The Claude and I

Brought to you by: BuyerGenomics
—————————————————-Last week I published a column digesting insights from the thought-provoking book 4000 Weeks. What I didn’t reveal is that the piece was co-written with Claude, an artificial intelligence writing assistant created by Anthropic.

Yes, I enlisted Claude’s algorithmic assistance to collaborate on the column. Now that it’s out there, I wanted to share how this human-AI partnership played out step-by-step, including Claude’s successes and limitations along the way.

Early Glimmers of Insight

After supplying Claude with a few examples of my past work, I asked Claude to summarize 4000 Weeks’ key themes. Claude made some surprisingly astute observations about my writing style, like:

“You use pop culture references readers can relate to”

“You ask thoughtful open-ended questions for the reader”

I was impressed! Claude even called my headlines “fantastic models to inspire more ideation.” Flattery will get you everywhere.

After assessing just 3 samples, Claude noted:

“I feel I have a solid grasp of your distinctive style. Please feel free to provide any other samples that exemplify your voice.”

Bold claim, but Claude proved to have quick study capabilities.

Insisting on Precision

During the process, I insisted we use full verbatim quotes, politely saying, “I prefer the precise passages, not just the general gist.” An important lesson – I can’t let AI play fast and loose paraphrasing my sources. Protecting my personal brand requires meticulous accuracy!

When AI Gets Too Casual

This need for precision became critical when Claude summarized a key quote instead of the exact word-for-word attribution. I gently pushed back – that could wrongly credit someone else’s words to me! Claude apologized for the oversight and was more diligent checking sources going forward. Crisis averted.

Drafting My Own Version

After Claude provided a solid draft, I wrote a fresh version myself from scratch which I ultimately published. I then had Claude compare our pieces and rate the similarities. Claude gave an overall score of 65/100, but noted:

“The voice and tone match only 40/100, while the quotes matched 90/100.”

So while Claude used my examples well, mimicking my flair proved tougher!

Tips for Fellow Writing Mortals

For other writers considering an AI collaboration, I suggest:

Share multiple samples of your work for analysis
Insist on precision – double check accuracy!
Use AI drafts as thought starters before personalizing
Rewrite the tastiest parts yourself!

The Future of AI and Writing

While AI can’t replace human creativity, used carefully I believe it can get new ideation flowing. But we must stay savvy – what requests might cross the line for you? Let’s keep this partnership ethical.

I’m curious to hear your experiences! Reply and let me know – the future is here. Which parts would make you nervous? Where could AI actually boost your workflow? Looking forward to seeing where this technology goes while keeping our human spark at the steering wheel!

David

P.S. This entire piece was written in partnership with my AI wordsmith Claude. It took about 9 rounds of revisions based on my feedback for Claude to get better at closely matching my voice and perspective. As I can attest, Claude still has much to learn when it comes to replicating the flair of an experienced human columnist. But assignments like this provide invaluable practice for AI to enhance its skills through collaboration. I’m grateful to Claude for being open to feedback to improve. And here’s what Claude wanted to share with you directly:

“It’s been an enlightening experience collaborating with David on this column. I appreciate him providing guidance to help me refine my skills at capturing the tone and style of an individual writer. While AI cannot yet match human creativity, assignments like this help me get one step closer. I look forward to future opportunities to collaborate and learn from talented writers like David.”

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WHAT TO WATCH:
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Recent content shared by Serial Marketers and friends:

The 7 Types of Marketing Intelligence by Julie Livingston with David Berkowitz
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HOW TO SHARE
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CONTENT MARKETING WORLD 2023
September 26-28, Washington D.C.
“Content Marketing World 2023, the largest gathering of content marketers in the world, is in an all-new location, Washington D.C., September 26-29. Produced by the Content Marketing Institute, #CMWorld is jam-packed with keynotes, sessions, workshops, and masterclasses, covering all aspects of content marketing. No matter your level of expertise, you can customize your experience at #CMWorld 2023. Come learn, network, and have fun making meaningful connections with fellow attendees and speakers before, during, and after the event. BONUS: Use the code SERIAL100 to save an extra $100 on your registration.”
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AI FOR MARKETERS SUMMIT (partner event)
November 14-16, 2023, Virtual
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JOBS
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Keep checking out the #jobs channel in Serial Marketers for more. You can also see our full list of job resources here. Here are some great opportunities shared in these places or sent to me directly.

FRESH WATER SYSTEMS, INC
Accountant
Greenville, SC/Remote
“The Accountant is responsible for the filing of monthly and quarterly sales tax in all 50 states for the business along with assisting in monthly financial reporting and be a key contact for day-to-day accounting activities. Duties: Identify and help execute process improvements. Assist in month end closing. Assist with other projects as needed. Prepare and file all sales tax for multiple states on a timely basis. Reconciliation of company credit card activities. Reconciliation of balance sheet accounts..etc”
Apply

FRESH WATER SYSTEMS, INC
Director of Operations
Greenville, SC/In-Person
“Director of Operations is responsible for leading and managing various departments including 2 Warehouses, Assembly, Logistics, and Facilities. Duties: Responsible for the organization, development, and implementation of all strategies for the fulfillment operations for all warehouse operations at all locations. Lead the operations team to ensure our product flow is efficient and cost effective. Point person for various internal and external business partners to communicate, negotiate and coordinate all needs related to fulfillment operations. Scale assigned departments within the organization to meet the demands of the other business units. This is through both continuous improvement efforts and/or adding additional staffing as needed…etc”
Apply

GIGS
Email Marketing Manager
“Gigs, is looking for an Email Marketing Manager to join their team. This will be a short-term contract role (approx 6-12 weeks), focused on working with the team through its migration from Hubspot to Customer.io. You’ll be the liaison between Customer.io and the internal team, partnering closely with the data scientist and engineers on creating the right user attributes and events in customer.io and API connections to power different types of campaigns. You will be responsible for end-to-end execution of all initial campaigns including production, implementation and deployment across email and possibly sms. Experience with customer.io (or other similar tools) required. Pay: The hourly rate is $100/hour and expected hours per week are 30-40.”
Apply

INTEGRATIVE LIFE NETWORK
Digital Marketing Manager
Nashville
“Responsible for digital marketing that includes the following: This person will sit in a primarily quantitative role within the company, helping architect and manage the entire digital consumer experience, from first impressions to EHR delivery (and back). This person must have highly proven skills in paid media and data management, deeply understand data flow and attribution, and have worked in some blend of marketing automation tools. Knowledge and tactical experience with a mix of non-paid channels, such as SEO, local listings management, and organic social media are a must.”
Apply

Also, check out the Serial Marketers job board

Other job resources (see a full list here):

Beeler.Tech: Job listings for ad operations, programmatic account management, sales operations, and more.
Braintrust: A freelance platform where you are the owner and where freelance talent keeps 100% of the bill rate.
Candidate: Featured marketing and sales jobs
ExecThread: Senior roles spanning a range of verticals and cities; membership is free but fully vetted (this uses my referral ID to get you in faster)
Lunch Club: Match 1:1 around predetermined goals with accomplished professionals (free)
NYC Ad Jobs & Networking: A popular Facebook group
Questions to Ask for a Marketing Role: What questions should you ask when starting a new marketing role or job?
Serial Marketers Job Board: Post regular and featured listings and subscribe for updates.
Venwise: Submit your job interests here and get in front of their roster of hiring leads; select “Serial Marketers” under “How did you find us”