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Writing this article on Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you), I figured this is as good a day as any to admit that I’m diving deep into the AI rabbit hole.
- Partly because I believe that AI is the new equivalent of the industrial age and that you either keep up or get left in the dust
- Partly because my son of growing up in this new world and I want to keep up with the world he’s growing up in
- And partly because it’s such a useful productivity tool for my business—when used RESPONSIBLY…
Let me explain…
The (potentially) bad of AI – (un)Knowingly sharing your data with AI models
ChatGPT is pretty mainstream at the moment so let’s use them as an example.
When you create a free ChapGPT account, they’re upfront about them using inputs to train their AI (at least at the time of writing).
That means you should keep confidential stuff to yourself; don’t give them secrets you need to keep because they literally told you they’re using your data that you give them to learn from it.
If you aren’t sure how to gauge the sensitivity of your data, treat it like a public forum. Would you be comfortable with anyone stumbling onto your AI conversation?
In most cases for us simple solopreneur business folks, that’s a relatively easy decision, that we can make ourselves, about how comfortable we are with what we’re sharing.
But if you’re working on a team, or for someone else, this is a discussion worth having if you don’t know where the line is.
For example, here’s an article about Samsung employees accidentally leaking confidential info to ChatGPT. It’s a 1-2 minute read.
By the way… If you’re interested in staying in the AI news loop and getting these types of articles in your inbox, sign up here. (Not MY newsletter, just a cool resource I’m sharing).
The good of AI – leveraging it for business to speed things up
Admittedly I’m starting to leverage AI more and more in my own business in a variety of ways.
Sure, it’s great to write a first draft of copy.
It definitely helps overcome that blinking cursor blank brain.
Or or to paraphrase things into different tones, or summarize long emails into short snippets.
(Again, I urge you to be responsible and use it as a draft or starting point only. Make it yours.)
However, your results are only as good as your inputs, and getting it right—across the board—for sales copy, checkout copy, promo social posts, blog posts, affiliate swipe, and more… that’s asking a lot of me.
I’m not the world’s best copywriter. I’m slow on the writing front AND brainstorming ideas is time consuming. But I found a tool to help me speed that up considerably WITHOUT giving away my data to train ChatGPT.
Using this tool, I can knock those assets out of the park in an hour. This tool spits out a (very, very good) first draft for me in 20 minutes for allllll those things at once, which I can turn tweak, make my own, and publish.
Do you need copy help, or just want to get a fast first draft to cut down your work time? Check out 3 quick demos here.
The awesomeness of AI – let the machines help you do your real heavy lifting
AI is also amazing at helping me brainstorm ideas and helping me with the heavy lifting of mental work, like research and context. Yes, you need to check your results but it’s soooooo much faster than starting from scratch.
If you’re wondering how to come up with unique ways to leverage ChatGPT in your business and want some inspiration, check out this newsletter that delivers high-leverage free prompts right to your inbox (again, not my newsletter, just another cool resource).
And if you want to dive even deeper, here is a thread that lists 6 free courses to get you ahead of the curve on learning and leveraging AI.
In conclusion – AI can do a lot, but should it?
There’s much debate at this point in time whether or not we should be using AI, and where the line is for ethical use when it comes to business.
Personally, I think it’s along the same lines as using a calculator to do math – not always needed but definitely useful for more complex situations. Using a tool can speed things up, but you still need to input the right information in the right order to get results. You also need to be able to interpret those results, check it, and in the case of creative work, make it your own by treating it as a first draft.
What are your thoughts on AI?
Got questions? Reach me at hello@clarissawhite.com
PS. AI had no part in writing this post, which is probably why it took me so long!
