‘ChatGPT’s a tool, and should be used as such’: Ricky Bugeja on adapting to evolving digital sphere

Marketing and communications specialist Ricky Bugeja on Monday highlighted the importance of adaptability in an everchanging digital sphere.

This came following the rise in prominence of ChatGPT, an AI-centred chatbot that was developed by American research laboratory OpenAI last November. It can engage in conversation and answer various questions that a user may have through its specified algorithm, which allows it to constantly update its knowledge from information that is available online. Despite its innovative nature, ChatGPT still has a number of limitations and "shortcomings".

Mr Bugeja, who is Managing Partner at Reach.mt, remarked that he has heard “quite a few” content writers worry about the possibility of ChatGPT and similar AI tools making them redundant.

“If an algorithm can outpace your creativity, flare, and tone of voice, then maybe content writing wasn’t really for you in the first place,” he added.

“It’s a tool, and should be used as such,” he continued, before adding that the digital sphere is in “such a state of flux” that those people that fail to adapt “risk quickly becoming irrelevant”.

“Farmers used to plough fields using donkeys before the tractor came along and improved efficiency. Be the farmer, not the donkey,” he concluded.

Mr Bugeja is a highly experienced communications professional, and aside from his role at Reach.mt, he is also Ricky Bugeja Studios’ Owner, his own business venture providing videography, digital marketing, and photography services. He also had experiences in various management roles at Keen Ltd, Magro Brothers, and RA & Sons Ltd, among other positions.

He holds a Bachelor of Communications (Hons) in Communication and Media Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography, both from University of Malta. He is also reading for a Master of Science in Strategic Management and Digital Marketing from the same university.