Using ChatGPT to Write Articles
ChatGPT: Article Creation
This topic is probably the most contentious issue when it comes to the ChatGPT debate. At the risk of sounding like a parrot sitting on a broken record, I’ll say this AGAIN, “AVOID copying and pasting entire ChatGPT articles” on your site.
Use the tool to AID in content creation… BUT make sure you do most of the writing yourself. Now let’s get started.
So where were we?
Ah yes… the gardening article. We’ve already asked ChatGPT to give us 3 points for both the benefits of indoor gardening and improving soil health.
The next thing we’ll do is ask ChatGPT to create an outline for the article so that you have a guide to follow instead of being all over the place. Once again, remember that ChatGPT is a conversation. Just ask it to use the points above to outline an article.
Now that you have all the necessary ‘components’ for an article, it’s just a matter of using:
- One of the titles ChatGPT provided you
- The GPT research that you’ve fact-checked
- And start writing your own article based on the outline ChatGPT created for you
Even though we’ve saved a ton of time by shortcutting the writing process, some people may still find it hard to write from scratch. A blank page can be intimidating.
But worry not. We’ll use ChatGPT to get the ball rolling.
Introduction
Let’s ask it to generate an introduction for the article…
I don’t know about you… but that’s a long-winded intro to me. We live in a world where people won’t even wait 2 seconds before scrolling past a TikTok video.
You definitely can’t expect them to sit through ChatGPT’s introduction… yaaaawn!
If you can say something in two words, never use three – unless it’s to entertain or engage the reader.
Time to ask Grandpa Chatty to shorten the introduction. I’ll ask it to summarize the article into 5 lines.
That’s ok… but still too long. Looks like it’s more than 5 lines too. Never mind. Let’s ask for a 3-line summary.
(I keep saying ‘above’ in my prompt because it’s an ongoing conversation in ChatGPT. I’ve cropped the screenshots here to make them easier for you.)
Excellent! So we have a short introduction that gives the gist of the article. Now you have a starting point to write your own introduction.
In this case, I’d probably write an introduction like the one below…
What? You love gardening but you don't have an outdoor garden?
Worry not. Indoor gardening has your name written all over it.
You can still enjoy health benefits, better air quality in your home and a joyful sense of purpose when you see your indoor plants and vegetables growing and thriving.
Now, let's see how you can maintain good soil health so that your indoor garden has healthy, flourishing plants and produce – instead of looking like a barren desert!
It’s longer than ChatGPT’s summary… BUT by asking a question, I’ll probably hook the reader and reel them in. You’ll notice that I’ve woven in the key points provided by ChatGPT into my intro.
That’s how you do it. I’ll bet every cent I have that no other ChatGPT user who tries to generate an article on the same topic will have the same/similar intro as me.
Conclusion
If you can create an introduction… you can create a conclusion too.
I’ll ask Chatty to create a conclusion for me.
Oh look. Chatty got carried away... AGAIN! Well, I’m having none of that!
I’ll ask it to remove everything above except the last paragraph… and now we have a decent conclusion.
I do hope you're not getting sick of these lessons, cause there's more to come.
I haven't even touched on fiction writing yet!
Recent Comments
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A great series of articles, Phil!
In find quite a few inaccuracies in ChatGPT content, but they’re easy to spot for people that really know their niche.
Check out the “New Bing” app. You have to apply for user rights in a Microsoft account to activate it.
It’s an interesting glimpse of how people will be having conversations with ChatGPT for their informational needs.
It’s bound to change the way we search the Internet.
I think that eventually, search engines will monetize this AI-Generated content with paid ads.
Some great observations there, Frank.
Inaccuracies in ChatGPT are great. They'll help separate us from the rest!
Our responses get somewhat repetitive, but they all want you to know how much we appreciate your ChatGPT articles, and the outstanding time and effort you put into them .
There's no way I could ever tire of your lessons. Please keep them coming.
Thanks again, Phil!
Steve
PS: It's amazing how much I've learned about a program that I didn't even know existed, four months ago!
ChaptGPT has been so fun to use! I love how your posts keep showing how much more you can do with it!
Hubby and I like discussing and debating views on conspiracies. Last night we had a conversation about articles written in the 1800s about people finding giant bones and how they mysteriously disappeared either on the way to the Smithsonian or once they got there.
There was some sort of newish video on youtube where a man claims he captured a giant on camera. I had also been working with chatGPT most of the day and was trying to explain it to him.
Anyway that's how our conversation got started.
Then I was like let's ask chatGPT our questions. The fact that it had answers to our weird giant-related questions was one part hilarious, but it was also scientific in nature, and completely surprising. It was a tremendous amount of fun.
It's always been of interest to me that most cultures have myths about both giants and dragons. Interesting comments. Thanks, Brie.
Ty for this Phil - very useful. Your posts never fail to deliver. I'm delighted that I follow you and can read your posts.
You wrote
'I do hope you're not getting sick of these lessons, cause there's more to come'.
Nah, mate. Hell will freeze over before I get sick of your lessons. Keep 'em coming.
Have a cracking day.
Paul
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Okay, I'm hooked. I just used your lesson on how to create a ChatGPT account. That went smoothly. Then I asked it for a couple of different outlines. That was pretty cool. And the coolest thing was that I had already started an article a while back and needed to finish it but got kind of stuck so I ask "chatty" for an outline. It pulled some of the same characteristics I was already using in my previous outline. Pretty cool.
Sounds like you're using it exactly as recommended, Pamela.