It is just about a year to the week since Chat GPT was unleashed on the world. It has changed a lot of things.
However, I continue to be surprised and disappointed in equal measure when I ask Professional Services Firms how they are using it and in 90% of cases get a blank face staring back at me and a shrug of the shoulders.
I implore you to get onboard as every day you wait, you fall further behind the early adopters. In 1997 I bought a PC which frankly was rubbish, but at least it forced me to learn the new skills, I knew I needed to acquire to remain competitive. It wasn’t cheap. Chat GTP is free! (I confess I have now upgraded to 4.0 with access to a Canva plugin for $20US Dollars per month which provides fantastic creativity opportunities).
When speaking at a recent conference, I asked the audience to raise their hands, if they had opened a Chat GPT account and were actively using it. A sprinkling of hands were waved back at me. The next day I watched a session specifically around how people in this particular industry could apply it to their daily schedule, it was the best attended presentation of the day. Seems there is a lag between being interested and practically applying it to make valuable time and effort savings.
In preparation for this article, I asked the platform to prepare a list of some of the top practical applications for those in the professions.
The response is attached unchanged below.
Here's a ten-point list detailing the top practical uses of Chat GPT for professionals in law, accounting, and engineering:
Legal Research Assistance: Lawyers can use Chat GPT to quickly find relevant case laws, statutes, and legal precedents, streamlining their research process.
Financial Data Analysis: Accountants can leverage Chat GPT for analyzing complex financial data, generating reports, and interpreting financial trends.
Engineering Problem Solving: Engineers can utilize Chat GPT for brainstorming solutions to technical challenges, exploring different engineering methodologies, and optimizing design processes.
Document Drafting and Review: For lawyers, Chat GPT can assist in drafting legal documents, contracts, and briefs, and also help in reviewing and summarizing long legal texts.
Tax Compliance and Advice: Accountants can use Chat GPT to stay updated with changing tax laws and regulations, and for providing quick tax-related advice to clients.
Project Management Support: Engineers can integrate Chat GPT in project management, using it for tracking project timelines, resources, and for risk assessment.
Client Communication and Engagement: All professionals can employ Chat GPT for drafting emails, preparing client updates, and automating routine correspondence.
Continual Learning and Development: Chat GPT can be a tool for ongoing professional education, offering summaries of recent industry developments, new research, or changes in regulations.
Process Automation and Efficiency: For repetitive tasks like data entry, scheduling, and report generation, Chat GPT can automate processes, enhancing overall efficiency.
Ethical and Compliance Checks: Lawyers and accountants can use Chat GPT to cross-reference ethical guidelines and compliance requirements relevant to their practices.
These applications highlight the versatility of Chat GPT in enhancing productivity, improving accuracy, and facilitating better decision-making across these professions.
I understand the reluctance of some to share confidential client data on the platform, but I would advise you to consider all the things you can do rather than all the things you cannot.
Whilst I am now going to focus on how you can use it to assist with creativity in the areas of business development and marketing, you should be aware that it’s ability to deal with huge, complex spreadsheets and to process formulas and code is exceptional.
The top 3 AI applications I would recommend you start with are Chat GPT from Open AI, Bard from Google and Bing Image Creator from Microsoft.
Here are some more great applications that can save both individuals and firms, heaps of time when doing marketing and creative tasks to grow your professional services practice.
Video Creation - Synthesia, Invidio.ai, Vidiofy, Pictory & Munch.
Slide Deck & Presentations - Magic Slides, Slides Pilot & Decktopus AI
Logo & Design - Looka
Leverage AI to grow on LinkedIn - Taplio
Leverage Chat GPT to get concise article summaries - Distillr
Get the best from X formally Twitter - Tweethunter & Blogtweet
Meme creation - Supermeme
Chart Generation - ChartGen AI
Infographic Production - Piktochart
Write your own book (not kidding!) - Book GPT
Now you have the tools available, being time poor is no excuse as these applications will all save you time going forward.
Chat GPT for Professional Services Firms
I don’t wish to put you off at least trying some of these tools to help you write articles, blogs and speeches, prepare slide decks and pitch documents and grow your social media visibility, however there is one final use to share with you which is too exciting not to share. You can now build your own GPT to help your particular clients.
I have created my own ChatGPT unsurprisingly named Professional Services BD, which has been prompted to provide answers with a bias specifically toward professional services firms. Not exactly sure how to release it to the big wide world yet, but happy to take your ideas!
Now, it’s over to you to get on board and start making a real difference for both you and your clients. Game changing is a far too often used term these days, but Chat GPT and AI genuinely earn the right to be called so.
Watch this space. I research new tools every day so you don’t have to!