The introduction of large language models ChatGPT, Bard, Cohere and others has quickly impacted how some businesses use artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots to increase productivity in tasks such as language translation, customer support opens in new window, and content creation.
According to a Capterra study opens in new window, one in six UK businesses now use similar AI technology to complete a range of tasks, from content writing and coding to customer support.
This includes many smaller businesses using the technology to boost efficiency and make the most of limited resources.
So, how can your start-up transform its workflow with tools such as ChatGPT opens in new window, or alternatives such as Google Bard opens in new window or Anthropic Claude opens in new window?
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT and similar tools are advanced chatbots that use AI to produce human-like text.
They can answer questions, give suggestions, and generate complete articles almost instantly based on user prompts.
ChatGPT is a web-based application that anyone with an Internet connection can access.
You do not need additional software to use it, and its features are all in-built and available to anyone who signs up.
ChatGPT bases its answers on vast amounts of data it has analysed from the Internet, but users can also provide their own data.
The tool runs this data through a generative pre-trained transformer (hence ‘GPT’), which analyses the context of the user’s input and creates a response by predicting what word should come next.
It can do this hundreds of times per second, creating paragraphs of text in seconds.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, offers both free and premium versions of the tool – with the premium version offering additional features.
What are the benefits of AI tools?
One of the main attractions of AI tools such as ChatGPT is their speed.
They streamline tasks and automate routine activities, saving time and increasing productivity.
ChatGPT, in particular, can produce paragraphs of original content and data analysis summaries in seconds.
It can be used to write emails opens in new window, blogs opens in new window, and social media posts opens in new window or respond to customer support enquiries.
With greater productivity, businesses can scale up their operations, reducing the time required to complete routine text-based activities and enabling employees to focus on more complex tasks.
Finally, many of the tools are free to use by anyone with an internet connection – a potential boon for cash-strapped start-ups.
Seven ways to use ChatGPT in your business
Here are seven specific areas where you could use ChatGPT or alternatives to boost your business’s productivity.
1. Customer support
Businesses could benefit from website chatbots that answer customers’ questions and handle complaints, but monitoring and responding to these messages can be time-consuming.
With ChatGPT, you can automate responses and provide swift and reliable answers with minimal effort.
You can also use the technology to generate customer satisfaction surveys opens in new window, draft responses to customer emails, and create troubleshooting guides.
2. Language translation
To thrive in a competitive global market opens in new window, small business owners may need to consider how they communicate with international audiences.
It can help them tap into new markets and could increase revenue.
To support these efforts, start-ups could use ChatGPT to bridge potential language barriers.
Whether they want to respond to customers directly or create web pages or entire sites in a different language, business owners could use ChatGPT to translate content.
These translations can be generated in real-time, allowing you to respond to customers more quickly.
3. Content generation
ChatGPT’s advanced language capabilities make it a versatile tool to support various writing activities.
If you don’t have dedicated content writers in your start-up, you could use the tool to help improve your writing.
It can give you ideas on topics to cover, and you can ask it to review your content for spelling, grammar, and tone – ensuring high-quality content consistent with your brand’s tone of voice opens in new window.
You might even use it to provide additional information or to create entire pages from scratch.
By incorporating ChatGPT into your content creation process, you may be able to save time and maintain a steady flow of high-quality material, ultimately enhancing customer engagement and brand visibility – especially if copywriting isn’t your strong point.
4. Employee onboarding
ChatGPT could be a valuable tool in the employee onboarding process opens in new window.
It provides immediate access to company procedures and benefits, helping new hires to find answers to their queries independently.
This could reduce the demand for constant human supervision during onboarding, allowing HR personnel to allocate their time more efficiently.
ChatGPT can be customised to align with a specific company’s onboarding materials and processes, ensuring that it delivers relevant and consistent guidance to new employees.
It operates around the clock, catering to the diverse time zones of global teams.
Additionally, it can offer links to training resources, aiding in employees’ ongoing development from the outset.
5. Market research
As your start-up develops, it could be a good idea to conduct market research opens in new window to understand what your customers want and the types of products and services your competitors offer opens in new window.
You can use this information to influence your business decisions, ensuring your actions are based on well-researched data.
ChatGPT can help with this process because it can quickly process and analyse large volumes of data.
It can form summaries based on the data you’ve inputted and, in some cases, provide visual representations of data.
6. Social media marketing
If you’re looking to make the most of social media opens in new window in your start-up, ChatGPT offers a variety of ways to streamline and enhance your efforts.
You can use its content generation capabilities to create or edit your posts, while sentiment analysis provides valuable insights for content optimisation.
You can also use it to draft responses to comments and messages, boosting audience engagement.
7. Data analysis
You might encounter moments in your start-up journey where decisions must be made quickly and efficiently.
However, data-driven decisions can take time, depending on how much information needs to be sorted through and analysed.
With ChatGPT, you can receive instant summaries of input data, which you can use for anything from identifying key trends and data interpretation to streamlining operational processes and optimising resource allocation.
Are there any drawbacks to using ChatGPT?
Although there are countless ways that ChatGPT could help your start-up, you should be careful about the way you use it.
As advanced as the tool’s output is, it is essentially guessing what word comes next in a sentence.
This can result in content that’s written confidently but is factually inaccurate.
ChatGPT can also misrepresent information because it can’t understand or interpret the information it provides.
It’s why you should always review ChatGPT’s content to make sure it’s correct.
As with any AI tool, ChatGPT isn’t a replacement for specialised knowledge such as content generation or data analysis, but it can be a valuable aid to support these efforts.
Getting started
As long as you use ChatGPT or similar AI tools responsibly and acknowledge shortcomings, they could can be a great tool to help your start-up thrive.
It can be especially helpful for businesses that want guidance on specific issues but don’t have the time or resources to hire experts.
Read about other AI tools that can help grow your business. opens in new window
Thinking of starting a business? Check out our free online courses in partnership with the Open University on being an entrepreneur.
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Reference to any organisation, business and event on this page does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation from the British Business Bank or the UK Government. Whilst we make reasonable efforts to keep the information on this page up to date, we do not guarantee or warrant (implied or otherwise) that it is current, accurate or complete. The information is intended for general information purposes only and does not take into account your personal situation, nor does it constitute legal, financial, tax or other professional advice. You should always consider whether the information is applicable to your particular circumstances and, where appropriate, seek professional or specialist advice or support.
