Creative with Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT

Through a post on LinkedIn about education in the use of Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT, we came into contact with two young entrepreneurs Claus van Oranje-Nassau and Ruben Stout. Curious about their Gen Z perspective on this, as founding partners of their start-up aicourses.com, we invited them for an online interview. An inspiring introduction and conversation quickly followed...

After a brief mutual introduction, which also brings up Claus and Ruben’s international study at the ESCP Business School, we get started.

“FOR EXAMPLE, YOU COULD SAY: WRITE A TEXT IN THE STYLE OF SHAKESPEARE, USE A HYPERBOLE, PROVERBS AND THE TEXT MAY CONTAIN 500 WORDS. BUT STILL MAKE IT UNDERSTANDABLE FOR A CHILD.”

How do you see the opportunities and threats of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT in particular?

Claus: ‘We think that it can actually be an advantage for us as students, because we are now growing up with Artificial Intelligence (AI). We gain more experience than older people, as they are less likely to interact with it. On some schools and universities, for example, it’s already allowed to use ChatGPT for writing essays.’

‘We, of course, see the threats of AI as well, but it’s good to know that it’s not entirely black and white. It’s important to handle it wisely. For instance, don’t send private matters through it. The AI can learn from that and that information can end up with someone else, if OpenAI fails to filter it of course. The AI can also give wrong answers or biased information. We are human and should remain human. We can’t let AI take over everything.’

Do you think this will also result in job losses?

Ruben: ‘AI seems to pose a threat to jobs as well. But new jobs will also be created. This will ultimately balance out.’

Claus adds: ‘Take for instance the job of a prompt writer. A prompt is a command you give to ChatGPT. As a prompt writer, you are the one who gives a well-defined command. This prevents the AI from digressing on things that are not really relevant. For example, you could say: Write a text in the style of Shakespeare, use a hyperbole, proverbs, and the text may contain 500 words.’ ‘But still make it understandable for a child,’ Ruben completes.

Are there any more misconceptions about AI?

Ruben: ‘I have seen articles about people who are afraid for their privacy when using ChatGPT. In the Terms & Policies, you can read that ChatGPT does store information and learns from it, but it doesn’t learn from personal information. For instance, it doesn’t remember people’s names. I, for one, am not worried that they will use it against me.’

There’s talk of a pause button because the developments are going too fast and there is hardly any regulation or control with respect to AI. How do you see that, is that realistic or is the highspeed train already unstoppable? And do you think that regulation and legislation should follow?

Claus: ‘We sometimes find it a bit scary too. You always have to pay attention, but you can’t just suddenly put AI on pause. Just like you can’t pause with other broad topics.’

Ruben: ‘It would be a shame if you were to introduce a pause button for developments. We are actually in a kind of dot-com bubble now. If you take a month off, then you miss a lot. We believe that everyone is currently in a learning process about AI, so everyone is learning. They tried to temporarily put AI on hold in Italy, but that actually resulted in an information backlog for them.’

Claus: ‘Dutch people are often forward-thinking. We are not that skeptical about these kinds of things, I think. So, we’re doing really well! ‘None of my friends have never used ChatGPT.. Besides AI leader China, we as a Western European country are really at the forefront.’

You took the initiative to give courses for the use of AI, like ChatGPT. Can you tell us a little more about this? What can we learn from these courses?

Claus: ‘We are working on a full revamp of the company. We used to sell shoes online, but offering courses was something new for us. At first, we thought that everyone could use this. So, we didn’t immediately focus on a target customer. But now we want to target a specific audience. For us, that’s marketers. This way, we can improve the quality of our courses and cover topics that are important to a marketer. For example, market research, everything about SEO, email writing, summarizing, lead generation, social media management, copywriting, content generation, and more. We also explain how to professionally edit a marketing photo with AI within seconds.’

Ruben: ‘Claus has written 20 blogs for our site, and some are already ranked on Google.’ Claus: ‘Ruben came up with the concept of topical authority, where if you have a lot of blogs about a topic, you rank high. We have already grown organically and are only at 10%. I want to write 200!’

Do you have a preference for a certain visual AI?

