Generative AI like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are an amazing boon to busy entrepreneurs.

But beware, here be dragons, too.

Take a casual look at this picture. I look fabulous, right?

Take a closer look and you may notice that I have three arms and one leg. Not so fabulous anymore, am I right?

This is the danger of AI tools such as those I’ve mentioned. If you use what they generate without taking a closer look, you may end up with content that is the metaphorical equivalent of a three-armed, one-legged beauty.

So how should you be using these AI tools?

Some will try to sell you on the idea that better prompts equal better output. And, yes, that’s true, but…

AI will never give you perfectly human content.

For example, no matter what I do, ChatGPT 4 still wants to “delve” into things and take them to “new heights.” I don’t talk like that. (Although, after using ChatGPT for a while I have caught myself using “delve” once in a while!) It also sprinkles in an abundance of emojis, another thing I don’t really do.

As a writer, I’m just not happy with the content that is generated by AI tools.

But I am a heavy user of them, anyway.

“So, what are you using them for?” I hear you ask.

I’ve found AI tools to be great creativity partners. They help me formulate and generate ideas much faster. They’ve given me back much of my time. I use them to:

• Generate titles of videos, YouTube thumbnails, and blog posts
• Social media captions
• Conduct initial target market research
• Create content outlines
• Help me leap over a momentary writer’s block

And, of course, there are AI tools that help me with:

• Video editing: Descript has given me back hours of my time. Its text-based video editing capability has reduced video editing tasks from 8 hours to under 2.
• Image generation: ToonMe and ChatGPT create many of the images I used in social media, blog, and video content.
• Proofreading: Grammarly and MS Word Editor help me produce content with fewer spelling and grammar errors.
• Content planning: QuickWrite, ChatGPT, and Claude are excellent tools for planning out content from generating titles and outlines, to giving me ideas on what topics to create content about.
• Editing: Sometimes I get stuck. I write a quick post or caption and I’m just not happy with the result. So I plop it into an AI tool and ask it to improve it. Seven times out of 10 I love what it does to my copy. The rest of the time, I just need to tweak it a little bit.

In conclusion, I believe that AI tools provide a time-saving benefit to entrepreneurs who may feel overwhelmed with all the things on their plates. However, I caution them to use these tools wisely and to keep a vigilant eye out for lovely multi-armed copy they produce. As with wise alcohol use, use them responsibly and they will help you take your business to new heights! (LOL).

---

Did you enjoy this post? Then  you might enjoy this episode of The Author Switch Podcast: The Art of Words and Algorithms: Ethical AI Practices for Authors.