Chatbots have come a long way since SmarterChild and Eliza. (The latter is considered the first chatbot in the history of computer science.) We’ve moved from simple keyword recognition to the ability to generate original content, ask intelligent questions, and receive intelligent answers.
Here at Zen, we’ve been talking about AI, chatbots, and more for a while now. We’ve covered the pros and cons of AI in marketing and the types of AI tools to consider adding to your marketing tech stack. But there’s a new kid on the block, and it’s called ChatGPT. A sibling model to InstructGPT, which is trained to follow an instruction from a prompt and return a detailed response—ChatGPT is trained to interact in a conversational way. According to the makers, “The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.”
What better way to test a conversational chatbot than to, well, have a conversation with it? So we put ChatGPT to the test by interviewing it about itself, its functions and limitations, and how it can be used effectively—and ethically—in B2B marketing and the B2B space.
Our conversation covered:
- The origins of ChatGPT
- How to use chatbots
- The benefits and limitations of chatbots
- If chatbots replace human intelligence or intervention
- Artificial intelligence in content marketing
- AI content optimization
- The ethics of using AI
- What ChatGPT wishes us humans would remember about working with AI
Zen Media Q&A with ChatGPT
Zen Media: Hi ChatGPT! How are you today?
ChatGPT: Hello! I’m just a text-based AI, so I don’t have feelings or physical sensations. However, I’m here to help answer any questions you might have to the best of my ability. Is there anything specific you’d like to know or discuss?
Zen Media: Can you tell me about your origin story? Who created you? And why?
ChatGPT: I was created by a team of researchers at OpenAI, a research laboratory based in San Francisco, California. The goal of my creation was to develop a large-scale language model that can generate human-like text and assist with a variety of tasks, such as answering questions, translating languages, and summarizing long pieces of text.
Language models like me are trained on a vast amount of text data and use machine learning techniques to learn the patterns and structure of language. This allows us to generate text that is coherent and grammatically correct, and to perform natural language processing tasks such as translation and summarization.
I was designed to be a general-purpose language model, meaning that I can assist with a wide range of tasks and understand a wide range of topics. I was trained on a dataset called “GPT-3,” which contains billions of words of text from a variety of sources, including books, websites, and articles. This allows me to have a broad understanding of language and to be able to answer questions about a wide range of topics.
Zen Media: So what makes you different from other AI or language models?
ChatGPT: I am a large language model trained by OpenAI. As a language model, my primary function is to understand and generate human-like text. This allows me to have a broad understanding of language and to be able to answer questions about a wide range of topics.
There are many other language models that have been developed by different organizations and research groups, and these models may have different characteristics and capabilities. Some language models are trained on smaller datasets and may be specialized in a particular domain or task, while others are trained on larger datasets and are designed to be more general-purpose.
In general, language models like me are designed to assist with tasks such as content generation, translation, and summarization by understanding and generating human-like text. However, the specific capabilities and performance of different language models can vary depending on the training data and the design of the model.
Zen Media: How might you be helpful for marketers, especially in the B2B industry?
ChatGPT: As a language model, I can assist marketers in a variety of ways, including:
- Content generation: I can generate human-like text that can be used for blog posts, social media posts, email campaigns, and other marketing materials.
- Keyword research: I can help identify relevant keywords for search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
- Sentiment analysis: I can analyze text data, such as customer reviews or social media posts, to understand the sentiment (positive, negative, or neutral) of the text. This can be helpful for understanding how customers feel about a product or service.
- Translation: I can translate text from one language to another, which can be helpful for creating marketing materials in multiple languages or for understanding customer feedback in different languages.
- Summarization: I can summarize long pieces of text, such as articles or reports, into shorter, more digestible summaries. This can be helpful for quickly getting the main points of a document without having to read through the entire thing.
In the B2B (business-to-business) industry, these capabilities can be particularly useful for creating targeted digital marketing campaigns, understanding customer needs and preferences, and staying up to date with industry trends.
Zen Media: Have marketers or B2B leaders used your services with success?
ChatGPT: As a language model, I don’t have personal experiences or direct interactions with users. However, language models like me have been used by marketers and businesses in various industries to assist with tasks such as content generation, keyword research, sentiment analysis, translation, and summarization. These tasks can be time-consuming and require a significant amount of expertise, so using a language model can help businesses and marketers save time and resources while still producing high-quality work.
It’s important to note that language models can assist with these tasks, but they are not a substitute for human expertise and judgment. It’s always a good idea to review and carefully consider any output generated by a language model to ensure that it is accurate and appropriate for the intended use.
Zen Media: You’ve touched on a limitation you have. You say humans should always review and adjust all output generated by you and other language models. Do you have any other limitations users should be aware of?
ChatGPT: As a language model, I am trained to understand and generate human-like text, but I do not have personal experiences or direct access to the real world. This means that I may not always have complete or up-to-date information on a given topic, and my responses may be based on the patterns and structures present in the text data I was trained on.
