Maximizing the Benefits of AI: Tips from Our Experience with ChatGPT

Artificial intelligence (AI) has existed for decades, but there have been many sudden and dramatic advancements in recent years, prompting businesses to begin incorporating this revolutionary technology into their work. As with any new technology, it’s critical to recognize and understand both the benefits and potential risks that come along with using it.

At Pierce PR, we’ve implemented generative AI – the type of AI made famous by the likes of ChatGPT, which can generate text or images based on user prompts – to help support our work. Below, we’re sharing five tips that helped us shape our approach to using AI in our business.

1. Identify processes that AI can help streamline

AI can help streamline tasks without sacrificing quality. In our research, we identified several major categories of routine PR tasks that could benefit from enhanced processes using AI. Using ChatGPT, we created a variety of custom generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs).

Each individual GPT is tailored to a specific process, allowing the AI to best hone its ability to support the necessary task. Designating unique, customized GPTs for your company’s high-level processes helps an AI tool focus on specific tasks and create significant efficiencies.

2. Provide your AI tool with strong reference files and instructions

AI performs best when it has access to high-quality, relevant reference materials. We curated a library of reference files that included non-confidential examples of our past work, key messaging documents and extremely specific instructions to ensure ChatGPT produces results that align with our high standards.

You can never be too specific when providing instructions for an AI tool. Spell things out as if you were talking to a 5-year-old, and tell the AI exactly what you need for a given task! References and instructions serve as a foundation for AI-generated content, allowing it to learn appropriate tone and style notes while maintaining accuracy and consistency. Regularly updating these references as your needs evolve ensures continued relevance and quality.

3. Be intentional about prompt engineering

It’s crucial to engineer clear, concise and context-specific prompts that guide an AI tool toward useful and relevant responses. For instance, when using our custom media pitch GPT, we describe the goal of the outreach, the topic we’re pitching, any target media outlets and instructions on matching the tone and format of reference files. In addition to prompts, it may be necessary to upload any relevant files or include links that support the GPT’s understanding of the topic.

Using a similar prompt structure at the beginning of each new conversation ensures the AI receives all of the necessary information and learns what to expect for subsequent uses. Experimenting with variations on the standard prompt can also improve the quality of responses.

4. Develop a policy and hold everyone accountable

When implementing AI into company workflows, employees can benefit from a detailed policy that outlines how AI should and should not be used – including clear guidelines around data privacy, mitigating bias and protecting sensitive information.

Our AI policy emphasizes the importance of team oversight and outlines how to avoid sharing information that is not ours to share. Defining these expectations in a document signed by each team member ensures that AI serves as a support tool and maintains integrity across our work.

5. Don’t underestimate the power of the human touch

While AI can automate many tasks, the human touch remains irreplaceable. Every piece of AI-supported content should be reviewed and edited before finalizing and sharing with others. Take every necessary step to ensure content created with the assistance of AI meets quality standards and aligns with the objective for a given task.

At Pierce PR, we view AI as an assistant that enhances our capabilities – not a replacement for human creativity, innovation and sound judgment. We ensure that our work remains authentic and personalized to support our clients while harnessing an exciting and powerful technology that helps us create an even greater impact.

Evan Dorian is an account coordinator and emerging AI expert at Pierce PR.