10 ChatGPT Mistakes Not To Make → ??♀?????

Happy Wednesday, friends!?

Before I share with you this week's tips for surfing the AI wave with a few more style points, I pray you've enjoyed spending the last couple of days with friends and family eating, relaxing, and most importantly, saluting the brave souls who have served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation's freedom. It's because of their indomitable spirit and dedication that we're able to enjoy our American liberty- because as Ronald Reagan said:?

“Freedom is a fragile thing- and it's never more than one generation away from extinction.?It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.?And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”?

If you served or are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States-?WE?THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your brave service.?

Memorial Day is also the unofficial kickoff to summer AKA "business halftime" AKA a phenomenal season to stop, take a breath, a recalibrate your focus, your mission, and where you'll choose to spend your precious time and energy for the second half of this year.?

As you probably know,?my team has been charging?full steam at experimenting with all things AI in our client campaigns these days, and I have personally been delivering a TON of AI training, keynotes, and workshops.?(PS- make sure to request a private invite to my FREE “Digital Persuasion: How to Surf the AI Wave”?virtual masterclass)?During my Q&A sessions, I've started to notice a few key pattern areas where there seems to be a bit of extra confusion when it comes to prompting AI tools like ChatGPT.?

Let's dive into (last surf reference, promise!) a few of the “AI-Yi-Yiiii” mistakes that you do NOT want to be making if supercharging your communication efficacy is your goal:?

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AI-Yi-Yi #1

?A lot of AI newbies start off with an over-reliance on AI. Remember AI is just a sidekick- not even remotely close to a stand-in for YOU.?So for example:?

• Bogus Prompt: "Write a complete sales pitch for my product."
• Better Prompt: "Help me draft some ideas for a sales pitch to (describe specific customer) about my real estate services- make sure to address their potential objections of a, b, c."

AI-Yi-Yi #2

Don't sleep on radical content customization. Don't be Generic Greg, be Specific Sarah. TMI?when it comes to powerful prompt engineering.

• Bogus Prompt:?"Write me a social media post about my software."
• Better Prompt:?"Write me a fun, witty, and engaging (x # of words) social media post caption in the tone of Iliza Schlesinger for my software startup's latest project management tool focusing on (features or benefits) for (specific audience description)."

AI-Yi-Yi #3

Remember to FACT CHECK!?Otherwise, you could be operating with fake news, an AI hallucination, or just a chatbot that was trained on outdated info.?A recent study suggested ChatGPT will deliver inaccuracies as much as 20% of the time!?1 in 5 answers incorrect is no bueno, so honor your personal brand by taking accountability as your own truth-checker.?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Provide the latest statistics on e-commerce growth."
• Better Prompt:?“Generate an outline for discussing e-commerce growth trends and provide specific examples of companies, media outlets, or other references that explain why these trends are likely accurate.”

AI-Yi-Yi #4

AI is here to enhance, not replace your creativity.?Relying solely on AI for copy-and-paste creativity is a fast track to devaluing your work and losing your edge in a sea of sameness. Deploying AI with a replacement mindset is a dangerous, expensive waste of your (and your audience's) time- and will expedite the elimination of your value-add in any organization.?

• Bogus Prompt: "Give me a unique advertising slogan for my brand."
• Better Prompt: "Can you suggest some advertising slogan ideas or concepts for my 80's vintage clothing brand using famous 80's music lyrics and speaking to urban Gen Z surf/snow/skate-type buyers?"

AI-Yi-Yi #5

?You cannot expect AI to be able to understand subtle nuances, like sarcasm. The final frontier of AI's limits (which hopefully humans deliberately defend) is those slight, imperceptible differences in strategic descriptions, humorous human references, inside-joke perspectives, and other nuances of elevated communication (and long may those remain firmly in human territory!)?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Write a humorous blog post about my company's journey."
• Better Prompt:?"Draft an outline for a lighthearted blog post in the voice of (name famous person) about my company's growth, focusing on key milestones, stakeholder personalities, current events or press, and any other timely news that will help me create something hysterical."

