Can ChatGPT write your TEDx talk?

I saw a post this morning on LinkedIn that made a case for letting ChatGPT write your TEDx talk. So point, counterpoint.

As a TEDx producer and professional writer, I’ve worked with speakers who use it — of course they do. It’s a powerful tool. But what I’ve also seen is that in our effort to be as efficient and productive as possible, something is lost.

I’m thinking about a speaker I worked with today. She’s not a native English speaker, and she told me she used ChatGPT to help her find her story. And that’s fine. But what she had was lacking… her. It was competent but bland. None of her unique turns of phrase. Her stories felt flat.

What I’ve seen — and why I’d be cautious about using ChatGPT to replace deep thinking time — is that the first story idea you have is often not the best one. It’s just the most obvious one. And often it takes a real person challenging you — seeing where you light up or shut down — to help you get to where you never knew you always wanted to go.