Copywriter

Emily’s freelance work dwindled from 10 to 1 assignment per week after clients switched to ChatGPT. She was out of work for three months before taking a job passing out grocery store samples. “If a robot can do your job for less, it’ll end up doing that.”

Copywriting didn’t come to me straight away, so I did secretarial work for years, and admin roles in the public sector. I’d heard of some friends who needed a copywriter for their businesses, and I was interested in writing professionally, so I enrolled on an online course. It cost a month’s wages and took eight months to complete, but I enjoyed the creativity. I got the gardening centre job a few months later. I’d interview different experts to write blogs on topics such as growing potatoes or planting trees. I threw myself into it and passed my probation. Around eight months in, I noticed I was getting less work. One day, I overheard my boss saying to a colleague, “Just put it in ChatGPT.” The marketing department started to use it more often to write their blogs, and they were just asking me to proofread. I remember walking around the company’s beautiful gardens with my manager and asking him if AI would replace me, and he stressed that my job was safe. Six weeks later, I was called to a meeting with HR. They told me they were letting me go immediately. It was just before Christmas. Thankfully, I got a temp role doing admin work in January, but going back to that after having my dream writing job was devastating.