Making AI work for you
Making AI work for you
This is just the beginning...
Almost everyone I’ve worked with in the past year has asked me about AI, and particularly about using ChatGPT. As of this week, we also have Google’s Gemini.
I can’t avoid it any longer! Here we go: a few tips and a few thoughts.
Should I use ChatGPT?
Go ahead! It’s a little bit fun and even writes some types of content pretty well.
But?
Be alert and critical of what it gives you.
At this point, I would use it only for the boilerplate, or generic content. Even then, you still have to check it for accuracy. Make sure it fully answers everything you need – and be prepared to amend it and edit, heavily.
It’s still pretty easy to tell when something’s been written by a robot. It often has a chirpy tone, with a lot of sweeping generalizations and clichés (“It’s a powerful tool that unlocks a world of possibilities!”) You’ll also find some awkward phrasing and surprisingly, a lot of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Ugh. (Can we not build these fixes in?!)
Let’s remember – you’re the subject matter expert. No one else, and not AI, can possibly (yet) provide a complete analysis of the issue of the day, with all of the refined understanding that comes with working on a project for weeks and months, in a specific environment and place, with diverse groups of people.
For anything that requires you to sound like you – as the knowledgeable, reliable professional you are, you’re better off doing the writing yourself. Why? Because these days – and I expect even more so in the future – we are inundated with information, and we don’t bother to read most of it. What catches people’s attention is not just the words on the page or screen, but the voice of the writer. We seek connection. We want to trust the source. And this means two-way communication. A robot can’t (yet) engage in that true exchange, with empathy and understanding (and a critical eye).
I don’t think it hurts to disclose that you’ve used AI, when you have. In fact, it may help you seem even more transparent and trustworthy.
Here’s a little game:
Human or robot? (Was this written by a person or ChatGPT? Answer at the end.)
a) So, basically, we had this big plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe area. It's all about making things better for everyone who lives here. We want to boost the economy, make sure there's enough housing for everyone, create more jobs, and build communities where people of all ages can live easier, healthier, and without breaking the bank. It's like a roadmap for making life better for everyone in the area in the long run.
How do I direct ChatGPT properly?
The more specific you are in your instructions, the better the information will be that you get back. There are a few best practices for writing your instructions, or prompts. (A prompt is a phrase or instruction you give ChatGPT or other AI model to generate the response.)
These are based on principles provided by Hootsuite, and I’ve found them to be the most useful among the many out there. If you don’t believe me, just ask ChatGPT. 😊
Clarity: Prompts should be unambiguous and precise. Spell out what you need, like what reading grade level your audience likely understands, or how long you want it to be. Try providing an example.
Simplicity: Keep prompts short. One to three sentences is ideal.
Context: Include as much information as possible. Tell it, “Describe Toronto in 1989. Focus on the architectural style and suburban expansion.” Then try it again using a different year (1959) and other characteristics (population, economic drivers).
Specificity: Include details and specifics to personalize the output. Tell it what format you want it in (e.g., a list, a report). Tell it, “Write a short report on New York City history for a Grade 11 high school geography student.”
Role-Playing: Set the scope. Tell it, “Pretend you’re an urban planner, and I’m an interviewee for a senior planner role. Provide five questions you will ask when interviewing me.”
Let’s look at a more substantial example
I prompted ChatGPT to describe one city’s planning development process in ten steps or less. I had my answer in seconds, and it even included caveats, suggesting I check the official plan and noting that the “information cutoff” was December 2022, so I should contact the department directly. Pretty impressive!
But here’s where I found:
First, the robot didn’t know who it was writing for. Some steps were written to provide direction to City staff; in other cases a step would be relevant only to an applicant. Very uneven and awkward!
So I tried it again, this time asking it to write it for a member of the public who wants to submit an application. The steps got more directive (e.g., “prepare and submit to…”.) Overall, pretty impressive (much to my surprise)!
I continued to refine my directions, and got back better or worse results. One constant was that the text I got back was typically quite general, even when telling it to provide more detail about a single step among the ten in the process. It simply didn’t have the information. So far, it’s still in our brains.
So what’s the problem?
I think the main problem is AI allows you to skip the thinking part. When we’re writing, we’re composing our argument, evaluating what the evidence tells us, considering how it will be received by our director or a decision maker. We’re skilled professionals, not parsnips! If you’re not writing, you’re missing out on the thinking process – and it’s the thinking that allows you to build your own knowledge and skill as a professional. Sure, you could write some generic text using AI, but will you remember it as well as if you wrote it yourself? Will your arguments be as strong? The science says no. The very act of writing helps you produce and refine your ideas.
Human or robot?
b) An administrative tribunal is a quasi-judicial body governed by state legislation. Compared to a court, it has simpler procedures, rules of evidence, and alternative dispute resolution processes, like mediation.
You still have to edit
If your AI response seems like something you’ve read before, you probably have.
If it seems “cold” or inhuman to you, others will probably read it that way too. As a result, they might just skip right over it.
What should you do to edit and humanize your content?
First, never assume AI will give you everything you need. Always check that the response answers the matter at hand – that information isn’t missing, that the dots are connected, that the answer is thorough. Personally, I find it more difficult to go back and search for this, more so than if I’d written it myself in the first place (again – the thinking work!).
Check the response is accurate. Fact-check, see if there’s an author to credit, and fess up to using AI. Use a disclaimer! I think transparency goes a long way with readers.
Copy edit and proofread before submitting your document. There are style preferences in any organization – things like correct spelling, punctuation conventions, a certain order of information. AI will not help you with this (unless your organization’s style guide is online and you tell it to check this, perhaps).
Replace text with your own words. Choose terms and phrases that you know your reader will understand and appreciate.
Don’t count on the online translators that are available to humanize your AI-generated content! They may help a bit, but so far will still make you sound humanoid.
My main caution
One of the reasons we write is because it helps us think through out ideas and professional opinions. You can take shortcuts and get AI to write for you – but that’s not going to help you develop the critical thinking skills you need to use, and demonstrate, on the job. You may be tempted to rely on it (who’s not under deadline?!) and if so, use it to generate the foundational work, maybe to give you a kick start – not to do the whole job for you. It may help in a crunch but it won’t help you in the long term.
Human or robot?
c) The Economic Development division plays a crucial role in fostering economic growth, attracting investment, and improving the overall business environment within the city. Here are some key functions typically carried out by such a department:
Business Attraction and Retention: One of the primary goals is to attract new businesses to the city while also retaining existing ones. This involves marketing the city to potential investors, providing incentives, and offering support services to help businesses establish and grow.
Strategic Planning: Economic development departments often engage in strategic planning to identify key industries or sectors that are poised for growth. They may also development strategies to revitalize specific neighborhoods or areas within the city.
Workforce Development: Ensuring the availability of a skilled workforce is crucial for attracting businesses. Economic development departments may partner with educational institutions, training programs, and workforce development agencies to provide training and education opportunities that align with the needs of local industries.
To sum up
Benefits of using AI for your writing:
Provides a quick foundation for your document, a few ideas and a structure.
And the risks:
Presenting generic content that no one will read, because it so clearly doesn’t come from wonderful you.
Loss of your credibility and trust with your readers.
Weaker understanding of your own projects over the long term.
Now if only we could teach it to make other areas of our lives easier…
And now for the answers to human or robot?
a) ChatGPT (!)
b) Human
c) ChatGPT
Are you using AI in your work? What are the pros and cons you’ve discovered?