AI, AI, Oh!

Dave Casper leads digital services for RAB. Full disclosure: Dave and I are the tech geeks of the organization. Recently, Dave has been sending me recordings of conversations he's having with ChatGPT 4.0. I think he's found a new friend. We are both exploring the incredible, scary things you can now do with AI.

AI has been around for years, think Grammarly or spell check in MS Word, but not until November of 2022 was it made available to the public through ChatGPT. It took only five days for ChatGPT to reach a million users. By comparison, it took Netflix 3.5 years to reach a million users. Today, ChatGPT has over 100 million users and is growing.

As reported in Inside Radio, a recent Cox Business survey found: The survey revealed a relative comfort with AI, for both small-business owners and their workers: 85% of owners say they're somewhat to very comfortable using AI tools in their business; 75% of employees say they're are somewhat to very comfortable using AI tools in their business; 53% of small business owners say AI had a positive impact on customer experience in 2023 and plan to use AI to support the customer experience this year.

Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of doing a digital roadshow across Alabama thanks to Sharon Tinsley, who leads the Alabama Broadcasters Association. What was interesting was how many people are already using ChatGPT in their companies. The technology is impressive, and it's learning and improving every day.

If you've not tried ChatGPT yet, it's all about the "prompts." A "prompt" is what you tell or ask ChatGPT to do. Companies are already selling "prompt sheets" to help you better use the technology. Like any computer, the philosophy is "garbage in, garbage out." If you want to maximize ChatGPT, it takes practice, experimentation, and understanding of how to communicate with the tech.

Chuck Gallagher is a business ethics expert, consultant, keynote speaker and author. In his recent blog post, he shares some great tips on how to maximize your usage of ChatGPT through prompts:

Be clear and specific: Avoid vague language.

Provide context: Give background information.

Use complete sentences: Ensure clarity.

Ask open-ended questions: Encourage detailed responses.

Break down complex questions: Simplify multi-part queries.

Specify format or style: State your preferences.

Provide examples: Show desired styles.

Use personas: Set context with specific roles.

Set the tone: Communicate the desired tone.

Iterate and refine: Practice and adjust prompts.

By following these tips, you can enhance the quality of your interactions with ChatGPT 4.0 and obtain more useful and accurate responses.

Technology, specifically ChatGPT, is growing at a mind-numbing pace. In our travels across Alabama, we learned of salespeople using the technology as sales assistants, copywriters and researchers and for personal use in planning meals, vacations and more.

As with anything "new," we always recommend becoming at least familiar with it because your clients will have varying degrees of knowledge and interest. Undoubtedly, ethics, copyright issues and a myriad of other issues need to be addressed. Of course, you must ensure you follow your company's policy on using this or any new available tech.

By familiarizing yourself with the latest technology, you will continue to be a valued and trusted resource for your clients.

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com. You can all so connect with him on X and LinkedIn.