In the flurry of conversations about the latest tech trends, there's one term that I'm sure you've come across a multitude of times - ChatGPT.
If you're anything like me, you might even be slightly annoyed hearing people talk about AI all day every day. But the truth is, there's a reason why these topics are so popular; they're genuinely transformative tools that can revolutionize how we live and conduct our business.
AI has been established as a powerful new technology, but now our task is to sort through the noise and determine which applications of AI are gimmicks, and which applications can genuinely make an impact in our lives.
So, even as we grapple with an overload of information about ChatGPT and AI, I can't help but throw in my two cents. Today I'm sharing some of my absolute favorite ways of leveraging this technology - simple, effective methods that can improve your business operations, no matter your industry sector.
What is ChatGPT & How Does it Work?
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a branch of computer science which aims to create systems capable of performing tasks usually requiring human intelligence, such as understanding natural language.
A fruit of this endeavor is ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot developed by OpenAI. Just imagine having a conversation with a machine that understands and responds to your queries in a manner that closely resembles a human interaction. That's ChatGPT in a nutshell.
Under the hood, it's undergone a rigorous learning phase where it was fed with vast amounts of human-generated textual data. By analyzing this information, it progressively understood patterns, concepts, and language structures, thereby learning much like a human brain does.
After this intensive training, ChatGPT can now generate coherent and intelligent responses that reflect its extensive learning from human data. What's remarkable is its ability to continue refining its understanding of human data inputs, thus improving its responses over time.
The upshot? A virtually seamless conversation with a machine.
Chatbots like ChatGPT are revolutionizing the way we interact with technology, making it feel uncannily human. As a result, we have to understand how to use ChatGPT in a different way than we've used technology in the past.
AI Use Cases in Business
Imagine a word where your business operations run smoothly and your customer relationships are enhanced, and you're still left with plenty of time to spend with your family and pursue your passions. This isn't a far-off fantasy, but a reality we can achieve today with the help of AI technology like ChatGPT.
It may seem overwhelming, but stick with me. I promise you'll see it's both powerful and surprisingly straightforward to utilize.
Let's dive into some of the simplest & most effective ways I've found to employ ChatGPT in business, along with real example prompts I've used in the past.
Brainstorm & Generate Ideas
AI has become my right-hand man when it comes to brainstorming.
ChatGPT can take my half-baked, two-coffee deep thoughts and turn them into proper business strategies. With just a hint from me, it works to expand upon the nub of an idea, generating various possibilities and approaches that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of.
From drawing up marketing campaign drafts to strategizing company growth, ChatGPT's applications in brainstorming are vast. And let's be honest - having a tireless, 24/7 brainstorming partner doesn't exactly hurt. ChatGPT reminds us all that while the human brain is a mighty thing, just a little extra (artificial) support can go a long way.
Example - "Give me a list of health & wellness trends I can write about in my blog"
Generate Text for Emails, Social Media Posts, and Websites
If you're spending hours every week making email newsletters and social media posts, why not leverage the power of ChatGPT to save time?
ChatGPT has also saved me countless hours developing copy for websites, blogs, and sales funnels. It can efficiently generate original, engaging content tailored to your audience's interests and needs, significantly reducing your content creation workload.
Example - "Write an Instagram caption to introduce our newest menu item - the cardamom latte"
Augment your Writing
ChatGPT can write content, but it can also edit and optimize content in whatever way you'd like it to. Simply input your text and let the AI system proofread, expand, simplify, rephrase, or change the tone of your writing.
The words you write matter, and with AI you can make them more engaging, professional, and ideal for your intended audience.
Example: Paste in text and then say "Shorten this paragraph, simplify the language and make the tone more casual. Also fix any spelling errors and give me suggestions on how to improve it"
Research
I'm consistently amazed at how much research work I can accomplish using ChatGPT. I routinely ask it to explain complex topics in depth. It has also given me all sorts of book and website recommendations on topics I want to learn more about.
It has completely revolutionized my research workflow, allowing me to learn more information in less time.
