2023 AI Prediction Roundup for Public Accounting
Here's a link to a write-up I did. Common traps I'm seeing people fall into when considering AI 👇
It's like a confident intern that doesn't know anything
Think of it as a *free* intern that never sleeps, is free, doesn't get sick, never forgets what you tell it, and is free. Focus on a single use-case for ChatGPT, develop an amazing prompt to train it to do exactly what you want it to do, and put it work. See my intern Steve if you need ideas.
It's a long way from ever doing X as well as I do
For most tasks, AI makes for a great assistant, not a replacement. Consider how it can help you, not how it can replace you.
Sweet I can generate a ton of blog posts with this
Long-term, assume AI-generated text will be recognizable. Who knows if future models will be, but current models can be recognized, so assume search algorithms will penalize your GPT-3 content, and future browsers will have built-in detection.
It's not ready
Our minds jump to the most complex work we do, when in reality we're pushing our noggins to the limit 1% of the time. Start simple, with the stuff you'd delegate to a VA or jr staff member.
It can't do meaningful work because it can't see into my systems
As I've shared the best version of this is one that's embedded into the systems you use every day. For example, email response generation embedded within your practice management system can see projects, files, tasks, engagements, past emails, even meeting transcripts.
The discussion of what AI can't do is entirely separate from the discussion of what AI can do. Focusing on the latter is more productive.
I always come back to this Paul Graham quote: "The future is not hard to see. You've already seen it. You just didn't realize it, because you dismissed it as a toy."
- A recent podcast interview I did on Accounting High
- Tips to get ChatGPT to generate a helpful draft video script
- The third season of my podcast premiered on Saturday, talking through email automation
- Creating your own custom Google Sheet formulas, courtesy of ChadGPT
- Generate blog posts from YouTube videos
- A Slack bot that answers internal questions using your company Slack history
- Longshot's spin on ChatGPT includes up-to-current data, and cites the sources of its responses
🤖 Automate My Thing
Reusable Data Transformations
You know that service that gives you a CSV, and you have to do a bunch of data reformatting to get it to a format for import into another app? Of course you do we're accountants that's our job.
Here's a spin on this concept, to create a reusable data transformation in ChatGPT:
App A exports a CSV in this format:
- Date (DD/MM/YYYY)
- Description
- Useless ID
- Debit
- Credit
- Card Number (full number)
App B imports a CSV in this format:
- Date (MM/DD/YY)
- Reference
- Amount (positive or negative in a single field)
- Card Number (last 4)
This ended up being way more powerful than I thought it'd be. Here's the full build guide I posted to twitter, that among other things, converts data from format A to B.
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