#Funtervention Workshop Recap and Replay: Creative Ways to Use ChatGPT At Work

Out-of-the-box ideas for how to use ChatGPT to increase your own creativity

Yesterday Devin McNulty (of Funmentum Labs) and I ran a live workshop on creative ways to use Chat GPT at work. It was really fun, and we got user feedback such as "So outside the box!", "Very practical and on-point," and, my personal favorite, "The best Chat GPT training I've ever been to." 

(If you have no idea what the heck I'm talking about (ChatGPWhat?), scroll down; I have a basic explanation.)

The basic goal of the workshop—which was really an experiment, since neither Devin nor I have ever run a live workshop using ChatGPT—was to give participants a new way to think about their interactions with ChatGPT. 

At the moment, we've seen people interacting with ChatGPT in two main ways: using it for purely playful, "can you believe it did that?" purposes, like asking it to write sonnets about the potential risks of generative AI (try it!), or using it for practical, kind-of-boring purposes (e.g. asking for instructions on how to send a zoom calendar invite). 

Our idea: what if you combined both of these approaches, and used ChatGPT for practical purposes . . . but with a playful attitude?

The goal was to leave participants with some concrete strategies and prompts that they could use to coax ChatGPT into giving more unusual, out-of-the box ideas than it might in response to a more traditional prompt. We also wanted to give participants ideas for how you could use ChatGPT when you're working in a group setting. For example, if you're in a meeting or zoom call with colleagues, how could you use ChatGPT as a sort of brainstorming companion to help you generate the seeds of new ideas?

---

Building Your “Creative Cabinet” of Advisors

One idea we shared was to build a "creative cabinet" of "personas" you could ask ChatGPT to adopt while generating ideas for you. For example, in the call we worked with a woman who was trying to figure out ideas for an upcoming work retreat. So we asked ChatGPT to generate some ideas for her as if it were Groucho Marx. And then Michael Jackson. And then Maya Angelou. And while many of the ideas were mundane or, frankly, bad (or just bad puns), there were the seeds of good ones, too. (Check out the video to see what ChatGPT produced.)

We also experimented with asking ChatGPT to give advice in the voice of someone in a different profession—as a way to artificially generate a different perspective. For example, what advice might it give if it were a psychologist? Or a barber (we were brainstorming professions that are known for giving advice). Or a doctor? Or a taxi driver? 

Again, the suggestions themselves were not all fantastic. But it was fascinating to see how we were able to use our human brains to build on some of the AI-generated ideas—and to have some fun while doing so.

For more information, or to connect with Devin directly, join our LinkedIn Group (he'll be posting the prompts there). 

To scrolling less and living more, 

Catherine Price

Founder of Screen/Life Balance and author of books including The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again and How to Break up With Your Phone