What happened when I asked ChatGPT to blog for me
I didn’t write much of this post. In fact, I didn’t type a word of what you see below. Instead, I simply asked ChatGPT to write a blog post on leadership for me. And that was that.
It took maybe 30 seconds in total for the bot to spit out an entirely cogent blog post on the topic of Leadership. And yes, it blew my mind. Does it sound fairly academic? Sure. But if you had told me, after I read it, that a bot authored this post without any real input, I wouldn’t have believed you.
How do we feel about the technology? It is awe-inspiring and has so many practical and exciting applications. It has self-identified a number of useful applications, like providing general information and answering questions on a wide range of topics; clarifying concepts, translating from one language to another, generating text, and proofreading. It can also write poems or songs in a particular style (e.g., iambic pentameter for any Shakespeare fans), but I wouldn’t expect the most glorious prose.
Still, I do worry about the more nefarious applications, some of which are detailed here. Will we lose critical thinking skills, our ability to creatively write, and to convey our own thoughts rather than a scraped version generated by AI. And, there are risks inherent in the technology itself. I asked ChatGPT to help me understand the risks associated with using large language models like itself. Here is what it wrote, in part:
“Overall, while ChatGPT and other large language models can be powerful tools for generating text, it’s important to consider the potential risks and drawbacks of using them. It’s important to use these tools responsibly and to take steps to mitigate the potential risks, such as fact-checking generated content and avoiding the use of offensive or inappropriate language.”
Still the technology is so appealing, particularly as a way to augment, guide, or support.
When I was the CMO of IBM Watson, I had the opportunity to work with companies using AI in amazing ways in their businesses. Scotts Miracle Gro used AI and weather data to predict purchase patterns ahead of the growing season. Lufthansa used AI to tailor its advertising to the individual. Nedbank reduced rates of online fraud. And so many companies are using AI to power conversations — with employees via help desk applications and customers via service applications. But this? ChatGPT goes further than conversational tools have gone before. It was trained — according to itself — on a dataset of billions of words:
“The training process involved using machine learning techniques to analyze and learn patterns in this dataset, with the goal of allowing me to generate human-like text and respond to a wide variety of prompts. I am able to answer questions and have conversations on a wide range of topics because of the vast amount of data that was used to train me.”
So, when I asked it to write about leadership, here is what ChatGPT wrote:
Leadership skills are essential for anyone who wants to be a successful leader, whether in a professional or personal setting. These skills can help you inspire and motivate others, make difficult decisions, solve problems, and build strong teams.
One of the most important leadership skills is the ability to communicate effectively. This means being able to clearly and concisely convey your ideas and vision to others, as well as actively listen to their feedback and concerns. Good communication also involves being open and transparent, and being able to adapt your style to different situations and audiences.
Another important leadership skill is the ability to inspire and motivate others. A good leader should be able to create a positive and engaging work environment, and foster a culture of collaboration and teamwork. This can involve recognizing and rewarding individual and team achievements, providing support and guidance, and setting clear goals and expectations.
In addition to communication and motivation, good leaders also need to have strong problem-solving skills. This means being able to identify and analyze problems, generate potential solutions, and make well-informed decisions. It also involves being able to think on your feet and adapt to changing circumstances.
Finally, effective leaders also need to have strong interpersonal skills. This means being able to build and maintain positive relationships with team members, clients, and other stakeholders. It also involves being able to handle conflicts and difficult situations in a professional and respectful manner.
Overall, leadership skills are essential for anyone who wants to be a successful leader. They can help you inspire and motivate others, make difficult decisions, solve problems, and build strong teams. By developing and honing these skills, you can become a more effective and inspiring leader.
It’s not perfect, but it certainly isn’t awful. And if you’d given it to me to proofread it, I would never have imagined that an AI-powered program would have written it.
Over the past century, some of our top thinkers — from scientists and futurists, to philosophers and clergy — have warned about robots taking over for humans, automating rote tasks at first, but then assuming the roles of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and educators. I prefer to think of AI (Artificial Intelligence) as an extension of HI (Human Intelligence) and robots achieving goals we set through means we define.
As MIT professor Cynthia Breazel says, “Robots touch something deeply human within us. For me, robots are all about people.”