Additionally, language models like me are not able to think or reason in the same way that humans do. While I can provide information and generate text based on the patterns and structures present in the data I was trained on, I do not have the ability to understand the context or meaning of this information in the same way that a human would.
It’s important for users to be aware of these limitations and to carefully review and consider the output generated by a language model to ensure that it is accurate and appropriate for the intended use. While language models can be a useful tool for assisting with tasks such as content generation and translation, they should not be relied on as a sole source of information or decision-making.
Zen Media: Can the content that you generate be identified in the real world? How specific do users need to be with inputs to avoid plagiarism?
ChatGPT: As a language model, I can generate text based on the patterns and structures present in the data I was trained on. This text may be similar to text that appears in other sources, but it is not copied directly from these sources.
However, it is important for users to be aware that the text generated by a language model may be similar to text that appears in other sources. It is always a good idea to carefully review and consider the output generated by a language model to ensure that it is accurate and appropriate for the intended use, and to properly attribute any text that is used.
To avoid plagiarism, it is important to properly cite any sources that are used and to follow any applicable copyright laws and guidelines. Users should be specific about the inputs they provide to a language model, as this will influence the output that is generated. For example, providing a language model with a specific prompt or topic can help ensure that the generated text is relevant and on-topic.
Zen Media: Thanks! That is great information. Can you tell me a bit about how you fit into the larger conversation about AI and technology developments?
ChatGPT: Language models like me are a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that is designed to understand and generate human-like text. We are trained on large datasets of text and use machine learning techniques to learn the patterns and structures of language. This allows us to generate coherent and grammatically correct text and to perform natural language processing tasks such as translation and summarization.
AI has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of society, including education, healthcare, transportation, and more. However, the development and use of AI also raises a number of ethical and societal concerns, including issues related to bias, privacy, and the potential loss of jobs due to automation. These concerns have led to a larger conversation about the responsible development and use of AI and the need to consider the potential consequences of AI on society.
As AI continues to advance and become more prevalent in our lives, it is important to consider the potential impacts of this technology and to ensure that it is developed and used in a responsible and ethical manner.
Zen Media: How can marketers and business leaders be sure to develop and use AI in a responsible and ethical manner?
ChatGPT: There are several steps that marketers and business leaders can take to ensure that they are developing and using AI in a responsible and ethical manner:
- Understand the potential consequences of AI: It is important to consider the potential impacts of AI on society and to anticipate any unintended consequences that may arise from its use. This includes understanding the potential for bias in AI systems and taking steps to mitigate it.
- Be transparent about the use of AI: Businesses and organizations should be transparent about the use of AI, including explaining how it is being used and what the potential impacts may be.
- Ensure that AI is accountable: Businesses and organizations should ensure that they are accountable for the use of AI, including being responsive to any concerns or issues that may arise.
- Follow relevant laws and guidelines: It is important to follow all relevant laws and guidelines when developing and using AI, including those related to data privacy and security.
- Engage in dialogue and consultation: Businesses and organizations should engage in dialogue with relevant stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and regulators, to ensure that the use of AI is aligned with their values and concerns.
By taking these steps, marketers and business leaders can help to ensure that AI is developed and used in a responsible and ethical manner.
Zen Media: How else can you be used? Can you be integrated with other services like email and calendars?
ChatGPT: As a language model, I can be used to assist with a variety of tasks that involve understanding and generating human-like text. In addition to these tasks, I could potentially be integrated with other services such as email and calendars. For example, I could be used to generate emails or calendar events based on certain inputs or to assist with tasks such as scheduling or email management. The specific integration will depend on the capabilities of the service and the specific use case.
Zen Media: Lastly, what is one thing that every marketer and business leader should know when it comes to working with AI, like chatbots?
ChatGPT: One thing that every marketer and business leader should know when it comes to working with AI, like chatbots, is that these systems are not perfect and can sometimes produce unexpected or inaccurate results. It is important to carefully review and consider the output generated by an AI system to ensure that it is accurate and appropriate for the intended use.
In addition, it is important to understand the limitations of AI systems and to be transparent about their use. This can help to build trust with customers and stakeholders and to ensure that the use of AI is aligned with their values and concerns.
Finally, it is important to follow relevant laws and guidelines when working with AI, including those related to data privacy and security. By being aware of these considerations, marketers and business leaders can work with AI in a responsible and ethical manner.
Zen Media: Thank you, ChatGPT! Have a great evening!
ChatGPT: You’re welcome! I’m here to help, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions. I hope you have a great evening as well!
Final Thoughts
As you can see, ChatGPT is an advanced chatbot with remarkable conversational ability. While our conversation was highly informative, it was also a bit redundant, and we removed some highly redundant sections from this post to help prevent your eyes from glazing over. This is just one reason that B2B marketers—especially B2B content marketers and those involved in the content development process—need to keep a close eye on the copy being generated. Even ChatGPT itself warns us that humans are still a necessary part of the puzzle when it comes to marketing, content development, and leading a business.
Interested in building out a B2B content marketing strategy—with or without ChatGPT? Let’s talk.
