Practical (and Ethical) Uses For Generative AI

It's difficult to see beyond sensational headlines when weighing the risks and rewards of using artificial intelligence tools. But for nonprofit marketers, it's really not all bad news. “Reactions to the disruption generative AI created, to put it lightly, have been varied,” says Ekin Pehlivan, professor of marketing at California State University Channel Islands (Camarillo, CA) and an avid researcher of generative AI. “Calls to stop everything we are doing to deal with AI issues and law before all that is dear to humanity are lost were counteracted with the long-term optimism of a world rid of diseases, where all the problems we could not solve due to our limited cognitive ability and limited lifespan are no longer,” she continues. “In marketing, discussions and concerns around the concerns and the opportunities AI brings have been just as varied.” Nonprofit communications professionals prescribe to views on both sides of this spectrum. Some have no problem enlisting ChatGPT to write their press release drafts. Others may only feel comfortable treating the tool as a digital assistant or editor. “There should be a discussion taking place among professionals about how we are going to use AI,” Pehlivan says. “It's likely to change the definition of plagiarism as we know it, so what do we consider acceptable?” In Pehlivan's most recent study, her team also found high-performing professionals tend to use different tools than the average user. “For instance, agencies that create a lot of written content use Jasper, which they can train with their own preferences and styles,” she shares. “The professionals we talked to find ChatGPT (free version) less useful in terms of providing the quality of work they would need to keep their performance or boost it.” Source: Ekin Pehlivan, Professor, Marketing, California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA. Phone (805) 437-8400. Email: [email protected]. Website: https://www.csuci.edu