ChatGPT for Tech Teams: Tips for a Team Leader

In November 2022, OpenAI presented ChatGPT to the world. Five days later, the service attracted its first million users. For context, it took Facebook seven months to reach that number, and Twitter did it in two years. 

Tech products like ChatGPT, Mindjourney, and GitHub Copilot have started the era of generative AI, and there is no going back. And despite concerns and complex questions this era has brought, the best thing businesses and experts across all industries can do is embrace this technology and learn how to leverage it.

Recently, Alex Yakubenko, Beetroot’s web software developer, held an online workshop on how ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools can revolutionize the daily work of tech specialists. Here we share his insights and tips for experts in the tech field, team leaders, and businesses on how they can benefit from AI in both daily tasks and strategic objectives.

Beetroot’s Experience Using Generative AI in Daily Work 

As with most of our workshops, the Beetroot experts share not only theoretical knowledge but tips and insights they gained from personal experience, and this time was no exception.

Alex Yakubenko has been in the field for eight years. His primary focus is data scraping software and working on SEO tools, server operations, and process automation. 
Alex got interested and started using generative AI and ChatGPT for programming in 2022. Now, the expert shares:

“ChatGPT is a superb asset for creating documentation you find in algorithms, and even plays a vital role as a programming assistant. It offers real-time guidance and suggestions throughout the entire development process.”

Less than a year since he started using it, Alex utilizes ChatGPT for:

• Learning new technologies like programming languages, frameworks, and advanced code practices;
• Automating routine tasks like code generation, code refactoring, and writing Unit/E2E tests, which helps the expert boost productivity and efficiency and frees up his time for getting into more intricate issues;
• Creating documentation for project modules and code blocks.

Among the core benefits of using ChatGPT in daily work, Alex highlights customization (adopting the model to specific project needs), time-saving, quality outputs, the versatility of the model, and the adoption of innovative approaches it enables.

During his workshop, Alex also shared several cases where ChatGPT came in handy, including creating the presentation for the event, 98% of which, as it turned out, was generated by the service. On a more serious note, though, the expert shared his experience with the integration of ChatGPT into a few messenger chatbots through OpenAI’s API, which didn’t require writing a single line of code.

Moreover, Alex’s team is currently working on an AI-powered content generator. This pet project aims to help Beetroot’s clients streamline their content generation process, increase productivity, and save costs. When studying artificial intelligence capabilities and looking for tools that would be useful to our partners, our developers discovered that OpenAI’s DaVinci model is suitable for generating unique multi-language SEO-friendly articles written in a human-like manner. The team experimented with fine-tuning the AI model to make it even more efficient by training it on Beetroot’s data from over 15 thousand articles. Alex notes:

“As a developer who spent almost eight years in the field without leveraging AI, I wouldn’t view ChatGPT or similar AI technologies as a panacea. However, it is crucial to adopt such tools since they open up plenty of opportunities for developers and businesses alike.”

Potential Opportunities of Generative AI for Tech Specialists and Team Leaders

Generative AI solutions have simplified routine tasks for specialists across various sectors. However, some still wonder: how significant are AI tools for businesses? 

McKinsey’s report “The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier,” released in June 2023, highlights the following numbers:

• Generative AI’s impact on productivity can add trillions of dollars in value to the global economy: the technology could add the equivalent of $2,6 trillion to $4,4 trillion annually across the 63 use cases they analyzed. As a result, the impact of all artificial intelligence would increase by 15 to 40%.
• Around 75% of the value generative AI use cases could deliver falls across four areas: customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and R&D.
• Generative AI and other technologies can potentially automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70% of employees’ time today.
• AI’s direct impact on software engineering productivity could range from 20% to 45% of current annual spending on the function.

Another research we found interesting is Writer’s survey on generative AI in the enterprise conducted in April 2023 with a sample of 466 directors and above from organizations with over 1,000 employees. The numbers below demonstrate how crucial AI tools are becoming for businesses:

• 59% of companies have purchased or plan to buy at least one generative AI tool this year;
• 19% of companies use five or more generative AI tools;
• 56% of respondents say generative AI boosts productivity by at least 50%.

So, what operations can AI tools like ChatGPT assist with? The list includes tasks connected to data analysis, software development, cybersecurity, customer support, NLP-related operations, sales and marketing, content creation and automated content moderation, administrative work automation, and more. By leveraging generative AI, teams can enhance problem-solving and decision-making capabilities and focus on higher-value, creative aspects of their work, thus benefiting the businesses they work for even more.

As for the opportunities of ChatGPT for developers and other tech specialists, Alex sums them up perfectly in the infographic below. 

Essential Skills and Strategies for Working Effectively with ChatGPT

Working effectively with ChatGPT requires an approach that encompasses technical expertise and an in-depth understanding of AI capabilities and limitations. Here is the list of skills and strategies necessary for understanding how to use ChatGPT effectively.

Critical Thinking

Evaluating and processing the model’s responses with a questioning mindset is a fundamental skill for working with generative AI models like ChatGPT. The essential components of such an approach include verification and fact-checking, identifying biases, considering the broader context of the conversation, and recognizing uncertainty.

Understanding of AI Principles

Knowing the basics of NLP, deep learning, and machine learning concepts helps grasp the AI model’s architecture, behavior, and capabilities and thus refine it for specific use cases and resolve potential issues.

