Confession: I used ChatGPT
I have a confession to make.
I did something I thought I would never, ever do:
I used ChatGPT.
If you’re one of the many people who regularly use ChatGPT and generative AI, you might be thinking, “Big deal.” But it is a big deal to me . . . because of my stance on AI.
Before the moment I’m about to describe to you, I hadn’t gone anywhere near AI. I was afraid of it. And that’s because my entire brand is about being human—I am especially sensitive to it.
The more teams and leaders I work with, the more I hear about the different ways people are using ChatGPT and other tools like it: to write emails, to summarize reports, to create meeting agendas, to analyze data, etc. For better or worse, generative AI has become a really common part of daily life for a lot of people.
For so long, I prided myself on “staying strong” and not using it, even when so many people around me were. And I don’t say that to judge anyone who has or does use it; I say it because I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t.
But then, one night a couple months ago, I got stuck. Really stuck.
I was working on the second book, and I needed to know more about a particular concept in order to make a connection between two ideas I had. I had just spent almost an hour on Google searching for and reading different articles trying to learn, but I wasn’t making much progress.
I found myself wishing that I could read a summary of all this information from all these different sources so that I could quickly understand this concept, make the connection, and move on.
Suddenly, I thought to myself: Isn’t this the kind of thing that people use ChatGPT for? Maybe I could just . . . try it. Dip my toe in. See how it works.
That thought alone scared me.
I tried to ignore the idea and go back to my searching, but it kept nagging at me. What if everything I needed to know was right there and I was just being stubborn? What if I could save myself so much time? I was essentially doing the same thing by Googling and trying to find the answers I was looking for. This wasn’t that much different, was it?
After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, I caved.
I typed “ChatGPT” into a search bar . . . and deleted it.
No. I’m not going to do this, I told myself.
Five minutes later, I was back.
I typed it into the search bar again, and this time, I followed through. But even as the page loaded, I was thinking, “Am I really doing this? Do I really want to?”
And then . . . boom. Everything I needed to know was right there in a matter of seconds.
It blew my mind.
ChatGPT helped me understand this concept well enough to make a connection between the ideas that I’d been struggling to put together. If I hadn’t used ChatGPT, it could have taken me hours to get to this point.
And, friends . . . that was exciting. And also really scary.
I realized why people use this technology in all the ways they do. Just that one experience showed me how easy it would be to let this tool bring me information. It showed me how much time it can save. I get that in certain situations, a tool like this can be really helpful and valuable.
But it also really scared me about the future: What does that mean for independent, critical thinking?
After that first experience, I confessed to my team that I had finally used it. It was a funny moment: After I shared, they laughed and told me that I’d said it wrong. (I said ChatGTP instead of ChatGPT, so that shows you how well-versed I am in this AI stuff.) I think they were surprised because I am usually the last to adopt new tech. I told them I found it interesting and scary and that I understand how this kind of thing could easily get out of control.
After that, I used ChatGPT a handful of other times. For example, I used it to help me understand how to make social media posts more compelling. I’m much more comfortable with writing longform than I am with short, snappy captions, so I wanted to see if ChatGPT could teach me how to get better.
I typed in, “What makes a caption compelling?” and, “Give me examples of compelling captions.” Simply reading the examples helped me understand how I could improve in my writing. I used ChatGPT like a trainer: After watching what it came up with a couple of times, I learned how to write better captions on my own.
I think it’s very cool that AI can teach me how to do that. And at the same time . . . now that I understand how it works, I see how using tools like ChatGPT can be a very slippery slope.
So here’s where I’m going with all of this:
My experience using ChatGPT changed my perspective on AI. I don’t think it’s something I can completely avoid, and it’s definitely where the world is going. I think that in certain situations, there can be a value in it.
However.
I think there is a moral line that we each have to define for ourselves.
For me, that line is about the integrity of my work: I have no shame in telling you that I used AI to do research or to learn. But if I had asked it to write this blog post for me, and then copied it, put my name on it, and pretended it was my own IP? That would be a totally different story. I would not feel good about that.
Pretending that I wrote something I didn’t and taking credit for it goes against my values, especially because this blog and the other things I write and share are the core of my business. I know 1000% that I will always write my own content, design my own speeches and workshops, and that the things I share in this blog will always come from my heart.
For me, I can wrap my head around using AI to make things more efficient, to do research (but with a grain of salt: I know ChatGPT can’t tell whether something is true, and it’s up to me to independently verify), and to learn. To me, these things aren’t uniquely special or sacred to me and what I stand for.
How about you? What does that line look like? Think about your work, your creativity, your uniqueness: What is sacred to you? What do you want to protect? I think these are questions we should all ask ourselves.
There’s this great quote I’ve seen floating around social media by a person who says they want AI to do their laundry and wash their dishes so that they can make art, not the other way around. And that’s how I see it: AI can be a helpful tool, but I don’t want it to take over my humanity. That’s mine. I own that, and I don’t want to delegate it.
I’m not here to tell you what to do and I am not judging you for how you use AI (if you do use it): I think that we all have our own perspectives and values, and we all have to decide how far we’re willing—or not willing—to go.
But I do want to give you something to think about. As we go further down the path with AI, it will be even more important to protect authenticity and realness. And I think it's the people who can remain authentic and human who are going to stand out.
What do you think about ChatGPT or generative AI in general? Do you use it? Do you not? What does that moral line look like for you? What are you scared about? What are you hopeful for?
Tell me, tell me! Hit reply and share your thoughts. I think this is such an interesting topic, and I’d love to learn where you stand.
And to close out this blog post, I need to share a #PermissionToScrewUp moment: In last week’s blog, I said we’d be going on Break Week this week, but I wasn't looking at my calendar when I wrote it and I got the dates mixed up. Next week is our official Break Week! That means we are taking next week off of the blog, and I’ll see you back here on 4/15!
Big hugs,
