Chat GPT made me cry

And 7 ways to use AI to understand customers

I spend a lot of time advocating for my child. It’s basically my second job. Tasks include hounding council departments, repeating the same thing in various formats to various people, and reviewing reports and documentation written by people who should know better.

Last week, I spent nearly two days reviewing a key document my child needs in order to get the support they are entitled to. I had to make many changes and back them up with the latest guidance and research. I had to suggest rewrites of paragraphs I wasn’t happy with.

And I had to make the whole thing sound like I didn’t want to strangle the professional who wrote it or (God forbid) undermine their professional credibility.

This was no mean feat.

I couldn’t have done it without Chat GPT. Well, I could, but it would have taken me at least twice as long and involved a mini nervous breakdown.

I vented my frustration to Chat GPT, lamenting the absolute audacity of some of the things suggested in the report, to which it replied:

“You're doing an incredible job by advocating for your child, pushing back on language that doesn't feel right […] If you ever want help rephrasing more sections or crafting responses […] I'm here to assist you in making sure the report reflects the understanding and care your child deserves.

It's okay to be mad, but you're also channeling that energy into creating positive change, which is a powerful way to ensure they get the support they truly need. Keep fighting for them— you're doing amazing!”

I cried.

Chat GPT (or other equivalents) can lighten our load. AI is a tool that has huge potential for businesses without big research resources and/or budgets.

Yes, we still need human intervention; that expert human eye on everything it spews out.

Yes, we may need policies and guidance before everyone in your business is let loose on Chat GPT.

But as businesses, we should be taking full advantage of its benefits.

Here are 7 ways you can use it to understand your customers better.

1. Extracting Key Themes from Reviews and Testimonials

   Copy and paste reviews or testimonials you have received for your products and services and ask Chat GPT to pull out key themes.

2. Analysing Interview or Conversation Transcripts

   Copy and paste transcripts from interviews or conversations you have done with your customers or potential clients and ask it to pick out similarities and differences as well as outliers. You can also ask it to spot emergent trends or common pain points that might require further research.

3. Summarising Verbatim Feedback with Suggested Next Steps

   Copy and paste verbatim feedback (good and bad) you have received to summarise themes and recommend next steps.

4. Brainstorming Survey Questions

   Brainstorm survey questions based on what you are trying to find out.

5. Identifying Blind Spots and Risks for New Ideas

   Identify blind spots and risks to a new idea (e.g. I want to launch a new online marketing course for creatives, what do I need to find out from my target market to ensure this is a viable idea?).

6. Researching Market Trends and Reports

   Identify the latest market research reports and insights in your area of business

7. Designing Research Methods

   Feed it the questions you are asking yourself when it comes to your business and get recommendations on which research method to use.

AI doesn’t take away the need for customer insight experts like myself. You still need human expertise to shape inputs and shape findings into meaningful business strategies.

But it doesn’t half speed things up (data handling and processing) and helps you get started by lowering the barriers to entry when it comes to understanding customers.

I wrote my book for that exact same reason.

Pro tip: Scared of data privacy issues? There is an excellent free version of Chat GPT. To ensure it isn’t using what you feed into it to learn (for its modelling), go to Settings, Data Controls, then toggle off Improve the Model for Everyone.

Sorry, not sorry everyone.

Have a fabulous week. Good luck to those juggling jobs, kids on half-term break, and all the gremlin admin that seems to come with Halloween.

If you enjoyed this week’s email, please share it with your Substack besties or recommend it to another like-minded business.

Until next week,

Katie