Tools and Settings
Content
Questions and Tasks
Imagine stepping into a classroom, the blackboard covered with complex equations, the room abuzz with the sound of calculators clicking. It's the first day of a new semester, and the students are equipped with a simple tool that promises to simplify the difficult task of mathematical computation: the calculator. This device, however, is no magic wand—it demands the right input to divulge the correct answer. Similarly, the world of business writing has welcomed a comparable revolution—the advent of generative AI.
Generative AI is changing the way we write in business, much like how calculators changed math class. Calculators made solving math problems easier, but only if you knew how to use them correctly. Similarly, generative AI can help create business documents and come up with ideas quickly, but it works best when people know the right way to use it. The main point is that the success of using calculators for math or AI for writing depends on the person using them. You need to understand the basics of what you're doing, whether it's math or writing, and the nature and limits of the technology itself to make the most of these tools.
This chapter will help you maximize generative AI's potential as a classroom tool and to become a proficient prompt engineer. Developing your generative AI skills can be every bit as transformative as it was when you learned to use a calculator, a spreadsheet, or any other technology meant to enhance your productivity.
Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new and realistic content—text, images, or music—based on existing data. Generative AI uses techniques like generative adversarial networks (GANs) and variational autoencoders (VAEs) to learn from the data and generate diverse, novel outputs. Examples of generative AI applications are ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALL-E, which can produce natural language, music, and images, respectively.
Generative AI can be a powerful business writing classroom tool that augments and enhances your writing skills. However, generative AI also poses some challenges and risks that need to be addressed and managed. Generative AI can be used to improve your writing so you become a better leader and communicator but it might be a hindrance if you misuse the tool.
Proficient writing skills enable professionals to communicate effectively with stakeholders like customers, employees, investors, and regulators. It also sharpens the ability to clearly, concisely, and persuasively express ideas, opinions, and arguments. However, because it requires extensive planning, researching, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing, business writing is a difficult, time-consuming process.
A revolutionary tool, generative AI can mitigate the difficulty and reduce the time required to complete business writing tasks. Generative AI can ...
Generative AI can provide you with feedback and suggestions for improving writing quality, clarity, and style. Here are some ways generative AI benefits you as a business writing student
Detect and correct grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Rewrite sentences to avoid ambiguity, redundancy, or passive voice.
Enhance vocabulary and word choice by suggesting synonyms, antonyms, or idioms.
Adjust the tone and formality of the writing according to the purpose and audience.
Generate catchy and informative titles, headings, and subheadings.
Generative AI can also help you to generate relevant and engaging content for different purposes and audiences—blog posts, emails, reports, and presentations. For example, generative AI can help you…
Find and summarize reliable sources of information from the web or databases.
Paraphrase or quote the sources without plagiarizing or distorting the original meaning.
Organize and structure the content into a logical and coherent flow.
Add transitions, connectors, and signposts to guide the readers and maintain coherence.
Use rhetorical devices, such as metaphors, analogies, or stories, to illustrate and support the main points.
Generative AI can also stimulate creativity and divergent thinking by offering novel, unexpected ideas. For example, generative AI can help you to
Generate topics or angles for their writing assignments.
Explore different perspectives and viewpoints on a given issue or problem.
Brainstorm and generate alternative solutions or recommendations.
Create catchy and memorable slogans, taglines, or names for products or services.
Design and generate appealing and informative visuals, such as charts, graphs, or images.
Generative AI can also facilitate collaboration and communication among students and instructors by enabling interactive and personalized conversations. For example, generative AI can help students to
Ask and answer questions, clarify doubts, or provide feedback in natural language.
Receive and provide constructive criticism, praise, or encouragement.
Negotiate, persuade, or compromise with others in a respectful and professional manner.
Share and exchange ideas, opinions, or experiences with others.
Build rapport and trust with others by using humor, empathy, or compliments.
Watch Computer scientist Yejin Choi's Ted Talk about how generative AI is incredibly smart and shockingly stupid.
While it can be a useful tool in the business writing classroom, generative AI also poses potential limitations and risks. Generative AI is not perfect or infallible, so it might produce inaccurate or biased content that misleads or even harms readers. Generative AI may also replace or reduce the human input and effort in the writing process, leading to plagiarism, laziness, or loss of critical thinking skills.
Generative AI may ...
Generative AI may also create ethical and legal dilemmas regarding the ownership, authorship, and responsibility of the generated content. Generative AI may also expose students and instructors to privacy and security threats by collecting and analyzing their personal data.
Generative AI may produce inaccurate or biased content that may mislead or harm the readers. For example, generative AI may
Generate false or misleading information, such as fake news, rumors, or propaganda.
