Jersey City — The virality of generative artificial intelligence has taken the world of tech by storm. Platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT attract an estimated 96 million visitors per month who use the platform to gather help on writing code, developing essays and creating business plans.
Similar to the way that people can ask Siri or Alexa to check the temperature outside, ChatGPT is able to take in written requests in a Chatbot format to deliver what the user needs. The platform is trained to follow instructions from a user's prompt and provide detailed responses with an 85% accuracy.
On ChatGPT, users have even been able to develop full-length essays, and thanks to the high level of AI – the platform can analyze a user’s previous writing samples to then write in their usual tone of voice and style.
This aspect has raised concerns in the academic and professional realm for plagiarism and the technicalities of what is even deemed as plagiarism in a post generative-AI world.
As Gen Z begins to explore the platform for help in school or work, I’d like to hone in on some of the ways the generation utilize ChatGPT to their advantage as they enter their careers – while avoiding the gray area of claiming unoriginal work.
Research Refinement
I spoke with an early-stage startup founder this week who informed me that he uses ChatGPT to advance his Google searches, particularly when it comes to locating funding opportunities.
Rather than solely relying on Google’s broad search for fundraising opportunities – he inputs a niche research question and request through ChatGPT such as: “Create a list of 10 early-stage funding opportunities for Black-owned startups and organize them by application deadline.”
ChatGPT’s advanced technology is able to generate and organize the list, which in return saves time and energy that the founder can instead use to apply for the opportunities.
Gen Z can take this same approach and use ChatGPT to find scholarship opportunities and even job listings in a fraction of the time.
Basic Copywriting
As a journalist and overall creative, I am strongly against people using ChatGPT to create “original works” of written material including essays, articles and even artistic images (which is more common on other generative AI platforms).
That said, I am not denying how useful it can be to get other forms of written work done, especially for people who do not find writing to be a strong-suit.
Where I see ChatGPT being of extreme value to Gen Z in this sense is when it comes to writing things like outreach emails, thank you notes and even resume bullet points for potential employers and any other opportunities they are seeking.
This can provide a concise, rough outline of writing that individuals can customize and tailor as they see fit.
Accelerated Learning
For the Gen Z who learn well from written explanations, ChatGPT can be a great tool.
Similar to the way that visual learners can go on YouTube to find a tutorial to better explain what they are going to learn, written learners can use ChatGPT to request a detailed explanation of any topic they are researching.
I see this as a huge value-add for Gen Z students and early-career professionals to cut down a lot of time on learning the materials needed to succeed in their respective fields.
This approach allows ChatGPT to be an added learning tool, rather than a tool that threatens to corrupt the originality needed in most written work.
Keeping it gee, I am optimistic, but cautious as I explore ChatGPTs benefits for myself and for the general public. I encourage everyone else to approach it in a similar fashion of acknowledging the benefits it brings while also honing in on the risks that come into play as well.