AI-Yi-Yi #6

You cannot underestimate the importance of a real, live, breathing-with-a-pulse-and-soul- HUMAN review of any and all AI-assisted content.?Inaccuracies and quality aside, reviewing, rewriting, and editing your tone of voice and communication style is key to not sounding robotic, but instead sounding like YOU. Yes, even with?ChatGPT voice/tone/style plugins like AIPRM?which are great, you still MUST READ EVERYTHING IN IT'S ENTIRETY before you share, post, or endorse anything AI-assisted. (Editing pro tip- read it out loud versus in your mind to better catch awkward phrases and errors) I have amassed quite a long list in the last few months of “copy and paste from ChatGPT without reviewing it” horror stories that ended up doing real damage that could NOT be undone.?(I'll be sharing a few of the spiciest ones during my?FREE live “Surf the AI Wave” virtual masterclass coming this summer)?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Generate a customer email responding to a complex product issue."
• Better Prompt:?"Help me draft some talking points for a customer email to a 40-50 year old Midwestern female teacher, addressing her complex product issue with Pain Point 1, 2, and 3."

AI-Yi-Yi #7:?

Determine whether you're actually leveraging AI's true strengths.?AI loves repetitive tasks and analyzing large amounts of data- like a determined father with a lawn mover trying to mow every inch of the world's overgrown internet front lawn. You are far more likely to create something ultimately magical using AI as an outline-generating brainstorm buddy than attempting to fully outsource your project with one lazy (I said what I said!)?general prompt.?See this South Park episode?for a few of the funny-but real- potential pitfalls of using ChatGPT with this cavalier level of carelessness.?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Write an article about the latest workplace trends."
• Better Prompt: "Help me create a structured outline for an article about the latest workplace trends like Trend One, Trend Two, and Trend Three."

AI-Yi-Yi #8

As Nana used to always say: The devil is in the details. You cannot be clear or specific enough when it comes to using AI to its fullest potential. Audiences, stories, references, asks, features, services, benefits, deliverables- your output delivery factor will only match your input detail factor.?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Create something exciting for my audience."
• Better Prompt:?"Give me 10 engaging tagline ideas targeting hybrid-workplace dads aged 30-50 who love country music, football, and BBQ for my new fitness app which helps them with Feature 1, Feature 2, Feature 3."

AI-Yi-Yi #9

With over 3000 AI softwares and startups running around the country, it can be tempting to ignore AI's limitations.?AI is not a fortune teller, it does not have a crystal ball. (If it did, I would be asking it exactly how AI will impact the human race over the next few decades but that's a heavy topic for a different day. Side note: my point of view is that what we expect is what we get- so I expect AI to enhance the quality of our human lives in ways we can't even fathom yet. Or maybe I'm just an eternal optimist. Either way- control the controllables is all we can do!)?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Explain the specific challenges my company will face in the next quarter."
• Better Prompt:?"Suggest topics to consider when evaluating potential challenges my company may face in the next quarter when it comes to (give more context of what you've been concerned about here) ."

AI-Yi-Yi #10

AI cannot replace human creativity, intuition, empathy, and above all- DECISION MAKING!?Do NOT even attempt to lean on AI to make strategic business decisions for you. Decision-making and strategy are where we double down on our emotional intelligence, while we delegate low-level thinking to AI to help support us drawing our own HUMAN conclusions.?

• Bogus Prompt:?"Make all the decisions for my new marketing campaign."
• Better Prompt:?"Help me brainstorm some ideas around A, B, C for the theme (explain) of my new marketing campaign about (product or service) designed to (list specific benefits)."?

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Here's to all of the YES you so deserve online, offline, (in the water, out of the water), and ALL THE TIME!?

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Erin?

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PS- If you haven't already, you can request your private invite to my FREE virtual masterclass coming this summer:?“Digital Persuasion: How to Surf the AI Wave”?here.?

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PPS-What did I miss? Reply with your ideas, I'd love to hear them. (Or, if you found this list helpful, forward to a friend who could use a little “AI-Yi- Yiii” help this morning. )

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Erin King is the world’s leading digital persuasion expert, a 2x bestselling author, and Chief Digital Officer at?Strikepoint Media.?She helps sales and leadership executives become more persuasive communicators using her PUB Method?. SUCCESS Magazine named King one of 2022’s “Top 10 Must-See Motivational Speakers”.?She is the author of two bestselling books “Digital Persuasion” and?"You're Kind of a Big Deal". Her podcast,?“On Your Terms with Erin King”?is in the top 1% on iTunes. To learn more about Erin's keynotes, trainings, or workshops please visit?ErinKing.com.