Generate offensive or inappropriate content, such as hate speech, profanity, or pornography.
Generate biased or stereotypical content, such as gender, racial, or cultural biases.
Generate inconsistent or contradictory content, such as logical fallacies, factual errors, or conflicting arguments.
Generative AI may replace or reduce human input and effort in the writing process, leading to plagiarism, laziness, or loss of critical thinking skills. For example, generative AI may
Generate content that is too similar or identical to the original sources, resulting in plagiarism or academic dishonesty.
Generate content that is too generic or bland, resulting in lack of originality or creativity.
Generate content that is too complex or obscure, resulting in lack of clarity or comprehension.
Generate content that is too easy or convenient, resulting in lack of challenge or motivation.
HIDDEN CONTENT
Generative AI may create ethical and legal dilemmas regarding the ownership, authorship, and responsibility of the generated content. For example, generative AI may
Generate content that infringes on the intellectual property rights or privacy rights of others, resulting in legal disputes or lawsuits.
Generate content that is not attributed or acknowledged to the generative AI models or tools, resulting in unfair or deceptive practices or claims.
Generate content that is not reviewed or verified by human writers, resulting in ethical violations or moral dilemmas.
Generate content that is not accountable or traceable to the human writers, resulting in lack of responsibility or liability.
Generative AI may expose students and instructors to privacy and security threats by collecting and analyzing their personal data. For example, generative AI may
Collect and store the personal data of the students and instructors, such as names, emails, passwords, or preferences, resulting in data breaches or identity theft.
Analyze and profile the personal data of the students and instructors, such as behaviors, interests, or personalities, resulting in manipulation or exploitation.
Share or sell the personal data of the students and instructors to third parties, such as advertisers, marketers, or hackers, resulting in spam, scams, or cyberattacks.
Use or abuse the personal data of the students and instructors to influence or control their decisions, actions, or emotions, resulting in coercion or deception.
For more information on the safe use of AI, copyright, and privacy principles, visit this website.
Prompt engineering is the art and science of designing effective text inputs for generative AI models, such as GPT-4. Prompt engineering can help you create applications that leverage the power and creativity of generative AI and improve your critical thinking skills. Here are some tips for becoming a good prompt engineer:
Learn the basics of natural language processing (NLP) and generative AI. Understanding how these models work, what they can and cannot do, and what are their strengths and limitations will help you craft better prompts and evaluate the outputs.
Experiment with different models and tools. Many generative AI models and tools are available, such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALL-E123. Try them to see how they respond to different prompts and tasks. Compare and contrast their performance and behavior.
Identify the components of a prompt. A prompt can consist of elements such as instructions, primary content, examples, cues, and supporting content. Each element has a specific role and function in guiding the model’s behavior and output. Know when and how to effectively use each element.
A good prompt should leave as little room for interpretation as possible. Use analogies and descriptive language to help the model understand your desired outcome. Avoid ambiguity, redundancy, or passive voice. Adjust the tone and formality of the prompt according to the purpose and audience.
A good prompt should also help the model learn from the context and improve its performance. Provide feedback and examples to demonstrate the desired behavior and output. Use positive and negative examples to reinforce or correct the model’s behavior. Use cues and hints to jumpstart the output.
A good prompt should also result in a high-quality output that meets your expectations and goals. Evaluate the output for accuracy, relevance, coherence, and style. Check for errors, biases, inconsistencies, or contradictions. Refine the output by modifying the prompt or adding more information.
A good prompt engineer should also know when and how to use generative AI as a tool, not a replacement, for human intelligence and creativity. Use generative AI to augment and enhance your skills and abilities, not to reduce or replace them. Develop the awareness and skills to deal with the ethical and legal issues of generative AI.
For tips on prompt engineering, review OpenAI's tutorial on prompt engineering strategies and tactics.
Generative AI is a double-edged sword that is a powerful and promising business writing classroom tool that simultaneously poses challenges and risks to acknowledge and manage. Responsibly use generative AI by evaluating the quality and credibility of generated content and verifying it with other sources, acknowledging and citing the generative AI models and tools used in the writing process, developing the awareness and skills to deal with the ethical and legal issues of generative AI, and exploring the future possibilities and challenges of generative AI.
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Kowalczyk, Mikolaj. "A Step-by-step Guide to Prompt Engineering: Best Practices, Challenges, and Examples." Lakera. Accessed June 17, 2024.
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"MIT Report: How Generative AI Will Reshape the Enterprise." Databricks. Accessed June 17, 2024.
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Prompt Engineering Guide. "Prompting Techniques." Accessed June 17, 2024.
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