Generative AI Developments

Earlier this month, Minneapolis hosted and Lathrop GPM sponsored the 2024 Midwest Legal Coneference on Data Privacy and Cybersecurity. The conference covered a wide range of topics including generative AI developments, emerging state privacy laws, and strategies to mitigate cybersecurity risks. The generative AI sessions were particularly popular and had attendees buzzing with excitement (and admittedly, some trepidation) throughout conference. Conversations about the quickly developing tool spilled out into the hallways during session breaks and continued well into the evening—lawyers are an exciting bunch, aren’t they…

In case you’ve been living under a rock, generative AI refers to a specific type of artificial intelligence technology that has the ability to generate text, images, and other data, typically in response to user generated questions or prompts. While generative AI has downfalls like hallucinating court cases, producing damaging deepfake images, inaccurately flagging student assignments as plagiarism, and displaying gender bias when generating images—there’s no denying the tool has its fair share of advantages, especially for entrepreneurs.

ChatGPT is the most well-known generative AI chatbot. It responds to user inquiries almost instantly and, when prompted, can provide complex essay-like answers, organize useful information in table formats, create budgets, fitness plans, craft travel itineraries, and more. However, widespread use of ChatGPT is fraught with concern regarding the ethical implications of its use and its potential to generate inaccurate information. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned take advantage of the tool without many of the ethical and credibility concerns the chatbot is often criticized for.

Use of creative prompts can aid entrepreneurs in a myriad of tasks from creating copy for their websites and newsletters, to generating insights about their target audience and identifying brand influencers. Feeling stuck in an entrepreneurial rut? Here are seven (7) prompts to help you get back on track and back to doing what you enjoy most.

1. My brand is focused on [brand focus]. Please create a social media calendar for the month of [month].
2. My brand is focused on [brand focus]. Based on my brand, please identify my best target audience and suggest ways I can best create a community for this audience.
3. My brand is focused on [brand focus]. Please develop a business plan to help me reach my target audience.
4. I created/want to create a business that focuses on [business focus]. What are some memorable and unique business names I could use? Optional add-ons:
• Please generate as many unique business names as possible.
• Please keep the names short and simple.
5. I currently have a business focused on [business focus] but I’m struggling to [problem area]. Please identify the most useful steps I can take to eliminate this problem and provide an actionable step-by-step guide to help me reach my goal in [timeframe]. Ask me as many questions as you need to complete this task.
6. Today you’re a marketing specialist for my [business type] brand. Please ask me questions to help me identify areas where my business may be underperforming, my potential customers and their needs, and my brand voice.
7. I have a [business] business. A customer recently left the following negative business review: [insert review]. Please create a kind and thoughtful response indicating that customer service is of the utmost importance and asking the customer to give the business a chance to address their concern(s).

Use these questions as is or use them as a guide to generate more specific questions geared toward your particular business goals, needs, and challenges.

ChatGPT is constantly learning and will continue to do so as we move further into the digital age. Asking the right questions can help you address your business’s potential areas of weakness and help you offload administrative tasks you might not enjoy.

When using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, it’s best practice to verify necessary information before moving forward. Remember, Google is also still your friend and a valuable tool. While there are very real concerns surrounding the use of AI technology, when used with caution, the tool can aid in improving your business and eliminating time consuming tasks.