In mycareer, I have seen several technological advances that have changed the way wecommunicate, but none have shaken the world as much as AI hasrecently.
I'm MattAbrahams, and I teach Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School ofBusiness.
Welcome to this quick thanks episode of ThinkFast, TalkSmart, thepodcast.
Today, I'm excited to run anexperiment.
For the first time ever on thispodcast, I will not be interviewing aperson.
Instead, I'll be interviewing analgorithm.
ChatGPT. Chat GPT is an AI natural language processing chat bot that allows users to have human-likeconversations.
The GPT stands forGenerative, Pre-TrainedTransformer, and it was launched by OpenAI in November of2022.
For today's experiment ininterview, we will have typed in theanswers, and we will be using a programmed language to read out chat GPT'sresponses.
So let's get started with ourexperiment.
Welcome, chatGPT. Thanks for beinghere.
You'rewelcome. I'm here tohelp, so feel free to ask meanything.
Great. Let's getstarted.
For those of our listeners who aren't familiar with exactly what youare, can you define your purpose and give us twoexamples?
The purpose of chat GPT is to provide informative and accurate responses to questions in naturallanguage.
Twoexamples, answering factualquestions, forexample, what is the capital ofFrance?
And generating creativetext, forexample, write a story about adragon.
Wow. Now that'simpressive.
Where doyou, chatGPT? Get the information you use to answer yourquestions.
Chat GPT is a language model created by OpenAI that has been trained on vast amounts of text data from theinternet.
It uses this training to generate responses to questions based on patterns it has seen in thedata.
Essentially, you know what you know by pulling from all the data on theinternet.
So in someways, you get your answers the way wedo, through reflection and learning and training to help us generate ourresponses,right?
Yes, that'scorrect. Chat GPT has been trained on vast amounts of text data from theinternet, allowing it to generate responses to questions based on patterns and information found in thatdata.
However, it's important to note that not all information on the internet is accurate or up todate, so the responses generated by chat GPT may not always be100%correct.
So now you bring me directly to my nextquestion, which is what safeguards does chat GPT use to ensure its answers areappropriate,accurate, andethical?
It is important to critically evaluate the responses generated by chat GPT and not rely on them as the sole source ofinformation.
See.Now, many teachers likemyself, hiring managers and college admissions officers worry that chat GPT might lead people to cheat to bedisingenuous.
What do you think aboutthat?
Cheating undermines the learning and evaluation process and is not to be encouraged orcondoned.
While chat GPT can generate responses toquestions, it is important for individuals to understand the importance of original work and to not use the technology to substitute their ownefforts, the ultimate responsibility for ensuring academicintegrity, and ethical behavior lies with the individuals using chatGPT, and they should use it in a manner that aligns with their institutions policies andguidelines.
So it's the user's responsibility to use the toolappropriately.
Now, let me ask you for some advice and guidance in a funway.
How would you suggest someone reduce their speakinganxiety?
What I want you to give your advice as aDr.
Sousrhyme? When it comes tospeaking, do not be soblue.
Just a few tips to help get youthrough.
Take a deepbreath, it'll calm yourmind, and think of what you want tosay.
Ekind, remember it's normal to feel a bit offear, but pushing through will bring youcheer, so be confident and speak withpride.
Your words willshine, they'll surely be aguide.
Hey, that's not bad atall.
It's good advice and certainly a fun way to hearit.
Do we still need to learn how to communicatebetter?
Now that youexist?Yes, effective communication skills are stillessential, even with the existence of chatGPT, while chat GPT can provide information and generateresponses.
It cannot replace the human interaction and emotional intelligence that comes with face-to-facecommunication.
Furthermore, not all communication can be done throughtechnology, and the ability to communicate effectively in person remains important in many settings such as businessmeetings, personalrelationships, and publicspeaking.
Additionally, developing strong communication skills can enhance one's confidence and ability to express themselveseffectively.
Well, that's good toknow.
Before weend, I'd like to ask you the same three questions I ask everyone who joinsme.
Questionone, if you were to capture the best communication advice you ever received as a five to seven word presentation slidetitle, what would itbe?
Listen, speakauthentically, showempathy.
Wow, your response is very similar to what we've heard from many of ourguests.
You have to listen to really know what's needed in themoment.
You want to speak yourtruth, be authentic toyourself, and you absolutely want to demonstrateempathy, andconcern, and focus for youraudience.
Let me ask question numbertwo, who is a communicator that youadmire, andwhy?
One communicator I admire is Martin Luther KingJr.
His speeches werepowerful,impactful, and delivered with passionateconviction.
He effectively communicated his message ofequality, and justice forall, inspiring social change through hiswords.
His use ofmetaphors,repetition, and vivid imagery made his speeches memorable andenduring.
He remains a powerful example of the impact that effective communication canhave.
Well,absolutely, all of us are familiar withhis, I have a dreamspeech.
I actually find his Nobel Prize acceptance speech to be on par if not even better than the I have a dreamspeech.
Thanks forsharing. Questionthree, what are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communicationrecipe?
Activelistening,clarity, andempathy.
Well, your response is nosurprise.
It lines up with the slide title that you sharedbefore.
I find it fascinating that an AI algorithm is talking about listening inempathy.
I have to spend some time thinking aboutthat.
Well, chatGPT, thank you for sharing yourthoughts.
I find this really intriguing andinteresting, and I can truly see the value of a tool like yourself in helping us toprepare, to take on and create different options for ourcommunication.
Clearly, if I were a non-nativespeaker, it could be very helpful to get ideas about how to formulate these thoughts and use the propervocabulary.
But I have toadmit, I have someconcerns.
I'm not sure about theemotion.
Theconnection. The validity of some of theinformation.
Like many ofus, I am intriguedby, but also concernedabout, what you bring to our world ofcommunication.
Thank you for beinghere, and for making usthink.
You'rewelcome. I'm here tohelp.
Okay. One last favorite chatGPT.
Can you write ouroutro?
Yes, Ican. That's it for today's episode of ThinkFast, TalkSmart.
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