ChatGPT Is Not Your Assistant
How to change the way you interact with GPTs
Hi, fellow human beings. Below you’ll find one thought, two paragraphs, and three takeaways on making sense of AI.
One Thought
ChatGPT is not your virtual assistant, it’s your hyper-talented team member.
Two Paragraphs
When I started using ChatGPT I made the mistake of treating it like other tools I had used before. I was amazed by the knowledge and reasoning skills it demonstrated, so I started instructing it like a virtual assistant and asked it to do things I wanted to do quicker or didn’t want to do. "Provide me a list of the five most established learning principles grounded in cognitive research with a summary of each principle." or “What is the right formula in Google Sheets to count all cells in a given range with the word ‘Creative’ in it?”. I was (and still am) stunned by the speed and accuracy of the answers. Nevertheless, I learned that using ChatGPT as a virtual assistant performing one-step tasks is like using a computer as a typewriter.
Today I treat ChatGPT as a conversation partner. I look at it as an incredibly talented team member, knowledgeable in all professions with endless experience in all the fields I can imagine. I don’t give it a task, I start a conversation. I ask about the reasoning behind the output it provides, add my ideas, and prompt it to share its “thoughts” on them. I say “I like this” or “This doesn’t resonate with me, can you share some more ideas?”. It’s a small change but it increases the possibilities and the quality of the output immensely. Sounds abstract? Have a look at the conversation I had with ChatGPT to find the right title for this newsletter. So, next time you use ChatGPT think about it as the most talented person you hired. Would you go and ask them to create a list or would you meet with them for a proper exchange to solve real problems?
Three Takeaways
ChatGPT is a great assistant to save time on one-step tasks, but it can be so much more
It has access to endless knowledge, reasoning skills, and a memory (aka context window) making it the most knowledgeable team member imaginable
You can (and should) have continuous conversations with ChatGPT driven by iterative prompts to solve real problems
As always, please feel free to start a conversation with me by responding to this email or reaching out on LinkedIn.
Stay human,
Aki