The release of ChatGPT was the singular event that put AI into the mainstream consciousness. It was the first time advanced level AI could be used to answer our questions and solve our problems, all in a bizarrely human way. It was a watershed moment.
Equal parts scary and exciting, the conversation around AI hasn’t dimmed since. ChatGPT has marched forth to more advanced versions, competitors are popping up, and businesses are starting to understand how AI can be incorporated into their operations.
Today we want to look at some of the impacts ChatGPT and AI can have on your business, also highlighting some of the concerns you should bear in mind with it. First, let’s take a quick look at how ChatGPT works.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an advanced artificial intelligence language model which stores huge swathes of information collected from the internet that it uses to answer queries from users. It is, essentially, a chat bot, although to call it that appears to simplify its capabilities and technology.
What has set ChatGPT apart is its ability to interact in a manner that appears human. It can answer your questions, expand on its answers, translate languages and perform long and short-form writing tasks. It produces clear and in-depth information in response to what you ask it, and this has made it a valuable proposition for businesses around the world. Let’s take a look at some of the ways it can have a positive effect on the workplace.
Schedule Management
Organising your day can take a lot of time, never mind trying to match it to the day of your clients or customers. ChatGPT can help you schedule, prioritise and plan tasks, effectively managing your workload and helping you kick your goals for the day. You can also automate appointment scheduling by allowing clients to book themselves in through a Chatbot appointment interface. Appointment reminders can even be sent out via text or emails, reducing the chances of someone not turning up and improving your organisational efficiency.
Automation and Streamlining
We’re always looking for ways to get the most out of our work time. Time is money, after all! ChatGPT and AI can streamline and simplify time intensive tasks, freeing up staff to focus on more important operations. Processes like data entry, quality checking and research can all be made more efficient by ChatGPT automation, freeing up team members’ valuable time.
Improved Communications
Customers always want to feel like they’re getting personalised attention. ChatGPT gives you the opportunity to do that without using up staff time and energy resources. A Chatbot built on ChatGPT provides accurate automated responses that very closely mimic human interaction. Customer queries are understood and responded to in real time, providing engagement and satisfaction. This is particularly useful for businesses with limited staff resources – at Smile IT you’ll always have a real human attending to your IT problems or queries!
ChatGPT can also be used to improve your written communications, helping to draft, edit and proofread professional business emails in no time at all.
Understanding Your Market
The vast neural network of ChatGPT can be used to improve your understanding of the market you operate in. As well as its own insights, it’ll help you conduct research, identify trends and glean data through surveys and questionnaires. This allows you to make informed and data-driven decisions that keep you a step ahead of competitors.
The Cons of ChatGPT in Business
It’s important to remember that ChaGPT is still a very new technology. That comes with inherent risks. Some large corporations like Apple and Samsung have banned its use by their staff, citing the risk of confidential data being leaked as the reason why. Privacy is definitely a concern, as data breaches are always a risk despite ChatGPT claiming to be secure (they’ve already had an incident earlier in the year where users’ payment details were made public.)
As well as privacy concerns, AI can also come with a level of bias as it’s only as impartial as the data in its neural network. AI makes decisions based on training data provided by humans, so it’s essential to ensure the training data is as impartial as possible.
An overarching concern surrounding ChatGPT and all AI is that it’ll force the world into a space of technology dependence where human input simply isn’t required. Jobs will be replaced and the machines will take over! This can cause concerns in your workplace, so it’s important to be communicative with team members that ChatGPT is there to enhance the work they do rather than replace them. Once the productivity benefits are realised by your staff, they’ll be able to see the value of this solution!
No matter the size of the business you run, AI will help you be innovative, keep your customers happy and improve your bottom line. We’d love to hear about your experiences with it, and to answer any questions you might have! Get in touch with the Smile IT team today.
When he’s not writing tech articles or turning IT startups into established and consistent managed service providers, Peter Drummond can be found kitesurfing on the Gold Coast or hanging out with his family!