Claus: ‘For visual AIs, we prefer to use Midjourney, because it has millions of users. It already has possibilities for very detailed prompts. For example, if you say: I want a picture of the Dom Tower in Utrecht with a boy in a red sweater. Then ChatGPT writes a long prompt for Midjourney. So you don’t have to go all the way to Utrecht to take a picture.’

Ruben: ‘For marketers, I would recommend using a package like Canva. It recently also includes an AI. And there’s also Ocoya. Just like during the dot-com bubble, there are many different companies.’

Claus: ‘At the moment, it’s best to use and combine different tools, each of which is very good at one thing, to ultimately create the best result. You can also have two AIs feed each other. You have to be careful with this, because if one AI generates something wrong, then the other is fed with it. Then you end up in a wrong spiral.’

Ruben: ‘We are curious who will come out as the best candidate. We do not think that ChatGPT will be the ultimate one. It will probably take a while before a winner is known. The winner could come from the Chinese corner, but it could also be that Google or Meta comes up with the best version.’

We at Holbox mainly work B2B, especially in the industry of development, design and production of retail displays and other POS products. We have already experimented a little with ChatGPT, Bing AI and Adobe Firefly. How would you implement these new technologies for a company like Holbox?

Ruben: “Firstly, I think of customer relationship management. You can send correct emails to customers in a simple way. Not standard answers, but a concrete response to a specific question.”

Claus: “That, of course, depends on how many customers you have. With a small number of large customers, I would keep it personal.

There are also tools in development that can learn your writing style. Documents you’ve written are uploaded into the program, and the AI bot can then respond to emails in your writing style. For non-generic matters, you can use ChatGPT for a general role, for example, the role of a consultant for my company. The AI then thinks it is a consultant rather than a chatbot. For Holbox, you could, for example, tell the AI: this is the client, and the information we have about them and their assignment. Can you come up with some examples and ideas?”

Ruben: “With this, you can use AI effectively as a consultant, for both creative and professional matters.

Are you going to draft a text and you don’t yet know which topic you want to use? Then you can ask for various topics to choose from. You can even use ChatGPT as a kind of mediator when a professional problem arises, for example, between two individuals. You can then ask the AI for advice instead of immediately asking an HR professional. A good answer or advice, of course, depends on correct and sufficient input.”

Starting or professionalizing with AI within a company. How do you do that?

Claus: ‘We would advise everyone within a company to work with AI and additionally appoint one or two people within a large company to gain extra knowledge. For a small company, we recommend that at least one employee take a course, training, or workshop. You shouldn’t organize AI within just one silo of the company. It’s better to spread it across the entire company for greater efficiency and better productivity. Make sure that everyone can use it and not just one department.

Are there also pitfalls for companies, what should we watch out for?

Ruben: ‘A pitfall is that ChatGPT cannot convey emotions and feelings in messages. So you always have to take into account what a company stands for and how you want to come across as a company. You can explain that to ChatGPT, but it’s important to always look at what comes out yourself. You can’t blindly trust AI. Maybe later, but not yet.’

Claus: ‘Sometimes you talk so much with ChatGPT that you almost think there is a human on the other side of your screen. What distinguishes us as humans from robots, animals, and objects is that we have emotions. So we must remain primarily human and not become dependent on AI. If we learn to use AI, we will not become dispensable.’

Perhaps we will get more time to become more active as humans? In any case, we are facing an exciting and fascinating time. Things will probably turn out fine with people like Claus and Ruben from Gen Z and everyone who is open to new possibilities n

Biased information: This is information that leans towards a particular point of view, often excluding or downplaying opposing perspectives. It can inadvertently or deliberately distort the truth, thereby leading to an unfair or unbalanced understanding of a situation or topic.

Broad topics: These are subjects or areas of discussion that encompass a wide range of subtopics. They offer a general overview and can be applied to many different situations or contexts, rather than focusing on specific or narrow details.

Dot-com-bubble: This refers to a period in the late 1990s when there was a rapid rise and subsequent crash in internet-based company stock prices. This speculative bubble was driven by the adoption of the internet and the hype around tech-based companies, resulting in inflated and unsustainable market values.

Forward thinking: This term signifies an outlook that anticipates future trends, needs, or problems. Forward thinking individuals or companies aim to stay ahead of the curve, making strategic plans and decisions based on predictions about what will be relevant or necessary in the future.

Folding masters in action: