Five ways ChatGPT could help the culture sector create social media content

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that has gone viral. Chatbots are computer programs designed to simulate conversation with human users, and this one stands out because it generates text based on written prompts and provides convincingly human responses. After some experimentation, here is how it could be used by cultural organisations for social media.

1. Generating ideas

Despite our best efforts, there are days when our creativity levels are low. Rather than staring at a blank screen, why not ask ChatGPT to suggest content ideas about a specific topic—be that Magna Carta, Van Gogh or the practice of conservation? These ideas, drawn in part from what people commonly search for online on these topics, increase the content’s relevance and chances of discoverability.

2. Curating copy

If you work with social media then you will know that you need to write different types of copy: from single tweets to extended threads. With ChatGPT, you can enter bullet points as an outline structure, and ask it to fill in the blanks and extend your copy into sentences. But perhaps more useful is its ability to synthesise articles or blogs, extracting the central points, and then repurposing them into different formats. For example, I took a blog that focused on medieval seal bags (bags designed to protect wax seals) and asked ChatGPT to turn it into a 90-second video script. Within seconds, the platform had condensed the 1,000-word article to around 200 words.

3. Spotting trends

Social media teams are used to being flooded with comments and messages, and people often ask if there are common themes that emerge within them. In the past, this might have taken hours to collate, but now you can ask ChatGPT to do the analysis for you by simply exporting the text into the platform and asking it to identify commonalities.

4. Search engine optimisation

Discoverability on the internet is tough when there are billions of websites. Visibility comes through the keywords, tags and phrases that we use in our content. ChatGPT is able to come up with relevant hooks, captions and video titles to make content as easy to find online as possible.

5. Personalisation

If you provide ChatGPT with a specific audience that you have in mind it can help tailor content to their perceived needs and interests. I put this to the test, first asking ChatGPT to suggest a video title for content about the Domesday Book. It suggested: Uncovering the Secrets of the Domesday Book. I then asked whether it could make this title more relevant for people aged 21-30. It suggested: Uncovering the Secrets of the Domesday Book: A Millennial’s Guide to England’s Hidden History.

Does it live up to the hype?

ChatGPT will not make your social media team redundant. At present, the platform is a timesaving tool that will increase efficiency and can bring undoubted benefits. And who knows where the technology will take us next?

• This guest blog is written by Steven Franklin, the digital engagement officer at the UK National Archives