Balancing AI in Business: The Double-Edged Sword of ChatGPT and AI Technology
HOW CHATGPT AND AI TECHNOLOGY CAN AID OR HINDER BUSINESSES
The influences of Artificial Intelligence (AI in the Marketing industry are ripples in a pond but will become a full-blown splash as AI grows more sophisticated. Marketing strategies, business models, and sales procedures will all shift under the influence and presence of AI incorporation into business strategies (Davenport, et al. 2019). For example, most sales procedures still rely on phone calls, emails, and other message systems; using AI to identify customer tone may convey the possibility of other customer reservations or issues for the sales associate to address (Davenport et al. 2019). AI may also better predict consumer trends, which could shift the direction of retail purchases or the artistic direction of a product; it could help streamline services and save businesses time and energy in marketing (Davenport et al. 2019). However, for every advantage, there is a disadvantage in today's use of AI technologies.
STREAMLINING YOUR BUSINESS VS. CHATBOT HATE AND PUNS
Chatbots can automate customer services, facilitate communications with company managers, and work with customers without being offended (Luo, et al. 2019). However, using AI, specifically chatbots in business, usually involves customer pushback. In a study that included 6,200 customers, customers were randomly selected to chat with either chatbots or human workers (Luo et al. 2019). While chatbots in this study proved to be more efficient and effective than both experienced and inexperienced sales associates when the automation was not revealed, when it was revealed, purchase rates fell by 79.7 percent (Luo et al. 2019). The perceived notion that the chatbot is less knowledgeable and empathic than a human decreases the likelihood of purchase (Luo, et al. 2019). Additionally, all human-sided conversations are more abrupt (Luo, et al. 2019). People want to speak with other people, not chatbots.
In the previous blog post, we discussed how ChatGPT could provide inaccurate information to users and generally lacked human imagination and empathy (Christou et al. 2024; Desaire et al. 2023; Morressier 2023; Rivas and Zhao 2023). However, by entering just a few keywords and questions into a prompt, this technology could act as a sounding board for new and creative ideas to explore rather than a copy-and-paste alternative to human imagination (Jain et al., 2023). This could save businesses considerable time, but ChatGPT tends to provide similar information and text to its users with similar requests (Rivas and Zhao, 2023). This could cause your business brand to suffer and you to grow dependent on ChatGPT for easy ideas (Christou et al. 2024; Rivas and Zhao 2023). For example, I asked ChatGPT to "Write a slogan for a piano retailer" five times.
First Response: Harmony Starts Here: Your Key to Musical Brilliance!
Second Response: Unlock Your Musical Journey with Our Keys to Excellence!
Third Response: Harmony at Your Fingertips: Find Your Perfect Piano Today!
Fourth Response: Play Your Passion: Keys to Musical Bliss Await!
Fifth Response: Key to Musical Brilliance: Find Your Perfect Harmony Here!
For some unknown reason, ChatGPT is stuck on using musical puns. A catchy slogan does not need puns. These are also very generic, lacking that ‘special something’ that would be truly unique to “your” piano retail store. Lastly, these slogans are simply not memorable. They fail to catch the eye or ear.
Let’s try something else. Creating content for social media is challenging, and finding unique posts that make your business relevant and visible daily is hard; however, using ChatGPT as a launching board could make this considerably easier.
So, I asked ChatGPT to “Write a daily social media post for a used book retailer” on three occasions.
