It seems like everyone is playing around with ChatGPT right now. It is an AI based chatbot that can answer a wide range of text-based questions and commands.
College students are writing papers using it. Authors are playing around with it to generate titles, subtitles, and even content. People are writing social media posts using it.
I’ve been goofing around with it, and at times it is impressive. And at other times, it gets thing totally wrong. But overall, it is quite convincing and promising. So I decided to see if ChatGPT could write a blog entry for me.
I asked it: “Please write me an 800 word blog entry on why innovation is important to large organizations. Be sure to include your definition of innovation and 5 steps on how to make innovation a reality.”
Here’s its response (bolding is my way of making it more readable):
ChatGPT’s Response:
Innovation is the introduction of new ideas, processes, or products that create value for an organization. It can come in the form of a new product or service, a new business model, or a new way of doing things.
Innovation is important for large organizations for a number of reasons.
First, innovation helps organizations stay competitive. In today’s fast-paced business environment, it is essential for organizations to continuously seek out new ways to improve their products, services, and operations. This can help them attract and retain customers, as well as stay ahead of their competitors.
Second, innovation can drive growth. By introducing new products or services, organizations can tap into new markets and expand their customer base. This can lead to increased revenue and profits.
Third, innovation can improve efficiency and reduce costs. By adopting new technologies or processes, organizations can streamline their operations and reduce their overhead costs. This can help them become more profitable and sustain their competitive advantage.
Fourth, innovation can foster a culture of creativity and collaboration within an organization. Encouraging employees to come up with new ideas and approaches can foster a sense of ownership and empowerment, which can lead to increased employee engagement and productivity.
Fifth, innovation can help organizations adapt to changing market conditions. By continuously seeking out new ways to meet the needs of their customers, organizations can stay relevant and responsive to the changing needs of the market.
So, how can large organizations make innovation a reality? Here are five steps to consider:
- Set clear innovation goals and objectives: It is important for organizations to have a clear vision of what they want to achieve through innovation. This can help guide their efforts and ensure that they are working towards meaningful, measurable outcomes.
- Encourage a culture of innovation: Large organizations should encourage employees to come up with new ideas and approaches, and create an environment that is supportive of experimentation and risk-taking. This can be achieved through training, mentorship, and incentives.
- Foster collaboration: Innovation often involves working with people from different departments or even different organizations. Large organizations should create opportunities for cross-functional collaboration and encourage employees to share their ideas and insights.
- Invest in research and development: Large organizations should allocate resources towards researching new technologies and ideas that have the potential to drive innovation. This can involve partnerships with universities, startups, or other organizations.
- Embrace change: Innovation often requires organizations to embrace change and adapt to new ways of doing things. This can be challenging, but it is essential for organizations to be open to change and continuously seek out opportunities for improvement.
In conclusion, innovation is crucial for large organizations to stay competitive, drive growth, and adapt to changing market conditions. By setting clear innovation goals, fostering a culture of innovation, encouraging collaboration, investing in research and development, and embracing change, organizations can make innovation a reality and achieve long-term success.
My Thoughts
Overall it is acceptable, but not very thought-provoking. The responses are quite generic and don’t demonstrate a particular point of view. For example, if I were to write a response to my request, it would certainly include things about the need to “innovate where you differentiate,” why “asking for ideas is a bad idea,” and how to solve problems through the process of reframing (“don’t think outside the box, find a better box”).
As was pointed out to me on social media by Marc Mekki, the reason I received such a general response is that I provided a generic question. Fantastic insight! And one that I’m dismayed I didn’t see initially for myself. One of my core pieces of work (my Invisible Solutions® book) is all around the importance of framing questions. And with AI, given it can’t really think, the questions become even more important.
Had I used my process to ask a less generic (in my world, I call it reducing the abstraction), I would have received different answers. But would they be better? No necessarily. I will create another post with some more thoughts on the role of reframing with AI.
Regardless, what I like about the technology is it can be a good sounding board. It’s like having a conversation with a friend who knows enough to be dangerous and might provide some interesting perspectives. I’ve asked it to help me with book subtitles, ideas for a new speech, and thoughts on growing my business. 90% of what it gave me was not useful. But sometimes there is a word or two that stimulates a thought that I can run with.
For fun, I asked it “What books has Stephen Shapiro written?” Here’s what I got back:
ChatGPT’s Response:
Stephen Shapiro is the author of several books on business and innovation, including:
- “Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition”
- “Goal Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want Without the Goals You Set”
- “24/7 Innovation: A Blueprint for Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Change”
- “Personality Poker: A New Game Plan for Managing Teams”
- “The Little Book of BIG Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit”
Shapiro is also a contributor to several business and innovation publications, and has written articles and blog posts on topics such as creativity, innovation, leadership, and strategy.
How Accurate Was It?
Of course a Google search for something like this would have been just as easy, and in fact more accurate.
It got the titles correct (except the last one which should be The Little Book of BIG Innovation Ideas.” And the subtitles were incorrect for all except Best Practices are Stupid and 24/7 Innovation. Interestingly, Goal-Free Living was close. It should be “How To Have the Life You Want NOW!” I sort of like its incorrect version.
How “real” is the ChatGPT responses?
My friend Adam Leffert is always on the leading edge of technology. He told me about another website that can detect if something is “real” or is generated by AI. I plugged in ChatGPT’s innovation article from above. This detectors felt that is was 99.98% fake.
When I plugged in my article on not setting New Year’s resolutions, the detector felt (rightly so) that it was 99.97% real.
So, even if a human being can’t tell if text is computer generated, a computer can. I find this fascinating.
Have you used ChatGPT? What results have you seen? It will be interesting to see how this evolves over time.