From the feedback we received, it’s clear we have to do more of this.

I’m thinking not just for chambers of commerce, but a small/general business version next.

However we proceed, there are some principles that I believe will be consistent across any presentations we might give on ChatGPT and using AI technology to make life easier, and I thought it might be helpful to folks to capture those in a blog.

So, here are 5 takeaways from our #ChatGPT webinar.

If You Feel Guilty Using AI, Ask Yourself, “What Was I Hired to Do?”

My bread-and-butter is writing.

I’ve written just any kind of communication that you can think of, and my career has been built on my ability to write creatively and in various formats.

In fact, when I talk to high school classes about possible careers, I often emphasize to them that the most important skill that they can cultivate is the ability to write/communicate.

So, diving into ChatGPT, especially for AI-generated copywriting, was an uphill climb for me mentally and emotionally.

I didn’t feel comfortable in the least bit turning over that duty to an AI, and it took a long time to get there.

What flipped the switch for me was the applications I was able to use AI for.

I realized two things:

(1)    There are things that needed to be written that I wanted to write (like my books, blogs, articles)… And there are things that needed to be written that I DIDN’T want to spend brainpower on. Press releases are a great example. Who wants to write press releases, when you can have an AI rip them off in 30 seconds? Which led to the second point…

(2)   From the perspective of our clients, what did they hire us for? Did they hire us to write award-winning prose for press releases, or did they hire us to find solutions that will lead them to successfully getting their story out into the community?

When I thought about it from those perspectives, the leap was much, much easier.

Does your project rely upon your skills as a writer? Write it yourself.

Is your responsibility to create solutions? ChatGPT is an efficient, effective and time-saving tool for you.

GIGO – “Garbage In, Garbage Out”

If you have any experience with programming, you’ve heard of GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out.

The premise is simple… In any program, the quality of the input you make directly affects the quality of the output you’ll get.

ChatGPT is no different.

The beauty of AI is that you can design exactly what you want as a final result.

Need a first draft of a blog written for you on how to start a podcast? Here’s an easy prompt:

Write a blog for me on how to start a podcast.

ChatGPT will do exactly what you say.

But, you’ve just set the AI loose to do whatever it wants… You want it to do what YOU want!

Try this:

Write a 400-word blog for me on how to start a podcast. Focus on three areas: how to recruit top guests, best practices on how to build a following, and recommend good technology solutions for a beginning podcaster. Write the blog aimed at a Gen X audience, small business owners. Also, suggest relevant hashtags I can use to promote the blog on social media.

NOW, you’re onto something, and I can guarantee you and your target audience will be much happier with the output.

Verify CHATGPT and Edit

When you open a new ChatGPT window, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the page, which reads: “ChatGPT may produce inaccurate information about people, places, or facts.”

ChatGPT-4 is trained on 100 trillion parameters.

It’s good. It’s really good. But it’s not perfect.

Now, don’t blame that on ChatGPT or their creators at OpenAI… Those parameters that “train” the AI? They come from the internet.

I don’t think I need to tell you how much incorrect information is on the internet.

Bottom line is… AI is not absolute.

It can be wrong, and often is – especially if you’re using it for research on people, places and events.

As an experiment earlier this year, I had ChatGPT write me an intro for a speaker we had for a World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara event – I intended in my opening comments to, tongue-in-cheek, mention that I used AI to write the bio.

The bio made him an alumnus of the wrong university.

Fortunately, I caught it ahead of time, and didn’t have to endure an awkward moment, but it was a good lesson: Verify and Edit before you use anything that comes through ChatGPT publicly.

Experiment and Play

When I started using ChatGPT almost a year ago now, and encouraged some colleagues to do the same, most of our efforts focused on having it write limericks and short stories roasting each other for embarrassing moments in life that we knew about each other.

Fortunately, my work eventually took a serious turn to the point where ChatGPT is now a tool I use daily.

But, I always encourage people to play with the technology, even if ultimately they’re looking for professional outcomes.

Why? Because you really learn the AI’s capabilities.

I can’t explain it, but there’s a stigma you have to get over, when it comes to business stuff…

“I can’t ask it that!”

Like, “Write me a full business plan for this new idea I have.”

Yes, you can ask it that. I’ve done it.

It feels like you shouldn’t be able to, though… It’s your job do write a business plan. Not AI’s. I get it.

But, when you’re just goofing around? You’ll push it to its limits.

You ask it to take on the most ridiculous challenges you can think of.

So, even though I may be past the completely immature stuff that kept me and my buddies up at night trying to one-up each other’s roasting abilities, I still play often – and I still get a lot out of it.

Here’s a recent example:

 

Translate that, then, to how you can use it for business, and playing… becomes experimenting.

Push the limits. Ask it the questions you’ve had rattling around in your head for months or even years. Throw a monkey wrench into the conversation and see what it comes up with.

Here’s a great one I just stumbled on the other day… Complain to it. Give it your pain points, and see how it responds.

And, guess what… It’s not going to ghost you because it’s tired of hearing you whine about stuff. 😊

This CHATGPT Blog Would Be Different a Month from Now

The pace at which AI technology is moving right now is incomprehensible, and the capabilities being revealed are mind-blowing.

From creating art to writing music to analyzing data to designing presentations to handling customer service, it seems every day there’s a new application coming to market.

We are experimenting, ourselves, every day – and there are many more like us out there.

That’s not to mention the actual programmers that are integrating AI into applications that are designed to enhance the work we all do on a daily basis.

In yesterday’s webinar, designed for chambers of commerce, but relevant to anyone, really… I pre-scripted prompts to use as examples.

Only, I didn’t test the prompts first. So, I saw the results live with my attendees.

I’m glad I did it that way, because I was able to learn more about the AI’s capabilities in real time, in a webinar that I was presenting!!

That’s how this works.

With my own experimenting, and with new products coming to market daily, if I revisit this blog 30 days from new, my advice could be very different.

That’s scary, yes, but it’s also exciting.

Because, in the end, it’s not just the AI that is the valuable tool.

It’s the combination of the AI and human input.

If you learn to steer it in a direction that gets things done for you, it can be an incredible asset.

I encourage you to try it out, if you haven’t. Get started for free at OpenAI.com.*

***

Our ChatGPT webinar for chambers of commerce was a hit. With that momentum, we’ll be doing a session for general businesses in the near future. If you’d like us to let you know when that’s happening, send me a DM or e-mail (craig@momentumforbusinessgrowth.com) and I’ll make sure you get the information.

We’re also happy to talk about doing a ChatGPT webinar for your members for you… Check out our monthly list of webinar ideas for chambers.

* As of the time of this writing, ChatGPT-3.5 is free to use. ChatGPT-4 is $20/month, and offers a number of additional features above the free version, among others… (1) It’s trained on 100T parameters (3.5 is 175B); (2) it allows much more room for query inputs; and (3) you can “train” ChatGPT-4 to understand you, and what you’re looking to accomplish, as the user. We’ve used both, and the investment in the paid version has provided exceptional value for us.