Response 1: "📚 Dive into a new adventure every day with our ever-growing collection of pre-loved books! 🌟 From classic literature to contemporary bestsellers, there's something for every reader. Browse our shelves and uncover hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. Who knows what worlds you'll explore next? #Bookworm #UsedBooks #ReadingAdventure 📖✨"
Response 2: "📚 Embrace the magic of storytelling with our latest arrivals! ✨ From gripping mysteries to heartwarming classics, there's a treasure waiting for every book lover. Dive into a world of imagination and nostalgia with our collection of pre-loved reads. Who knows what captivating tales you'll uncover today? #BookLovers #UsedBooks #Storytime 📖✨"
Response 3: "📚 Discover literary gems waiting to be unearthed! ✨ Step into our cozy nook and explore a world of stories that have stood the test of time. From beloved classics to hidden treasures, our shelves are brimming with possibilities. Let the adventure begin! #Bookworm #UsedBooks #ReadingTime 📖✨"
ChatGPT uses oodles of buzzwords, but they are all similar and get repetitive, especially if you’re looking for new daily content. For example, take response 1, “From classic literature to contemporary bestsellers, there’s something for every reader.” This may not be true for your store. Does your bookshop have classic literature? Or do you only sell vampire novels? Try being more specific to YOUR bookshop and listing a few favorites! Also, the phrase “hidden treasure” is used often by ChatGPT. You can bet that it would send your competitors the same buzzwords. Lastly, ChatGPT seems to loves emojis, the same way it loves puns and they are simply not necessary to every social media post.
Overall, ChatGPT's phrasing is repetitive. So, swap those phrases out! Or be more specific about the kind of “hidden treasures” you have available. The use of hashtags by ChatGPT is a good idea; however, I am sure there are more popular hashtags out there! Better yet, who are your customers? Find a hashtag that will best reach your audience!
IS IT WORTH IT?
When you own your business, “time” is a precious resource. Time spent thinking up ways to make your business posts on social media relevant, engaging, and eye-popping is a big time-sink. Brainstorming slogans and other content for your website can swallow up hours and energy that could be used in other, more meaningful ways to propel your business forward. ChatGPT can create a baseline for those needed paragraphs.
However, editing and fine-tuning those generic responses and turning them into what makes your product unique is vital! Chatbots know nothing about your business. They cannot convey your feelings or tell anyone what makes it special. That is something only YOU can do. This goes for automated chats. A chatbot cannot convey enthusiasm for your product- only you can do that.
So, how do we fine-tune this? Ask yourself: What makes your shop one of a kind? Is it a father, son, and grandson generational shop? How long have you been in the industry? Does it cater to beginners or more advanced consumers? Do you offer other services or lessons? Do you offer a variety, or do you specialize in one kind? Do you sell antiques? Find your niche and expound on it.
BOTTOMLINE
ChatGPT falls short of understanding consumers and the needs of businesses and general marketing expertise (Christou et al. 2024).
Many of these issues are rooted in the ethical according to Rivas and Zhao (2023). Spreading inaccurate information, plagiarism of a chatbot, user dependency, poor job replacement, and possible bias are all concerns when using Chatbots for business improvement (Christou, et al. 2024) (Rivas and Zhao 2023).
Utilize ChatGPT, but do not let it smother your own creativity. Instead, step outside the box it puts your business into with its saccharine marketing suggestions.
REFERENCES
Christou, Despina, Kostas Hatalis, Mark G. Staton, and Michael Frechette. 2024. "ChatGPT for marketers: Limitations and mitigations." Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing 11 (4): 307-323.
Davenport, Thomas, Abhijit Guha, Dhruv Grewal, and Timna Bressgott. 2019. "How artifical intelligence will change the future of marketing." Academy of Marketing Science 48: 24-42. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00696-0.
Desaire, Heather, Aleesa E. Chua, Madeline Isom, Romana Jarsova, and David Hua. 2023. "Distinguishing academic science writing from humans or ChatGPT with over 99% accuracy using off-the-shelf machine learning tools." Cell Reports Physical Science 4 (6). doi:doi: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101426.
Jain, Varsha, Himanshu Rai, Parvathy Parvathy, and Emmanuel Mogaji. 2023. "The Prospects and Challenges of ChatGPT on Marketing Research and Practices." SSRN (Elsevier). doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4398033.
Luo, Xueming, Siliang Tong, Zheng Fang, and Zhe Qu. 2019. "Frontiers: Machines vs. Humans: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Disclosure on Customer Purchases." Marketing Science 38 (6): 937-947. doi:https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1192.
Open AI. 2024. Introducing ChatGPT. https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt.
Rivas, Pablo, and Liang Zhao. 2023. "Marketing with ChatGPT: Navigating the Ethical Terrain of GPT-Based Chatbot Technology." Standards and Ethics in AI 4 (2): 375-384. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ai4020019 .
