Artificial intelligence can help you save time when working, whether you’re creating a PowerPoint presentation or writing an e-mail. Here’s all you need to know.
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How often do you use AI tools such as ChatGPT to write text in everyday business?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining an increasing foothold in our everyday working lives. Used properly, it can relieve us from the burden of monotonous tasks and help us to work more efficiently − or even improve the quality of our work. As enticing as AI might be, it does also come with pitfalls and risks. Data protection and security are major aspects that must be considered, as sensitive information should remain protected. Additionally, human review is essential to ensuring that AI-generated content is accurate and appropriate. This is why it’s so important to be well informed and sensible in how we use AI, which requires knowing precisely what AI is and how it works.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of computers and machines to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving or decision-making. There are several types of AI, including:
AI tools such as ChatGPT are, in principle, highly intuitive. AI tools are relatively easy to use: you simply ask them any questions you are keen to know the answers to. You can also assign them tasks or ask them for advice. They all work on the same principle: you must state clearly what you want from them. It’s like giving a colleague instructions on performing a work step they aren’t familiar with yet: the more precise the instructions are, the better they will understand the task at hand. Instructions given to AI are known as prompts.
Prompts are instructions given to an AI tool in either spoken or written form so it can give you the result you want. The term originally comes from IT and, in programming, refers to when a program “prompts” a user to do something.
Currently, we mainly use AI for in-house purposes to improve and streamline processes and procedures. Many of our employees have already tried out tools such as ChatGPT or even use them regularly. Generative AI is a democratic innovation in this respect: Internet access is all you need to write up text or to brainstorm on a certain theme.
Over the last 1.5 years, there has been a lot of excitement about AI, but only time will tell which applications are truly useful. A current trend is using specially designed language models optimized for certain tasks. These models are smaller and more efficient than large, general models such as GPT-4 by OpenAI. Nearly all major software providers – whether SAP, Microsoft or BSI – now integrate AI functions into their products. For instance, Microsoft Copilot allows you to create a management summary in Word or to generate a dashboard from an Excel list. Over the next few months, various test projects will reveal the areas in which generative AI will actually add value in day-to-day business.
Janick Mischler, Head of Generative AI Hub
Make your prompt as clear and comprehensible as possible. Use simple language, short sentences and active constructions. Remember the “don’ts”.
Give the AI tool some context. For instance, mention who the text is aimed at (team, customers, suppliers, etc.) and who the sender of the message is. For images, you can specify the style you want the image to have.
Be specific about what image or text result you want. For example, you could ask the AI for three different suggestions and then specify where the text or image will be used (e-mail, Instagram, presentation, etc.).
Provide details. Specify important facts that the text needs to contain or what mood the image should convey. You can also give sample texts that can be modified.
Set parameters. Define factors such as the length of the text and the number of headings. Alternatively, specify the tone of the text and what gender rules should apply.
Now it’s time to try things out.
Using tasks and sample prompts, we will show you how to get good results with AI.
You have to notify your team by e-mail about the new company guidelines coming into force next month, but you’re not quite sure how to put it into words in a text.
Write me an e-mail addressed to my whole team that tells them about the new company guidelines coming into force next month. Outline the key changes, the reasons for them and how they might affect day-to-day business. Here is the relevant information:
You need to write a quarterly report.
Write a detailed report about the results of the customer satisfaction survey conducted by Swiss company XYZ in the second quarter of 2024. The report should contain the following sections: summary, introduction, survey method, analysis of survey results, identified trends and conclusions, recommendations on how to improve customer satisfaction. Here are the relevant survey results:
You have written a text that you think could be better. Additionally, you want to perform a grammar and spell check and rewrite it if needed.
Improve this text by making it more legible.
Then insert the text. The AI will also correct most spelling and grammar errors by itself.
Moreover: even if you’ve just jotted down a few rough sentences, AI can come in handy. Put your notes into ChatGPT and ask the tool to turn them into a coherent, reader-friendly text. Be sure to also tell the AI what sort of text it is (e-mail to a business partner, a memo or a speech to your team). That way, you will get more beneficial results.
You have received a letter in French from a supplier, but you need to read it in English.
AI-based translation tools such as DeepL translate texts into numerous languages free of charge. The basic version allows you to work within a certain character and text limit, whereas the fee-based version allows for bigger texts. You don’t need a prompt for this: just upload a photo of the text or copy the text you want translated into DeepL and select the relevant language.
You are organizing a team event and are planning to spend a nice weekend in the mountains with your team. However, you are still looking for an image for the invite.
You can create images and graphics using a AI image generator such as Midjourney. You have to describe the image you have in mind and enter this description as a prompt.
Create an image of a wooden hut or a snowy mountain landscape. There is a light shining from the hut, and smoke is coming from the chimney.
You need to create a presentation analysing a problem that has recently arisen.
PowerPoint itself does not come with a free AI tool. However, there are a number of online tools you can use. They work in roughly the same way: you enter information and the topic you wish to make a presentation about, then select a presentation template. The AI will then create a breakdown for you and display the content on the slides.
Using artificial intelligence can make lots of simple, repetitive everyday tasks easier and increase efficiency as a result, but it does have its limits, especially when it comes to creative and more complex tasks. But it is still definitely worth a try!
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