Adding wit and humor to your writing to make it relatable is sometimes easier said than done. If your copy is bone-dry and crumbling before your eyes, try rehydrating it with ChatGPT.
Although ChatGPT sucks at being funny by itself, I recently experimented with IVing some humor into an article to break out of my rut. Here’s how I did it:
Step One: Jam boring article into ChatGPT
I stared out the window thoughtfully. I typed random letters at a breakneck speed on my keyboard, just to feel something. Then I ripped a few pages from a notebook and crumpled them for drama. Still nothing, so I finally turned to ChatGPT.
Step Two: Kidnap a Top-Tier Comedian*
My attempt at humor was looking more like a Reddit meme every passing minute, so I decided to forcibly volunteer someone more qualified. In this case, Laura Belgray.
Step Three: Humble ChatGPT
LauraGPT busted onto the scene, telling everyone who she was in the first few lines. But this was my story, so I told her to hush up and be more subtle.
Step Four: Run a 30-second comedy workshop
LauraGPT was all over the place with metaphors and bombing the set. I gave her a stern pep talk, cranked up the humor dial, and crossed my fingers.
Step Five: Clean up the act
My notes were starting to pay off, and I was even chuckling here and there. So, I started trimming out stumbling blocks and moving jokes around to make a punchier piece.
Step Six: Kidnap a Humor Editor**
I was pleasantly surprised by this unlikely collab with ChatGPT so far. But I knew I needed fresh eyes on a deadline, and my dog wouldn’t do. So, I kidnapped a humor editor to do my job for me.
The crowd goes wild
The result? A smooth start that ended in a crescendo. ChatGPT responded well to each improvement, but the punchline was adding a final editor to review.
I’d banged my head against the keyboard for two hours before tasking AI to help me out. In just ten minutes of reworking my article, I had a solid angle to build upon.
While ChatGPT is built on patterns and styles, human creativity brings comedic timing, subtlety, and flair. I wouldn’t trust it to write quality humor by itself, but ChatGPT makes a great creative sounding board to generate ideas and work them into something great in no time flat.
*No comedians were kidnapped in the making of this article
**No humor editors were kidnapped, either
About Kristen Dahlin
Kristen fell into content marketing between Disneyland gigs and Hawaiian weddings. With a few years of SEO-fueled freelance under her belt, she wandered into tech. That winding path eventually landed her as a founding team member of BRIL.LA.