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Certain uses of an AI assistant may be more obvious than others. You’ve seen that you can ask questions, or prompt it to provide you with information on a specific topic. You can use AI to write the initial draft of an entire blog post, or ask it to improve a particular sentence. But every day people are finding new and creative ways to use AI in their workflows to help with efficiency. Let’s explore a couple of those uses now.
Before we dig in, there are some things to keep in mind:
Format: Depending on what tool you’re using, you won’t be able to give it a PDF or Word file, or even a link to a specific webpage. So you’ll need to type or paste text in with your prompt so that the AI has the materials necessary to complete the task.
Length constraints: ChatGPT has a character and token limit which varies depending on which version or tool you’re using. This means you can’t paste all of the text from a very long piece of content directly, but you can provide specific sections from the content, or a shorter summary of the main points.
Specificity: While ChatGPT is good at generating content based on prompts, the quality of the output will largely depend on the clarity and specificity of the summary or details you provide.
Iterative process: It might require a few iterations or tweaking of the prompt to get the desired results.
The world is filled with various platforms where information is shared, from chatty social media sites to professional newsletters. Each platform has its own style, and content should feel at home wherever it’s posted.
Let’s imagine you just had ChatGPT write a draft blog post. To share a snippet on X (formerly Twitter) you might need a catchy two-liner, or for a newsletter, a brief summary with a link to read more. With ChatGPT, you can ask for these adaptations directly using post-output iteration: “Can you now summarize that blog post in two lines for Twitter?” or “How would you introduce this topic in a newsletter?” By being specific about the platform, you guide the AI to generate content that not only informs but fits perfectly with the intended medium.
If you have an article of your own on your website, you can paste in the entire blog post, or a portion of it, for the AI assistant to work with.
For example, we asked ChatGPT “Can you summarize the following blog post into two lines for Twitter?” and then pasted all of the text from this post: New Course: Turn Your Passion Into Impact by Building an Online Course↗︎
Below is a screenshot of the results, and additional iterations we expanded with:
Text version of the screenshot above
ChatGPT
“Transform your passion into a global impact with our ‘Building Online Courses’ course. Empower, engage, and excel in the digital classroom, transcending boundaries and enriching lives.”
You
Great, can you give 3 more suggestions all worded differently?ChatGPT
ChatGPT
- “Unleash your potential: Our new course on Building Online Courses guides you from passion to global educator, offering flexibility, reach, and financial freedom.”
- “Step into the future of education with our course, ‘Building Online Courses’. Navigate from idea to impact, crafting digital learning experiences that transcend borders.”
- “Embark on a journey to impactful teaching with ‘Building Online Courses’. Discover strategies to share your expertise globally and build a thriving online educational brand.”
You
Super. Now, can you provide an excerpt of less than 100 words to use in an email newsletter? 3/3 ChatGPT
ChatGPT
“Discover the power of sharing your expertise with the world in our new course, ‘Building Online Courses’. This comprehensive guide offers essential strategies to craft effective and engaging online learning experiences. Break free from geographical limits, enjoy flexible scheduling, and create impactful content that resonates globally. Join us to turn your passion into a transformative educational journey. Enroll now and redefine the landscape of online education!”
You’ll notice that the prompt for the email newsletter excerpt shows 3/3. This is because we weren’t happy with the first two versions it provided. So in this case, we revised the prompt to get more specific about what we were looking for.
The first prompt was: “Super. Now, how would you introduce this topic in a newsletter?” and the result was more suitable for a print style newsletter or a dedicated email just covering this topic.
The second prompt was: “Super. Now, can you provide an excerpt of less than 200 words to use in an email newsletter?” but the response was broken up into 3 paragraphs and was still too long.
The third prompt, shown in the screenshot, produced a much better output for what we were looking for. It’s still not perfect, because for one, none of our courses require enrollment. But ChatGPT doesn’t know that, because we didn’t tell it and the information wasn’t stated in the original article either. Even so, the result provided was still well written and a great starting point. Even better, the process only took a couple of minutes, including reading time of the responses.
FAQs are often those popular questions that almost everyone has on their minds. They’re quick, to-the-point, and designed to help people find answers without sifting through tons of information.
This one is often an aha moment for users, because yes, you can utilize ChatGPT to generate possible FAQs based on a summary or the main points of a page of content. Sometimes, ChatGPT also likes to be an overachiever and provide you with more than you expected!
Example:
Let’s say you have content about a new eco-friendly water bottle:
Content Summary:
“The AquaGreen bottle is an eco-friendly water container made from 100% recycled materials. It keeps liquids cold for up to 24 hours and hot for up to 12 hours. Its unique design prevents leaks and spills. It’s available in three sizes and five colors. A portion of every purchase goes to clean water initiatives.”
