Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been quietly working for more than a decade to interact with website visitors and predict buying behavior. Since the introduction of ChatGPT and its deep learning capabilities late last year, it seems the world has suddenly awakened to AI’s true potential.

If you aren’t familiar with AI, it is the science of making machines smarter. Deep learning is the AI breakthrough that made ChatGPT the fastest platform to reach one million users, something it accomplished in just a few days. The current buzz around deep learning is how it gives these platforms human-like qualities. What’s exciting is we are still in the early stages of deep learning.

Skeptics are quick to note AI’s occasional inaccuracies, but it’s important to remember that with greater experience, the system gets smarter. If used for selling, the more data a deep learning tool consumes, the smarter it gets. The smarter it gets, the more it sells. The more it sells, the more data it consumes, and so on.

Most AI platforms do not have a steep learning curve or price point. ChatGPT is free, but many people pay a small monthly fee to test a wide range of business applications.

How to Use ChatGPT and similar applications

Let’s talk about smarter. We all get smarter with practice and experience, but the best of us gets smarter faster from the deep learning that comes from diverse experiences. That’s exactly how deep learning AI tools work, with the difference being they can process millions of layers of data in a short period of time.

Get started collaborating with ChatGPT to solve common and recurring business problems. Using its data-driven, predictive approach, it can solve problems and automate solutions along these lines:

• Delivering accurate estimates and forecasts;
• Predicting customer insights;
• Minimizing execution missteps and delays;
• Accelerating project mobilization;
• Focusing customer communications; and
• Improving first impressions and follow-ups.

Context matters

The trick to getting useful results is phrasing your questions as you would for any other expert. Be clear and specific about desired outcomes. Avoid the mistake of approaching ChatGPT as you would Google or any other search engine. The more human your query, the more human the response. You can accomplish this by providing context tailored to your situation. 

For example, you can ask ChatGPT for the top customer concerns in your industry segment. Then get solutions by asking the AI to “think like the marketing manager of a landscaping company.”

Here are other useful prompts for getting targeted information:

• Compared to;
• In the style of;
• Step-by-step;
• For beginners; and
• Considering.

Use the prompt “in the style of,” to pattern solutions to the distinctive style of a well-known person. For example, you could ask it to rewrite your project proposal into a one-page memo in the style of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

ChatGPT gave me the following when I inquired about Bezos’ legendary one-page memo structure. “Bezos begins with a clear and concise statement of the issue at hand, followed by a detailed explanation of the problem, the proposed solution and the expected outcome.”

All of this will become clear as you experiment with the hundreds of AI tools expected to be released this year. For now, get your feet wet by getting smarter with ChatGPT.