I Asked ChatGPT How I Can Avoid Being Replaced by AI — It Gave Me 4 Great Tips
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Since learning to read somewhere around 4 or 5 years old, I have been a writer, but it wasn’t until I was about 11 years old that I started to identify as one, and it wasn’t until I was 19 years old that I got my first formal writing job. And insofar as getting paid for writing, that didn’t happen until I was 21 years old. Two decades later, writing (primarily journalism) is how I make my living and provide for my family of four (me, husband, kid and incoming second kid). My husband works too, but I make more money, so I take on more expenses.
During the mid-aughts, me and my writing-for-money peers dreaded the death of print. Then it happened (not entirely, but mostly) and, fortunately by then, we’d adapted to writing for online publications. In 2025, we’re a lot more worried not about the death of a platform or medium, but the death of a profession — our profession. The Medianet 2025 Media Landscape Report found that 88% of the 500 journalist respondents voiced concerns about AI’s impact on journalistic integrity, and 16% reported job losses due to AI.
My worries over the security of my long-held career motivated me to talk to the threat itself — AI. I asked ChatGPT, “What are four things I, a journalist with a focus on finance, can do to avoid being replaced by AI?” Here’s what the AI chatbot told me.
Focus On Deep Analysis and Context — Not Just Reporting
In its first tip, ChatGPT acknowledged that though it can summarize reports in seconds, it is still outmatched by human intelligence’s ability to provide contextual insight, analysis and nuance.
“Dive into ‘why’ and ‘what it means,'” ChatGPT said. “Not just ‘what happened.'” Fortunately, most serious journalists already do this. For example, if we were to report on a significant shift in Apple’s stock or valuation, we’d dig into why it occurred and what could be coming next for both the company and its investors.
Build Relationships With Sources
ChatGPT may be your new best AI consultant or personal assistant, but it isn’t going to be the person who introduces you, one-on-one, to your future boss. And if you’re working on a story where you need to speak to, say, Apple’s PR team, it’s not going to become Apple’s PR team. Humans still need humans when it comes to networking, building professional relationships and, in the case of journalists, getting scoops.
“AI can’t replicate real relationships,” the AI chatbot admitted. “Cultivate: insider sources; off-the-record tips; access to CEOs, fund managers or analysts.”
Tell Stories in Ways That AI Can’t
AI can whip out more information in two seconds than a journalist can dig up in two days. But when it comes to shaping those facts into the form of a story, it lacks an authentic voice. If you’re writing about how minimum wage workers struggle to afford a middle-class lifestyle, you’ll need to deliver your words in a uniquely human voice. AI can tell stories, but it can’t tell stories with a soul.
“Emotion, storytelling and human interest still matter in financial journalism,” ChatGPT said. “Profile people behind companies and investments. Cover personal finance through real-life experiences. Bring a human voice to numbers.”
Learn To Work With AI, Not Against It
The aforementioned Medianet 2025 Media Landscape Report found that 63% of the 500 journalist respondents said they have not yet used generative AI tools in their work. I’ve met some journalists who frown upon AI for its imperfections, chiefly the mistakes it can make when reporting up-to-date facts. And then there are the journalists who don’t want to support the AI machine that they see endangering their jobs. Why feed the monster coming after you? Why give him an energy drink?
It’s understandable that many journalists are anti-AI, but in being so, they’re working against themselves and the current (and future) climate of the media. They’re also depriving themselves of a useful tool. ChatGPT is right when it says that to avoid losing your job to AI, you must work with AI — not against it.
“Let it handle repetitive parts so you can focus on higher-value work,” the AI chatbot said. And though it took me some time, I now agree with ChatGPT and I’m glad the machine and I are on the same page — a page written by a real writer but given a little boost here and there with the support of AI technology.
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