Prompt to ChatGPT:
“Based on the provided summary about the AquaGreen bottle, generate five potential FAQs.”
Here’s a screenshot of what happened:
Text version of the screenshot above
You
Content Summary: “The AquaGreen bottle is an eco-friendly water container made from 100% recycled materials. It keeps liquids cold for up to 24 hours and hot for up to 12 hours. Its unique design prevents leaks and spills. It’s available in three sizes and five colors. A portion of every purchase goes to clean water initiatives.”
Based on the provided summary about the AquaGreen bottle, generate five potential FAQs.ChatGPT
ChatGPT
Based on the summary provided for the AquaGreen bottle, here are five potential FAQs:
- What materials are used in the construction of the AquaGreen bottle?
Answer: The AquaGreen bottle is made from 100% recycled materials, emphasizing its eco-friendly nature. - How long can the AquaGreen bottle maintain the temperature of its contents?
Answer: This bottle is designed to keep liquids cold for up to 24 hours and hot for up to 12 hours, ensuring temperature stability for your beverages throughout the day. - Is the AquaGreen bottle leak-proof and spill-proof?
Answer: Yes, the AquaGreen bottle has a unique design that effectively prevents leaks and spills, making it ideal for on-the-go use. - In what sizes and colors is the AquaGreen bottle available?
Answer: The AquaGreen bottle is available in three different sizes to cater to various needs and preferences. Additionally, it comes in a choice of five colors, offering aesthetic variety to customers. - Does purchasing an AquaGreen bottle contribute to any environmental or social causes?
Answer: Yes, a portion of every purchase of an AquaGreen bottle goes towards clean water initiatives, supporting environmental conservation and social responsibility.
This approach can help generate a set of FAQs, sometimes with answers, that can then be refined or expanded upon as needed.
You’ll also notice that an AI assistant may take a different approach with different content. For this example, we asked: “Based on the page contents below, generate 5 possible FAQs that beginners new to WordPress.com might ask:” We then pasted the contents from our WordPress Introduction↗︎ resource. Here’s the results:
Text version of the screenshot above
ChatGPT
Based on the provided information, here are five possible FAQs that beginners new to WordPress.com might ask:
- What is WordPress.com and how is it different from WordPress.org?
Explanation: Many beginners are confused about the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Clarifying this difference is essential for understanding which platform suits their needs. - Can I start a website for free on WordPress.com, and what are the limitations of the free plan?
Explanation: Since WordPress.com offers a free hosting option, beginners might be interested in understanding what they can do with the free plan and its limitations. - What is the learning curve for a beginner using WordPress.com, and how can I simplify the process?
Explanation: New users might be concerned about the complexity of WordPress and would want to know how to make the learning process more manageable. - How does the upgrade process work on WordPress.com, and what additional features become available with each plan?
Explanation: Understanding the upgrade path and the additional features available at each tier can help users plan their website’s growth. - What kind of support and resources are available for beginners on WordPress.com?
Explanation: New users often seek information about the support and learning resources available to them as they start building their website on WordPress.com.
In this example, ChatGPT didn’t provide the answers but rather provided us with logical questions that the materials might raise with users .
Depending on the content provided, it’s also possible to ask ChatGPT to generate answers to specific questions as well.
In the screenshot below, you can see that we used the same conversation thread from above and asked it to answer a specific question:
Text version of the screenshot above
You
Based on the content provided above, can you generate a brief answer to the question: What is WordPress?ChatGPT
ChatGPT
WordPress is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) used for building and managing websites. It’s renowned for its flexibility and extensibility, primarily because it’s an open-source software. This means it has a large community contributing to its development, constantly adding new tools and functionalities. WordPress is suitable for creating everything from simple to complex websites, making it a versatile choice for users of all skill levels. It’s a platform where beginners can start with basic features and gradually explore more advanced options as they become more comfortable. WordPress.com, in particular, offers managed hosting services, making it easier to start and grow a website with various plan options to suit different needs.
Your imagination is the only limit on what you can use an AI assistant for. Think about your day-to-day tasks, the content you need to create, the pieces that you don’t enjoy or struggle with, and consider working with AI to help make that task go smoother and more quickly.
Which of the following best describes the primary guidance for using ChatGPT to generate FAQs?
Spot on! Being specific is crucial. By guiding ChatGPT clearly, you can steer the AI to generate the type of response you’re aiming for. Great job in catching that key point!
Oops! Not quite. Remember, when working with ChatGPT, especially for FAQ generation, the way you phrase your prompts plays a big role. Let’s try again and think about how to guide the AI! You can click Reset below to try again.
Do you have suggestions for how we can improve this lesson? Let us know in the Education Community Forum↗︎.
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