(Part three in a series.) The previous two installments featured my interview with ChatGPT (Floor Covering News, Feb. 20/27 and March 6/13). In this installment, I’m going to provide some analysis around that interview.
First, as you’re reading the interview, keep at the forefront of your mind that it’s a machine to which I’m asking questions. The responses are so organic that it’s easy to forget you’re reading statements generated by a non-human “intelligence.” If you haven’t played around with ChatGPT, I highly recommend that you take some time and do it. Here’s the link: openai.com/blog/chatgpt.
How it works
ChatGPT operates from prompts. Each of my interview questions was essentially a prompt. Your prompt’s phrasing controls the quality and relevance of Chat’s answers. For example, one of my prompts asked Chat to write a flooring ad. The first sounded very generic, like every other flooring ad. So, I asked Chat to write one that created differentiation, but the ad it produced wasn’t much better.
Why did Chat’s first two attempts sound like re-hashings of generic flooring ads? Because Chat generated its response by “looking” at all the other flooring websites and essentially reworking the copy it found there. Which is essentially what most web developers and ad companies do!
On my third attempt I gave Chat this prompt: “Write a flooring retail ad that’s 50 words or less, is super funny and targets English-speaking Hispanic women between the ages of 35 and 50 with income of $75,000 or more.” Chat’s third ad was very clever, funny and definitely didn’t sound like every other flooring ad.
The lesson: If you’re going to use Chat to create copy for your website or ads, make sure it’s generating results that don’t make you sound like every other flooring dealer. This is accomplished by getting very creative and specific with your prompts.
Humor
At the beginning of my interview I asked Chat to provide answers that were entertaining and humorous. Here’s what it said when I asked it to introduce itself: “Well, hello there! I’m ChatGPT, your friendly neighborhood language model, and I’m here to make your life easier. Think of me as your personal AI assistant, but without the coffee runs and the bad jokes (I’m sorry, I can’t help myself).”
This demonstrates an uncanny ability to be human-like and shows an understanding of U.S. culture that is very impressive. It’s chatty, witty, warm and funny. It kept up this informal, humorous style throughout the interview, including when I asked it about the dangers of AI taking over the world—all of which is very impressive. (And, I have to admit, kind of creepy.)
The lesson here is people respond to humor. It makes you more relatable to your prospects. So, if you’re using ChatGPT to create ad copy, experiment with prompts that ask it to be humorous.
Jim is the founder and President of Flooring Success Systems, a company that provides floor dealers with marketing services and coaching to help them attract quality customers, close more sales, get higher margins, and work the hours they choose. For information visit FlooringSuccessSystems.com.
