmapping sessions, I partner with clients to brainstorm content ideas that support their business objectives. From helping clients fully develop their ideas to bringing in fresh perspectives, we create an editorial calendar jam-packed with ideas that align with their goals.
If you need support creating (or executing) your content strategy, get in touch to book a free consultation to discuss whether we may be a good fit to work together.
