ChatGPT Isn't About Searching For the "Right Answer" – Yohei Sadoshima of Cork Inc. Uses AI For "Positive Conversation, Like Being Coached" / Enriching+ Special "ISSUE" Edition

In your “note” article, you mentioned that the ability to ask questions is essential to making AI an ally.

SadoshimaWe always have our smartphones with us these days, and we can use AI anytime. But at this point, AI isn't yet set up to listen to our conversations or look at our health data and give unsolicited advice. It only responds when we ask it something.

AI contains vast amounts of knowledge and can approach many ways of thinking. But unless we ask the right questions, we can't draw out useful information. That's why the ability to ask high-quality questions is so important.

What do you think makes a "good question?"

How can we use AI to uncover answers to specific challenges?

SadoshimaI recommend rephrasing prompts by switching around the different elements of the 5W1H (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How), other than just focusing on "Why." Try asking yourself different variations.

For example, when it comes to writing a report, ask, "What kind of report would be good?" or "What type of report is likely to get read?" or "When is the best time to write the report?" or "When should I submit it?" By asking many questions like these, the report will come into clearer focus. Also, in an instance when you perceive someone else's words and deeds negatively, you can shift your perspective by adjusting your questions. If you simply ask, "Why did they say that?" – that could lead to frustration or resentment.

But if you ask, "What were they trying to convey in that context?" or "How would I feel if I heard the same words in a different context?" you start to focus not on the person, but on the words themselves.

Personally, when I was younger, whenever I struggled with something, I would constantly ask "Why?" And each time, I'd end up doubting myself.

Was there a specific moment that led you to change how you ask questions?

How do you use AI now?

SadoshimaI use AI as a tool to help with communication. For example, when I'm interacting with someone and don't quite understand what they're trying to convey, I'll ask AI. I'll explain the context and say, "What do you think their intent might be?" AI will then give me an objective guess of their meaning. In these moments I finally often realize, "Oh, that's what they meant."

Another simpler method is attaching a screenshot of a chat conversation and asking, "What do you think went wrong in this interaction?" It's like getting coached.

SadoshimaAlso, recent generative AI has a great memory. The more you interact with it regularly, the more information it accumulates about you. For example, I might ask, "Based on our conversations over the past month, what do you think of me as a business owner?"

It's quite fascinating. Since I'm both an editor and a CEO, sometimes when I work from an editor's perspective, I feel like I might be too immersed in details, and don't always make the best business decisions. It's nice to get feedback from AI that evaluates me objectively as a CEO.

You might think, "Why not just ask the people around you?" But if I were to pose such a question to other executives at our company, they would probably be uncomfortable.

In that sense, having frequent interactions with AI and providing as much information as possible could make it more effective, right?

In what other situations do you use AI?

SadoshimaWhen brainstorming ideas for new projects, for example.

I might ask, "In the past, novels often focused on family history or the rise and fall of a town, but recently, it seems like stories about individual, shorter timelines are becoming more common. Is that just my impression?" Drawing on vast amounts of information, AI might answer, "That's not just your impression; it reflects a current trend in entertainment." Based on this response, we might develop discussions within the company that lead to refining work on a project.

What do you keep in mind when interacting with AI?

SadoshimaIt's not that different from talking to a person. The only thing I do differently is that for the first prompt, I’ll add a bit more context or explanation about background and purpose.

Also, it's important to ask questions that help you check whether AI "remembers" previous conversations. For example, I'll ask, "Do you remember what profession I have and what I do?" AI will then provide a summary, making the conversation flow more smoothly.

Given the convenience factor, do you ever worry about blindly trusting AI and making incorrect decisions based on its answers?

There are increasing examples of companies introducing generative AI tools like ChatGPT, but some people may think it's not being fully leveraged in business.

SadoshimaJust introducing generative AI into a company won't automatically make it effective.

For example, companies with a strong sales team don't just focus on the sales process itself; they also put effort into sales planning. It's because the sales planners work hard to come up with strategies, and the sales team execute them to achieve results. In the same way, I think it's important to have people or teams that organize and consider questions like, "Who in the company should use AI, and how will it help streamline operations?" or "What data should be utilized?"

On a personal level, how can we use AI more effectively?

SadoshimaRecently, there's been integration of online meeting tools with AI that automatically summarizes conversations. This is something that definitely has a place in daily use. Even if you take your own notes during a meeting, you can unconsciously alter the meaning when summarizing in your own words. This can distort the content of your memory, making communication with others less effective. AI can help avoid such situations.

Perhaps a more familiar example – one of our executives records our online meetings, has ChatGPT read the transcript and then asks AI to explain the content. AI provides insight into the intent behind my words, and it's often quite on point. Because AI can catch subtleties I might miss when taking notes, this method has made our work go so much smoother.

With AI as a support system, you can enhance the quality of your daily work. If you treat it like a skilled coach and embrace openness, I believe you can truly make AI a powerful ally.