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municipalauthorities.org | 15 B oosting A uthority O utreach : T hree K ey U ses of C hat GPT and B est P ractices Lindsay Hughes, Manager of Administration and Public Relations, North Penn Water Authority I n today’s fast-paced digital world, effective communication is crucial for any organization, including authorities. With so many priorities vying for the number one spot on your to-do list, regular communication with customers, members and stakeholders seems daunting, especially the thought of social media. With the advent of advanced technologies like generative AI, organizations can now utilize tools such as ChatGPT, to take out some of the guesswork and make brainstorming and content creation much quicker and easier. What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is a language model powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It’s designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input it receives. ChatGPT and other generative AI tools can assist in writing social media content, drafting emails, simplifying complex ideas for the public, drafting blog posts and assisting with research. Some view this tool as a highly advanced assistant capable of producing written content on various topics. ChatGPT learns from vast amounts of text data, allowing it to generate unique and contextually relevant responses. This flexibility makes it an invaluable tool for organizations looking to enhance their communication strategies. Top Three Ways ChatGPT Can Help Authorities Communicate Their Mission 1. Content Creation for Public Awareness Campaigns Water and wastewater authorities often need to run public awareness campaigns about conservation, treatment, and services. ChatGPT can quickly generate examples of informative and engaging content for these campaigns. It can help draft articles, press releases, blog posts, or social media posts that educate the public on the importance of these topics and the steps customers and stakeholders can take to support these efforts. By using ChatGPT, water authorities can produce high-quality, on brand content quickly, ensuring consistent and widespread messaging. 2. Customer Support and Engagement Providing prompt and accurate responses to customer inquiries is essential for maintaining trust. ChatGPT can pull together FAQs for customer service, it can re-write complex language in a way that customers will understand, and it can even help develop different customer scenarios, preparing customer service for many different types of questions. 3. Social Media Management Maintaining an active and engaging social media presence can be challenging. It requires consistent content creation and creativity. ChatGPT can simplify this by generating a steady stream of content ideas and drafts for social media posts. Whether it’s creating educational posts about water-saving tips, updates on wastewater services, or engaging photo captions, ChatGPT can help ensure that your authority has plenty of content to post on a regular basis. Additionally, it can assist in planning and maintaining a content calendar, ensuring timely and consistent updates. Five Best Practices for Using Generative AI While ChatGPT offers numerous benefits, it’s important to use it wisely to maximize its potential and avoid pitfalls. Here are five best practices to consider: 1. Maintain Human Oversight Always review and edit the content generated by ChatGPT. While it’s proficient at creating coherent and relevant text, human oversight ensures that the Continued on page 52. ...it’s essential to use ChatGPT responsibly, with human oversight, clear instructions, and a focus on data privacy. By following these best practices, authorities can harness the power of generative AI to effectively communicate their mission and better serve their customers.