No automation software or machine learning has ruffled feathers quite like ChatGPT did following its global rollout towards the end of 2022. We’ve been used to the idea of artificial intelligence automating numerical and organisational processes for a while now, but a tool that claims to be able to automate creativity was a little too close to Black Mirror for a lot of us. A recent BCG survey found that 36% of workers believe AI will take their jobs, and 86% believe they need to learn how to use it to be able to keep their jobs.

While the growth of artificial intelligence offerings might sound daunting (and there are definitely some dodgy tools being created in the voice-cloning/deepfake worlds), there are also elements that can be incredibly beneficial to us if we learn how to use them. Imagine if you were thinking of ordering dinner delivery, and instead of using an app or Google, you picked up a copy of The Yellow Pages and started leafing through to find some local options, like a Victorian. This is essentially what’s going to become of people who resist learning to use artificial intelligence for their benefit; reaching for the slower, manual options while everybody else is storming ahead.

AI’s potential is breathtaking, but it still needs a human touch. At the moment, AI is as good as the prompt or command it’s given, and that needs to come from a human with a complex understanding of what they need from the tool. 

ChatGPT, for example, is an excellent tool to help you write if you kind of suck at writing, but if you’re already a decent writer, it’s not going to be able to do a better job than you. What it can do, though, is speed up the process so that you spend less time staring into the middle distance and wondering what a good alternative word is for something, or googling ‘synonyms for throbbing’, because you can instead tell the tool the exact context of your sentence and the tone of voice you’re using to more quickly be presented with a list of pulsating, aching options. For example.

The world is using ChatGPT to test their learning/knowledge levels (“I’m a student learning about X at a level of Y. Please ask me 20 questions, one by one, that will test my level of knowledge on the subject”), to read long documents and highlight relevant information. Or to write exercise plans, meal plans, lesson plans and essay outlines. But even in the eight months since ChatGPT’s launch, AI has come a long way. Google has released a ChatGPT competitor, Bard, which has real-time access to the internet (ChatGPT’s knowledge stops in September 2021 and it can’t perform internet searches) and Apple is working on its own version.

Here are some other ways AI can help you in your professional life.

As well as helping you do your current job more quickly, AI can help you to find a job. You could paste a job description and your CV into ChatGPT and ask the tool to write a cover letter including all your relevant experience or ask ChatGPT to create a new, tailored CV for each separate job you apply for, just for starters (here are some great TikToks explaining these processes in more detail).

There are also some useful tools outside of ChatGPT that are specifically designed for job applications, such as…

CoverQuick: this will also write a cover letter for you based on your experience and the job description provided. It has a separate area where you can track and organise your applications, interviews and any follow-up communication.

Interview School: using real interview questions from actual interviews that took place with humans, not robots, this tool gives you some pretty solid preparation if you’re feeling nervous about going into a job interview. The AI coach analyses and feeds back on your answers, and the application tracker part also suggests jobs you might want to apply for.

AI can act as the most talented developer you’ve ever known – if you’re asking it the correct prompts. While it can answer questions like ‘read the following code and tell me what changes I need to make so that my website looks like this/behaves like this’, there are also more advanced options with new plugins available that can catch errors before a human eye can and save you from hours of debugging dramas. Try:

Tabnine: supporting multiple programming languages such as Python, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Go and Rust, Even for complex scenarios, Tabnine offers intelligent code completions, code linting for error detection and suggestions, code refactoring support to improve code readability and efficiency, and automatic code documentation generation for better collaboration.

Replit: this has a really cool ghostwriter function, which does exactly what you’d think it would, but for code. Offering you in-line suggestions, corrections and intelligent code finishing, this is a tool for everyone from the beginners to the buffs. It can also help you learn how to code by explaining and commenting on code in a document, in ‘real human language’. 

Aggregating CSV files and sorting through data to generate statistics or key metrics can be so time-consuming. Why not ask a robot to help you? You can, with tools like Nanonets that help with your data extraction and uploading in the first place. Then try the following to help speed up your analysis:

ChatGPT’s code interpreter plugin: You can now upload datasets or URLs directly to ChatGPT and run Python code in your conversation window. You can ask ChatGPT key questions about the data set and it will answer you while also providing the Python code it used to run the analysis. You can also ask the tool to create a graph that visualises the data you’ve provided.

RATH: OK, this is also powered by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, but it’s so useful if you’re not great at running SQL queries or find it easier to type out human sentences rather than robot code. 

If everyone on your video meeting is OK with being recorded (or if you run the software during an in-person meeting, with consent) then your meetings can be recorded and typed up for you while you’re making your next mug of tea and key action points can be generated while you’re taking your first sip. Try:

Tl;dv is a Chrome extension that works for Zoom and Google Meet and has built-in translation options for 30 languages. It also integrates with Notion, Google Docs, Slack, Salesforce or HubSpot so you can add meeting notes and summaries (the tool also summarises for you, ofc) wherever your teammates are. If you want to get really Big Brothery, you can have your entire business’s meetings all noted and recorded and stored in one library, and then search the library for any conversation about a certain subject, client or time period.

Krisp AI is also great for meetings if you spend a lot of time on video calls, as it cancels out your background noise. 

This is where the competition is thick, and the kind of tool that you’ll love depends on how much help you need. With free accounts across the board, you can generally give tools your information and tell them how many pages of a presentation you need, what to put on which slide, and describe the theme and vibe of the deck. With paid-for accounts you can upload all your business branding, fonts and colour themes. Try Beautiful.ai, SlidesAI (I like this one because it integrates with Google Slides) and Tome to get started.

This is really scratching the surface of AI tools. There have already been so many developments as we learn about how AI can benefit our stretched industries like teaching, healthcare and criminal justice, as well as helping us get through our to-do lists.

Sites like AI Of The Day and aitools.fyi are helpful if you want to continue exploring the helpful world of AI. Otherwise, Black Mirror is streaming on Netflix.

Images: Getty; Stylist