Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been making its presence known in our lives for a while now, but it wasn't until the release of ChatGPT that many of us had the opportunity to directly interact with this fascinating technology. As a boutique strategy and growth marketing consulting company, we are always looking for ways to implement the latest developments in technology into our own and our clients' operations to gain or maintain a competitive edge. The release of ChatGPT has become a hot topic of conversation at most dinner parties and business events, with varying opinions ranging from doom and gloom to optimistic visualisations of a future where the Four Hour Work Week is a reality.

We have had a number of positive experiences with ChatGPT in the recent months and wanted to share our findings with you.

Here are some ways we have used ChatGPT to improve our business and our clients' businesses:

Learning the prompts

Learning the prompts is the key to getting the most out of ChatGPT. The quality of the outputs is directly linked to the prompts you use. To learn more about the prompts, we recommend checking out some online tutorials or studying the materials on the Open AI site.

A quick way to do basic research

ChatGPT can quickly help you gain background information and present it in a systematic way, making it ideal for exploring how to define a problem. We recently used it to explore the shortage of accountants in the UK and the problems UK accounting firms are experiencing as a result of this shortage. We used this information to design a value proposition and define the initial market for our new venture. It is important to track sources to make sure AI does not hallucinate, so we recommend doing it in Microsoft Edge via Bing. There you can get references to sources, but it is worth double checking anyway.

Faster production of marketing materials

Generating marketing materials can be time-consuming, but ChatGPT can help with blog posts, sales emails, press releases, and translations. We have used it for all of the above, and the resulting quality in general has been good. Technical translations have held up well based on feedback from native speakers with domain knowledge. Again, the route to successful outputs is via intelligent and detailed prompts. Also we have found it useful specifying the outputs as ‘Please provide 5 versions of a blog title’, ‘Optimise for these keywords’, etc.

Improved copy of written materials

ChatGPT can help improve the copy of written materials, especially where you put effort into defining tone of voice. For example, if you're creating a marketing message for a specific audience, ChatGPT can help you get granular with your language and ensure you're speaking to your audience in a way that resonates with them. In fact, it has probably done a better job than at least half of the copywriters we have worked with. ‘Write it as if you were a Professor in Marketing with 20 years of experience addressing First Year students’... This is how precise you can go.

Brainstorming

ChatGPT has been useful in generating ideas for brainstorming sessions, such as company names and taglines. We used it to help us come up with a new venture and a new value proposition for it.

Improving existing or creating new processes

ChatGPT can help you draw on existing experience to improve or create processes. For example, we have used ChatGPT to create sales scripts for our new venture based on the SPIN Selling methodology.

Developing new product ideas

ChatGPT can help generate ideas for new products or extensions of existing businesses. There are plenty of videos on YouTube with business ideas provided by ChatGPT, which can help lower the barrier for entry for aspiring entrepreneurs. In fact, we have also used to to code an initial prototype of a new product in a specified language.

… and once the day’s work is done, even…

Writing poetry

If you need to write a poem for a special occasion, ChatGPT can help. I used it to write a poem for my husband which rhymed and referenced his favourite liquorice 🙂

While ChatGPT can get you through the 80% of grunt work faster to a 'good enough' level, it occasionally hallucinates. Therefore, we believe it's best placed to support work where you have good domain expertise to sense-check it. For example, it has been reported that it has created a workout routine aimed at individuals with specific requirements, but some of the exercises it included, could have done some harm to them.

As businesses look to implement AI into their operations, it's important to keep in mind that it is still a relatively new technology, and there are risks involved. Companies need to be aware of the ethical concerns surrounding AI, such as bias and privacy concerns, and take steps to mitigate these risks.

Another important consideration is the need to upskill employees and ensure they are equipped to work with AI. While AI can automate many tasks, it still requires human oversight and input. Employees need to understand how to work with AI and how to interpret its outputs.

At the same time, companies need to be prepared for the impact that AI will have on the workforce. While AI will create new job opportunities, it will also lead to job displacement in some industries. Companies need to be prepared to retrain and reskill employees to ensure they are not left behind.

As we continue to explore the capabilities of ChatGPT and other AI technologies, it's important to remember that this is just the beginning. The potential applications of AI are vast, and we are only just scratching the surface. It's an exciting time for businesses that are looking to stay ahead of the curve and gain a competitive edge.

If you're interested in exploring how AI can help your business grow and succeed, get in touch with us at Engelworks. Our team of experts can help you navigate the world of AI and implement it into your operations to achieve your business goals.

by Irina Pafomova