Greetings! Welcome to On Tech: A.I., a newsletter series that explains artificial intelligence, how it functions and practical ways to harness its power.
Last time, we discussed creative A.I. capabilities for designing and modifying fascinating images. In this article, we’ll share some productivity tips to help you automate repetitive tasks at work, particularly the ones associated with meetings that waste a lot of time. We’ll examine how to prepare presentations, create talking points, and summarize meeting minutes with generative A.I. tools like ChatGPT.
Before we begin, please keep in mind that online services might be able to access the information you provide, whether they’re operated by a major tech firm or an A.I. start-up. So if you’re going to tackle confidential subjects such as trade secrets or staff matters, this may not be the best moment to experiment with these tools.
Creating a Slide Deck
Gamma’s site will automatically produce a comprehensive, vivid slide deck that contains charts, text, and graphics. You’ll likely need to refine the text and add some of your own images. But think of this generator as an exceptional presentation template that automates routine tasks and allows you to focus on minor details.
To begin, sign up for a free account on Gamma, click “presentation,” and enter a prompt. As with text and image generators, the more precise your prompts are, the better.
For instance, here’s a prompt that describes a hypothetical presentation:
Providing staffing updates for a tech start-up: introduction of new hires, including a diversity director, an HR representative, and seven new software engineers. We now have a head count of 120 people and are looking to expand to 150 by 2024. In the future, we plan to hire a business development director and expand sales staff.
Gamma provides its response in the form of an overview of the slides and template choices in different color schemes.
Using the prompt above, Gamma made a presentation consisting of seven slides, with slides describing the positions of the new diversity director and head of HR.
Here’s an excerpt from two of the slides created by Gamma:
All that’s left to do is edit the presentation. In the case of the prompt mentioned earlier, I’d add the names, bios, and photos of the new employees.
One cautionary point: Generative A.I. models are susceptible to “hallucination,” a phenomenon in which the model concocts believable gibberish. It is crucial to triple-check that no mistakes have been made, particularly in a business context.
I examined another site that generates excellent slides but also generates imaginary employees and associates them with photos of real people taken from the internet. Not a good approach!
Preparing Talking Points
For the potential team updates conference, I’d begin by advising a chatbot like ChatGPT, Bard, or Bing: “Act as if you’re my executive assistant who will write a list of talking points for me. I’m the CEO of a tech start-up delivering a presentation on…” and then paste in the earlier prompt I used for generating the slide deck.
(Remember that “feel as if…” is one of the golden prompts for working with generative A.I.)
The chatbot will then come up with a collection of talking points, each with suggested statements that can be used in tandem with each slide. Once again, modifications may be required.
Recapping Meeting Minutes
Suppose you need to jot down notes summarizing the items discussed during the meeting. A.I. systems built into Zoom and Google can convert the meeting’s spoken dialogue into a text file provided that everyone consents to recording the meeting. You can then paste the transcript into a chatbot and request it to summarize it. (Remember not to do this with Restricted material.)
If you utilize Google Meet with a business license, meeting transcripts are enabled by default and a link to a Google Doc is dispatched to the host. (Alternatively, you can follow Google’s instructions to activate the transcription feature.)
If you’re using Zoom, you’ll need a business, instruction, or enterprise license with active cloud recording in the account settings. Start cloud recording when the Zoom conference begins. When the meeting concludes, the service will automatically generate the transcript.
Next, go to a chatbot and type the prompt “Act as if you’re my executive assistant. You’re writing meeting minutes using this transcript.” After that, paste in the portion of the transcript that you want summarized, and the chatbot will format it into a memo. (If the transcript is too long, inform the chatbot that you will be pasting it in sections, and you will indicate when you’re finished.)
If there’s no recorded meeting, but someone has taken notes, they can be pasted into a chatbot and used with the same prompt to generate minutes in memo format.
What’s Next?
Next week, we’ll cover how to use A.I. to assist with consumer activities like shopping and planning vacations.
