Personal and Professional Uses of Generative AI

 

I recently co-taught a webinar for one of my clients about professional uses of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as ChatGPT. Below are eight highlights from my webinar presentation and some advice to get started:

Previous Experience- Most people have had some experience with AI through word processing software, online searches, online pop-up ads, AI-enabled “smart home” features, and virtual assistants such as Alexa, Siri, and Cortana.

 

Simple ChatGPT Description- ChatGPT provided this simple description: "A smart robot friend who can answer questions and have conversations with users." It is a large language model (LLM) trained on a massive data set of text information that creates (generates) brand new content.

 

Login Details- The website for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com. To use this program, users must create an account with a username and password. After that, simply type a prompt into the “Send a Message” field and wait 5-10 seconds. The response to your query is lightning-fast.

 

Prompt Engineering- This is a skilled process of talking to LLM systems like ChatGPT and involves using carefully chosen words. The more detail the better. For example, instead of “What are mutual funds?,” say “Explain mutual funds to a 10-year old and describe five types of mutual funds.”

 

Hallucinations Happen- “Hallucinations” is the term used to describe authoritatively sounding statements that are flat out wrong. They happen and, for this reason, ChatGPT output should only be considered a “first draft” subject to review by an experienced subject matter expert.

 

Fun Ways to Start Using ChatGPT- Many people don’t have time to play with AI on work time so they need to learn how to use it on their time off. Fun personal uses of ChatGPT include poems, songs, jokes, party planning ideas, craft and hobby ideas, gift ideas, recipes and meal planning, vacation planning, restaurant reviews, exercise ideas, and learning a new language.

 

Content Creation Uses of ChatGPT- For personal finance content creators and other writers, uses of AI include newsletter articles, newspaper columns, blog posts, literature reviews, outlines for classes and webinars, speaker notes for slides, show notes for podcasts, and article, blog, and book summaries.

 

Learning Activities- A variety of learning activities can be created using ChatGPT. Examples include discussion and polling questions, talking points for debates, trivia game questions, financial case studies, student-created poems or songs, and definitions of terms.

 

A good way to get started is to write down one or more things that you would like to do with ChatGPT (e.g., summarize a book, plan a trip, research a topic, write a poem, etc.). Then write your first prompt to accomplish this task.

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.