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I recently sent an email to my subscribers with a link to a Google Sheet that Thinkific released named ChatGPT Prompt Generators | Public Template By Thinkific. The link was posted in Thinkific’s Facebook group and I didn’t want my subscribers to miss it!
This Google Sheet helps you create effective prompts for ChatGPT for general purposes, course ideas and content repurposing, course planning and outlining, instructional design, etc.
In response to this email I received several replies from my subscribers asking what my thoughts were on utilizing ChatGPT, so I thought I’d share my own thoughts on using ChatGPT for online education.
My Thoughts on Using ChatGPT for Generating Course Topics
Between running a business, shuffling kids to appointments and extracurricular activities, managing the household and all the other daily tasks we have to do, it’s challenging to get into a creative flow.
The most successful courses are on topics that address a pain point, a problem that your buyer persona has, but even if we’re tuned into their pain points, coming up with new course topics can often be a challenge.
And that’s where ChatGPT can help.
ChatGPT can come up with a long list of potential course topics for your niche/expertise, and then it’s up to you to do your research!
Do I believe that the transformation I’m going to deliver in the course is something that my buyer persona wants? Are they looking for help with [topic]? Are there other courses on that topic?
My Thoughts on Using ChatGPT for Creating Course Outlines
Ask anyone who’s created an online course and they’ll tell you that they had no idea how involved it is.
Course creators are subject matter experts, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve actually TAUGHT this material in person or online before they create their first course!
Where do I start? How do I create an outline? What am I missing? Do I have too much in the course? Not enough?
These are all common questions asked by first time course creators.
While you, as a subject matter expert, likely have a good idea of what needs to go in the course, you’re also human and have blind spots.
Here’s a good time to mention that I believe that before you create an online course you should run it as a pilot program. If you need help with that I teach you how to run a pilot program within the Online Course Creator Academy.
The reality, though, is many people who create an online course don’t run a pilot program first. Without feedback from students, you are creating a course based on what you believe your students need to learn instead of focusing on a transformation or result.
And that’s where ChatGPT can help.
You have an idea of a course outline, but what have you missed? Using a prompt to get ChatGPT to create a course outline based on your topic or transformation can bring into view what you may have missed that will better help your students get the transformation or result they want.
Now, just because you use ChatGPT to create an outline for a course doesn’t mean that you use that course outline as ChatGPT gives it to you. You can, however, use a course outline generated by ChatGPT to help fill in the blanks.
My Thoughts on Using ChatGPT for Creating Learning Objectives, Lesson Plans and Course Content/Curriculum
Effective course curriculum starts with learning objectives – for the course, the modules within the course, and the lessons within the modules.
ChatGPT can help create those learning objectives.
ChatGPT can also help create lesson plans.
Again, I’m not suggesting that you rely on ChatGPT to do the work for you – after all, you’re the subject matter expert – but having an assistant like ChatGPT can be a great help.
Once you have your learning objectives established and your lesson plans written, you’ll likely need to write some video and/or audio scripts. Need some help? Let ChatGPT do some of the heavy lifting for you. With the right prompts, an AI tool like ChatGPT can produce almost instant scripts which you can then edit and make your own.
What about quizzes? Having a hard time coming up with the right questions to test your students knowledge? Ask ChatGPT for a helping hand and within seconds you’ll have quiz questions based on your curriculum.
Need a worksheet? No problem for ChatGPT.
My Thoughts on Using ChatGPT for Sales and Marketing
This is where, in my opinion, ChatGPT really shines.
You’re a subject matter expert – not a marketer.
ChatGPT can not only outline a marketing strategy for you, it can also generate email sequences; write the copy for social media posts, blog posts, paid ad copy, webinar scripts, course sales pages; and conduct keyword analysis for SEO.
Remember though, this is a machine generating the output – a machine that does not have years of experience and skills to generate the best possible outcome for you.
The quality of output from ChatGPT all comes down to your prompts. Even with the best prompts, ChatGPT is not a substitute for real experts with real skills and experience.
English theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018, described the rise of AI as one of the greatest threats to the future of humanity. He told the BBC in 2014,“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”
I asked ChatGPT, “What does ChatGPT think of the ethical concerns of AI?” and here was its response:
As an AI language model, I don’t have personal thoughts or opinions, but I can provide you with information on the ethical concerns related to AI that have been raised by researchers and experts in the field.
Ethical concerns surrounding AI are diverse and complex. Here are some key areas of concern:
1. Bias and Discrimination: AI systems can inherit biases present in the data they are trained on, leading to discriminatory outcomes. This can occur in various domains, such as hiring practices, criminal justice systems, or loan approvals. It is crucial to address and mitigate biases to ensure fairness and equal treatment.
2. Privacy and Data Protection: AI often requires access to large amounts of data. Concerns arise regarding the collection, storage, and usage of personal information, as well as the potential for misuse or unauthorized access to sensitive data.
3. Transparency and Explainability: Many AI systems, particularly those based on deep learning and neural networks, can be considered black boxes, meaning it can be challenging to understand how they arrive at their decisions or predictions. Lack of transparency hampers accountability, trust, and the ability to identify and rectify errors or biases.
4. Job Displacement and Socioeconomic Impact: The widespread adoption of AI and automation technologies has the potential to significantly impact the job market, leading to job displacement and socioeconomic inequality. It is essential to consider the consequences and develop strategies to support affected individuals and communities.
5. Autonomous Weapons and Safety: Concerns have been raised about the development and deployment of autonomous weapons systems, which could have unintended and potentially devastating consequences. The ethical implications of giving machines the ability to make lethal decisions without human intervention are significant.
6. Social Manipulation and Disinformation: AI-powered tools and algorithms can be exploited to spread misinformation, amplify biases, manipulate public opinion, and engage in malicious activities such as deepfake creation. Addressing these concerns involves developing mechanisms to detect and mitigate the misuse of AI technology.
7. Accountability and Liability: Determining responsibility and accountability when AI systems fail or cause harm can be challenging. The lack of clear regulations and legal frameworks raises questions about liability and the allocation of responsibility between developers, users, and AI systems themselves.
These are just a few of the ethical concerns surrounding AI. It is essential for developers, policymakers, and society as a whole to engage in ongoing discussions and collaborations to address these concerns and ensure that AI is developed and used in an ethical and responsible manner.
It’s scary, to many, to see how quickly technology is advancing. When it comes to artificial intelligence, you may imagine the worst case scenarios and how it will affect you, your family, your community, your country and your world. Will AI replace you at your job? Will we have robots nursing us to health in hospitals?
The reality is that we have only just begun to see what’s possible with AI. It’s here, whether we like it or not.
YOU get to choose whether you use it and in what capacity.
Personally I think that we can use AI tools, such as ChatGPT, responsibly and with discernment. I do believe there is a place for AI and that it can be a wonderful tool to assist us.
We should not use it to replace our natural creativity and intelligence, and understand that machine learning outputs will never deliver the same kind of results that REAL e-learning or sales/marketing/tech experts will.
Want a real expert’s help?
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