Example: Paste an article into the chat, then say "summarize this article, giving me the most important takeaways"
Example: "I want to learn more about Artificial Intelligence. Give me suggestions for relevant online resources and books I should check out"
Treat it like a Conversation
It's called conversational AI for a reason, so take advantage of it!
Since ChatGPT has a memory of your previous questions, try asking it to expand on a topic in more detail.
We're all used to typing simple phrases in Google search. But with ChatGPT, the more you treat it like a human and ask it complex questions, the more you'll get out of it. You don't just have to ask a question with one sentence. You can write full paragraphs, giving it the context it needs to fully understand and answer your question.
Pro tip - Download the ChatGPT app on your phone and use the voice to text feature. Then just explain your entire question in full detail and it will generate a response for you.
Write Code & Do Math
This is a bit more of an advanced use case, but I've found it to be incredibly helpful.
When designing websites, sometimes I have to use custom code using HTML & CSS. I have limited programming knowledge, but discovered that I could just ask ChatGPT to edit code for me - all I have to do is copy and paste it.
Example: "I'm going to send you a line of code for an image on my website. I want you add 20 pixels of padding on the right and left side, and I want you to center the image horizontally"
ChatGPT can also help you with any calculations you may have to do in your business. This comes in handy for financial analysis, inventory management, market research and more.
Software Troubleshooting
Recently, I had a specific question about a software I was using. Instead of sifting through online instructions, I just asked ChatGPT to generate a simple guide for me, and it worked surprisingly well.
Example: "Give me step-by-step instructions on how to create a custom business email address with Google Workspace and my website domain"
Website Chat Bots
Powered by ChatGPT, chatbots have quickly become one of the most effective applications of AI. A chatbot on a business website functions as an automated digital assistant, working round the clock to provide immediate responses to customer inquiries.
First, you train a bot by giving it information about your business or letting it analyze your website. Then, it can guide visitors, recommend products or services, help with reservations, and handle a vast array of routine customer queries.
In essence, an AI chatbot converts your business website into a 24/7 customer service station, enhancing the overall user experience while freeing up time you used to have to spend responding to leads.
Generate Interview Questions
Want to have the best questions to get to know a potential hire? Just ask ChatGPT to do it and you'll have a full list of questions in seconds.
Example: "I'm hiring a new salesperson for my marketing agency. Give me a list of the best interview questions I can ask"
Generate SOPs & Training Documents
There are plenty of internal uses for AI as well. Use ChatGPT to help document processes in your business & create training documents so you can more effectively delegate tasks to your team.
Example: Ask ChatGPT to help you generate scripts for retail employees, providing guidance on how to greet customers, handle inquiries, process transactions, and resolve common issues.
My Experience with ChatGPT
I've been pleasantly surprised by how often I find myself using AI in my daily workflow.
The vast majority of the time, I use it as an idea generation tool. It helps me organize and prioritize my thoughts when creating written content.
While AI can create comprehensive writing, it can't touch on your personal experience. Now that there's so much AI generated content on the internet, I anticipate that it will become much more important to differentiate your writing by providing personal experience and showing your unique perspective and personality.
So before you use ChatGPT to write 100% of your newsletters and blogs, just remember that the customer experience is what really matters in business. If you flood your customers with cookie cutter, AI generated writing, it's not going to give them a valuable experience.
If you are looking to use AI for higher quality writing content in your emails and blogs, here's one last secret for you - I've really been enjoying a tool called Reword in the past few months. Think of it as an AI enhanced version of Microsoft Word.
While I'm writing, Reword automatically recommends subheadings, quotes, and even gives me relevant data and links to the sources it gives me. And here's the best part - it learns to write in my voice. When it recommends text to me, it already knows the style I write in. As a result, it's helped me write way faster while providing more valuable information that resonates with my audience. If you want to give Reword a try for your next newsletter or blog post, click here for a 1 month free trial.
However you decide to use AI, my recommendation is to learn it well and learn it fast. It's not just a trend, it's a new staple in business. Those who embrace it will gain a powerful competitive advantage, and those who don't will be left behind.
