Have You Tried Writing an Interview-Winning Cover Letter Without AI?
Alternative Heading: Please, for the Love of All That’s Good in the World, Stop Using ChatGPT to Write Your Cover Letters
The advancement of AI has been a wonderful tool for automating tasks that are monotonous and dishearteningly time-consuming for humans. It has been a wonderful addition to many businesses in many different ways. However, using generative AI has also changed the landscape of the written language. Multiple sectors, including recruitment, are facing a new first-world problem: people aren’t writing for themselves.
This will undoubtedly be an ongoing uphill battle for future generations. However, the issue came to the forefront of our collective awareness at the end of May, when The Chicago Sun-Times published an article with a list of recommended summer reading titles that were made up. The authors were all real, but several of the listed titles were made up. The publisher has confirmed that the piece was submitted by a freelancer who has admitted to using generative AI to create the reading list. The lack of fact-checking or proofreading, let alone editing, on both the part of the writer and The Chicago Sun-Times has us curling our toes in our shoes with second-hand embarrassment. The Guardian is referring to this as a “learning moment” for all parties involved with the incident, and we here at Whoops Word would like to share this moment of learning with you as well, dear reader.
We are pleading with you, nay, begging you: stop using ChatGPT to write your cover letters. It’s time to take a stand, dear reader, put on your big boy/girl/person pants, and employ that eloquence and critical thinking we know you possess! In case you needed additional motivation as to why you should choose the higher road in this case, please read on.
First things first: Think of poor, abused Mother Nature. Yes, yes, we know. The world’s already going to hell in a handbasket, so why try, right? Do try to employ some optimism, dear reader, or you really won’t make it through this one.
Here are the raw notes on generative AI: it is bad for the environment.
Data Centre Demands
Data centres are like the houses that AI live in. It’s where the infrastructure, including servers and data storage, is kept in perfect climate control. Their houses keep the air conditioning on the “Arctic Breeze” setting all day, every day, because writing your cover letters for you generates a truly absurd amount of heat.
Data centres are also where generative AI learn everything. Think of their training as a quilt made from millions and millions of bits and pieces they find on the internet (including pirate sites, where generative AI reads stolen books because their companies don’t want to pay the authors… never mind, dear reader, one crisis at a time). The electricity needed for generative AI to do all that learning is intense and is linked to globally increased energy demands (and the associated pollution).
Generative AI is writing your unoriginal cover letter inspired by stolen information, dear reader… how does that sit with you?
Computer Hardware Calamity
Building these data centres, or even running one of these advanced generative AI models on your computer at home, requires access to a higher level of computer hardware and parts. The flow-on effect of this is that computer parts, the manufacturing of which is also bad for the environment, are now in high demand. Sourcing the materials to make swathes of fancy computer parts involves dirty mining procedures and toxic chemicals.
A Wasteful Circle of Life
Generative AI models become obsolete very quickly, in some cases within just a few weeks of their release. This means all the energy that was consumed training the thing to start with has been wasted. And so the fast-fashion trends became digital.
Dear reader, the whole kit and caboodle is this: generative AI as it stands today is on an unsustainable path. Should companies take responsibility for that? Absolutely. However, you, as a consumer, also have a role to play. It is time to start being more conscientious of your usage. We already know cover letters written by generative AI are not going to win you the interview for your dream job, so why waste the resources?
You know, one could argue that the human recruiters have taken the easy way out and delegated the task of reading resumes and cover letters to AI because there’s a very real risk that a person might expire from having to slog through the same vague and protracted cover letter thousands of times. There are words on the page, no doubt, but they’re barely saying anything. For any given job, there’s a chance that you could pick all the ones written by generative AI simply for their interchangeability. Job applications written by generative AI all sound the same, lacking depth and a human voice.
We understand the hypocrisy and unfairness of the whole situation, dear reader. Truly, we do. Companies have been using AI to filter applications for quite some time. However, the majority of applications that are using generative AI to write their applications are still being caught in the ATS nets. Why? Because they are not doing it well. If you want to do this properly, you will still need to adjust for clarity and add a bit of the old human touch.
Too much to ask, you say? You can contact Whoops Word today for help with your next application! Whether you need a template to get started or help humanizing your dry-as-cardboard ChatGPT-generated cover letter, send us an inquiry today!
