As researchers, we constantly seek ways to push the boundaries and deliver exceptional results. ChatGPT is one such tool that has caught our attention.
Louisa Livingston and Richard Bowman pondered the boldest claim they could make about ChatGPT—how it's changing our world, lives, and how we work. They concluded thatChatGPT can help us get 80% of the way there, faster.
So what exactly does that mean?
With ChatGPT, we have access to the vast knowledge and resources of the internet at our fingertips. It's like having the power to analyze this vast body of information at your fingertips - querying news sites, blogs, books, and many other data sources with just a few clicks.
And the most remarkable part? It's capable of propelling us 80% towards our research goals. It’s a tool that's not just altering our work dynamics, but completely redefining them.
Richard Bowman and Louisa Livingston hosted a discussion at AudienceCON exploring the capabilities of ChatGPT for insights work and its role in segmentations. Here's an overview of the key points covered in their presentation (enjoy the full session below).
We always strive to maximize the potential of our tools, and ChatGPT is no exception. It's not just us advocating this approach; it is backed by empirical research. An illuminating study conducted by MIT (US) illustrates this point convincingly. Harnessing ChatGPT allowed the participants to accelerate their workflow, producing quicker and better results. ChatGPT banished the 'heavy lifting', turbocharging the process.
The ChatGPT group reported higher levels of satisfaction. Lightening the load appears to lighten the mood, a sentiment we can all attest to. Using ChatGPT for desk research has condensed days of grinding into swift, effective information gathering.
AI isn't just for experiments - it's making its way into real work environments. Workers exposed to ChatGPT were twice as likely to use it in their jobs two weeks post-experiment, and this likelihood persisted 1.6 times two months later. The future of work is here, and it's AI-empowered.
Let’s shed some light on the transformative potential of ChatGPT, and how it can get us 80% of the way to the answer within moments. How does it function, you ask? The key lies in providing context. ChatGPT doesn't know whether you're a rocket scientist or a curious teenager, or if you possess deep expertise in a certain field. Richard informs the AI that he’s an “experienced strategic marketer.”
Next, he outlines the challenge at hand and defines his objectives. In his recent work with a language learning app, he used ChatGPT to explore the features needed for premium positioning, compared it against existing recommendations, and then brainstormed marketing strategies. What happened next was nothing short of magic.
The output provided by ChatGPT, exactly as it came out, was remarkable. It touched on an array of nuanced topics, summarizing complex and diverse information with remarkable clarity. Yes, the language could be a tad dry and perhaps seemingly arrogant at times, but those are easily humanized.
ChatGPT encapsulated insights from extensive research spanning six markets and over 10,000 interviews worldwide. It covered them all in one fell swoop, from curriculum design and learning methods to personalization strategies.
Now, it's important to note that while ChatGPT's output was insightful, it did lack some of the cultural nuances and overarching insights that human analysis provides. But even these initial functional summaries, achieved within the first few minutes of a project, drastically cut down the time it would typically take to reach this stage.
Let's delve into leveraging ChatGPT for segmentation projects. Louisa and her team tested it to see how far they could push its capabilities in this arena.
The experiment began with Dataset 1 - a thorough, full-service client project. They conducted meticulous interviews, carried out exhaustive consumer investigations, and used statistical clustering to segment the data. This process yielded 10 distinct segments, and the project was successfully completed. But then came ChatGPT, presenting an intriguing opportunity for comparison and further exploration.
Armed with a series of carefully crafted prompts, they set ChatGPT to work on the same data. The objective was to see how the AI's output compared to their human-led project and test its scalability across multiple countries.
They found some interesting results after analyzing Dataset 2, which was the product of ChatGPT's efforts. ChatGPT hit the mark with 6 out of the 10 segments every time. These segments were strategically rooted in substantial needs or jobs and remained consistent across multiple iterations.
The remaining four, however, were more fluid and tactical, changing based on minute alterations to the prompt or the country in focus. So, while they initially aimed for 80%, our experiment demonstrated that ChatGPT can reliably deliver 60% of a robust segmentation project. But, this isn't where the real magic lies.
The most exciting part of this experiment was the newfound clarity it offered. They could identify the areas where ChatGPT performed confidently and pinpoint the areas where it fell short. Armed with this knowledge, they could replicate the same segmentation in several other countries. ChatGPT proved to be a powerful tool for initial segmentation and a strategic ally in enhancing the scalability and efficiency of their projects.
Louisa identified four critical elements for leveraging ChatGPT effectively: the “4 Ps.”
The power of ChatGPT lies in its iterative capabilities. Don't limit yourself to a single prompt – explore, experiment, and continuously push the boundaries of its potential. Use it to mine those elusive insights from the depths of data. While 80% might seem impressive, you should strive for the full 100% in your pursuit of perfection. Remember, the research stage is essential.
ChatGPT can indeed prove to be a valuable ally throughout your research process. It can assist in drafting questionnaires, analyzing qualitative transcripts, and more. However, keeping abreast of the rapidly evolving world of generative AI is important. We are currently riding the innovation wave rather than settling on a plateau, so staying up-to-date is crucial.
Transparency is another key value they advocate strongly. It's essential to be clear with your clients and stakeholders about when and how AI is being used, its limitations, and its potential advantages.
In the realm of insights work, ChatGPT is emerging as an intriguing tool with immense potential. With its capacity to swiftly synthesize summaries, list features, and present recommendations, it leverages a vast array of internet data to accelerate and enhance the process of insight generation.
ChatGPT's key strength lies in its ability to mine insights from the most obscure sources, casting a wide net to gather information that could easily slip through the cracks of traditional research methods. It can bring to the fore niche insights, stimulating unconventional thought processes and challenging established assumptions.
Using ChatGPT for insights involves six key steps:
So, let's channel this ethos into how we leverage ChatGPT. We must strive to push its boundaries beyond producing merely average outputs. The goal? To coax from it truly outstanding insights and responses.
ChatGPT can be a valuable tool in various aspects of qualitative research. While it's important to understand that it's not a substitute for human analysis and interpretation, here are some ways it can be utilized:
In all of these tasks, the role of the human researcher remains critical, as they need to provide direction, make final decisions, and validate the AI's output against the original data and their own understanding of the research context.
ChatGPT can assist in processing survey data, but it's important to understand its limitations and strengths. The AI model doesn't analyze data in the traditional statistical sense as it lacks the ability to perform complex statistical operations, regression analyses, or direct quantitative analysis.
Louisa and Richard have used ChatGPT to challenge conventional thinking and unearth niche insights from obscure sources while staying mindful of the AI's limitations. Here are five key takeaways.
While ChatGPT's capabilities are impressive, it is vital to recognize its limitations and approach its usage responsibly. It is a valuable ally in research, providing initial drafts to spark ideas and refine our approach. The key lies in utilizing ChatGPT as a partner, not a replacement, and combining it with traditional methods to achieve the most impactful results.
Louisa and Richard gave a must-see presentation at AudienceCON exploring the capabilities of ChatGPT for insights work and its role in segmentations, and we encourage you to watch it.