ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology. The language model can answer questions, write code, design images, and assist you with writing tasks such as composing emails, reports, proposals, and even articles like this one. (I wrote this article myself.)
Some have described its growth as “blasting off like an inaccurate rocket.” Others say its analytics capabilities and ability to automate tasks will fundamentally alter business and writing as we know it.
I’m a bit astounded about the rise of newly minted “experts” in ChatGPT, so I don’t want to position myself as an expert on all aspects of ChatGPT. The hype about business and social disruption is likely not overstated, but my focus is specifically on its use for business communication. Computer-mediated writing environments have long been my research interest.
If business writers understand how to frame information and prompt ChatGPT well, the productivity benefits are incredible. To do this, writers must understand and control the writing process, not let ChatGPT solely drive, but that's a learned skill. ChatGPT lives up to all the hype when there is a well-calibrated and controlled dance between the critical thinking skills of the writer and the automation of ChatGPT.
Unfortunately, without a deep understanding and practice of how to use it well for your business writing, it carries deep risks that outweigh most of the benefits. I've outlined those risks below.
ChatGPT Risks
1. Inaccurate or incomplete information
While ChatGPT has been trained on a large amount of data and is constantly learning, it can provide inaccurate or incomplete information that sounds frighteningly confident. Verify any information obtained from ChatGPT with reputable sources.
My colleague prompted ChatGPT to write an outline of a 30-minute presentation on a specific topic. ChatGPT provided an outline that was on point. All topics were relevant to the presentation. However, my colleague (with his discerning brain) suspected the topics couldn’t all be addressed in 30 minutes, so he asked ChatGPT, “Can these topics all be addressed in 30 minutes.”
ChatGPT response: “No.”
ChatGPT provided exactly what he asked for, even though it wouldn’t work.
Despite these risks, there are many benefits to using ChatGPT, if used thoughtfully! Knowing these inherent risks will help you and your organization plan your use of this extraordinary tool wisely.
How can we reap the benefits of AI writing tools most effectively and safely?
Many AI experts and computer scientists agree that using AI tools for editing alone is effective, a major perk, and diminishes the risk of ChatGPT producing a reductive version of what you could write better yourself.
AI editing tools allow us to use our own brainpower to do the hard work of making sense of information and summarizing it. We can turn to AI for editing assistance, such as making a sentence sound more friendly, sprinkling in some context, spinning a story, or even telling a joke.
Your sentient thinking controls the information. ChatGPT can very safely refine the language for you, with no risk of reductive or inaccurate information.
