Since launching in November, ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history, reaching 100 million monthly active users just 2 months. By comparison, it took TikTok about nine months to reach 100 million users, and Instagram 2-1/2 years.
ChatGPT is owned by OpenAI, a private company that is heavily backed by Microsoft. The app, which has both a free and a premium version, can generate articles, essays, jokes and even poetry. But is it a viral trend, or a valuable business tool?
Benefits of Chatbots Like ChatGPT for Small Business
According to a February Fishbowl survey, nearly half of respondents reported using ChapGPT at work. Here are a few ways you might use it to increase productivity in your small business:
- Jumpstart creative efforts. ChatGPT is a great way to break through the dreaded writer’s block when you’re stuck looking at a blank page. Some of the most widely reported uses are copywriting, drafting sales and marketing emails, and creating social media content. For the record, I did not use ChatGPT to write this blog post. 😊
- Improve customer service. Chatbots can generate fast, personalized responses to customer inquiries. You can also use ChatGPT to build list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers so your customers can quickly get their hands on your most-requested information.
- Streamline Operations. ChatGPT-powered applications such as Teams Premium from Microsoft can generate automatic meeting notes, recommend tasks and help create meeting templates for Teams users. This service rolled out in February at $7/month/user. Salesforce also recently announced plans to bring ChatGPT into Slack.
Unfortunately, the chatbot sensation is not all sunshine and puppy dogs. There is a lot of debate around plagiarism and intellectual property rights that I won’t go into here. However, I will say that chatbots aren’t perfect. Be aware that the output may include factual errors and/or biases. A good rule of thumb is to review, verify, and edit any content before you share it.
Cybersecurity Threats from ChatGPT
At the most basic level, ChatGPT can help hackers generate convincing phishing messages. This makes it even harder to spot social engineering scams. The app can also act as a forum for sharing malicious code.
Another cybersecurity risk is the leak of confidential company data. Remember, with a “free” service, you are usually the product – meaning that ChatGPT is gaining value through the data it compiles from its 100 million+ active users. In response to criticism and privacy concerns, OpenAI just recently changed its policy so that it no longer uses customer data to train its models by default. Still, I recommend advising your team not to share sensitive information in conversations with ChatGPT.
Widespread Availability – Microsoft 365 Copilot
Even if you have no interest in using the ChatGPT app, be aware that the underlying technology is coming soon to a computer near you. On March 16, Microsoft introduced Copilot, a new AI digital assistant developed with ChatGPT-4 and Microsoft Graphs that is integrated into Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams. Copilot offers help with editing, summarizing, and analyzing information. Think Clippy on steroids.
Microsoft is also previewing their Business Chat agent that will “work alongside you” and can summarize information, draft status reports, and brainstorm ideas. Copilot and Business Chat are currently available in testing with about 20 customers, with plans to roll out more widely in the coming months. Google has also announced AI features for Google Workspace, including AI-assisted text generation in Gmail, Docs, and more. Users received invitations this week to test the AI service which Google describes as “Bard, an early experiment by Google.”
In my opinion, these new tools are likely to be a real game changer when it comes to AI and business productivity. By putting AI at your fingertips, major players like Microsoft and Google are making the functionality too easy and available to ignore. Of course, there will be challenges. For example, as I said earlier, AI can be factually incorrect. It’s going to take time and learning to get it right. For now, your best option is to become familiar with these new tools and be ready to put policies in place within in your organization to make sure they are used responsibly and productively.
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