Effective Prompting

Crafting effective prompts is vital for leveraging ChatGPT and other generative AI models since the quality and accuracy of the response directly depend on the specificity of the prompt. Effective prompting involves clarity, concision, providing the necessary context for the model to understand the user’s intent, and writing instructions. Users can also try iterative prompting for better results and experiment with open-ended and close-ended prompts depending on how creative or restricted they want the model to be.

Recognizing the limitations of AI

Awareness of artificial intelligence limitations helps promote responsible usage of AI tools, prevent misinformation and misleading responses, avoid over-reliance, detect biases and unfairness, and make better decisions. It also enables users to identify when human intervention or verification is necessary, ensuring accurate, secure, and ethical interactions with the model.

Applying Collaborative Approach

Collaboration is also key to effective utilizing of AI models since this technology is most efficient when combined with the expertise of tech specialists and domain experts. As a result, such an approach leads to improved problem understanding, provides AI customization opportunities, and creates innovative applications. It also ensures that AI model outputs are verified against human expertise, resulting in more impactful and responsible AI implementations.

Cultivating Learning Culture

When applying this strategy, it’s crucial to prioritize leadership support, offer learning opportunities to employees, encourage internal knowledge sharing, and foster innovation. AI-focused educational events and competitions, as well as rewarding learning efforts and promoting curiosity-driven learning, also help create an environment where the team is motivated to leverage AI and, as a result, drive business growth.

Integrating AI tools like ChatGPT into team workflows

To do so, businesses and organizations need to develop clear AI integration strategies that involve the following:

• Establishing clear communication channels; 
• Fostering cross-functional collaboration;
• Promoting regular feedback to refine the model’s performance;
• Providing user training and guidelines;
• Integrating ChatGPT with existing tools;
• Encouraging pilot projects for gradual adoption.

By combining these skills and approaches, tech teams can effectively and responsibly utilize ChatGPT and other AI tools for better project results and overall organizational growth.

ChatGPT Vs. Developers. Will AI Replace Programmers?

The speed at which AI models evolve has naturally caused concerns in the tech industry. However, experts in the field are typically quite definitive in their answer to the question, “Will AI replace developers?”.

As Alex points out, even ChatGPT denies this theory when asked the question. Here is the model’s exact answer:

“While AI tools can automate repetitive tasks, enhance productivity, and provide valuable insights, developers remain integral to software development. The collaborative relationship between developers and AI tools will likely become the most effective approach, leveraging the strengths to create innovative, efficient, and user-centric software solutions. Developers can harness the potential of AI tools to focus on higher-level design, architecture, and strategic decision-making. At the same time, AI assists in automating routine tasks and providing valuable support throughout the development lifecycle.”

We can’t know what the future holds for us for sure. However, as of 2023, ChatGPT and other AI services should be viewed as tools to empower web developers, not replace them. 

Solutions like ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot allow programmers to explore new coding patterns, strategies, and industry practices. Therefore, junior developers can use these services as virtual mentors that guide them through coding challenges. For middle and senior programmers, AI solutions can become assistants that help streamline straightforward tasks, allowing the specialists to focus on creative and complex operations.

The Role of Tech Team Leaders in Utilizing AI Effectively

Embracing AI technology within teams is possible when everyone is on board with the idea, especially the people who are in the lead since they are the ones who need to provide guidance, support, and resources required.

The role of tech team leaders in mentoring and guiding junior developers who are expected to embrace AI tools covers the following aspects:

• Educating the team about AI concepts, including machine learning, natural language processing, AI model architectures, and data pre-processing to ensure they understand the principles and techniques underlying AI technologies.
• Identifying AI use cases within the organization and ensuring AI applications align with its business goals and domain-specific requirements.
• Guiding model selection, fine-tuning, and evaluation to help the team choose and adjust the AI tool so that it suits the project’s purpose.
• Providing access to AI tools and resources like AI libraries, frameworks, data science platforms, cloud-based AI services, pre-trained models and datasets, tutorials, documentation, learning and collaborative platforms, etc.
• Addressing ethical AI issues and emphasizing the importance of responsible AI practices that mitigate bias, privacy hazards, etc.
• Fostering a culture of experimentation and continuous learning within the team by supporting AI-related projects and providing guidance, feedback, and support in overcoming challenges.
• Sharing best industry practices to help developers avoid common pitfalls and optimize their experience with AI tools.

With proper guidance and support from their leaders, tech teams can embrace AI projects, utilize the technology to the fullest, and thus drive progress within their organizations.

Solutions for Businesses and Specialists to Stay in Demand

Over the past year, it has become apparent that generative AI solutions are here to stay. Therefore, it’s better to stop viewing them as a threat and embrace the technology to remain competitive, relevant, and ready to unlock new business growth opportunities. The following strategies can help businesses do just that.

1. Leveraging Generative AI for Competitive Advantage

Generative artificial intelligence can become a way to add value to the business. For instance, AI solutions can present new services to users and provide personalized experiences, ensure real-time customer support, improve fraud detection and security, conduct competitive analysis, enhance content creation and management processes, and more. The opportunities for using AI for businesses are boundless.

2. Incorporating AI as Part of Digital Transformation

Integration of tools like ChatGPT into existing workflows and systems can assist businesses in streamlining operations, optimizing decision-making processes, and driving innovation while allowing their employees to focus on high-value tasks. Moreover, making AI solutions part of the digital processes has the potential to unveil new business models, discover revenue streams, and adapt to the ever-changing market dynamics. 

For instance, Alex suggests using AI tools in the following business areas:

• Data operations & Data processing;
• Software development;
• Education;
• FinTech;
• Sales & Management;
• HR & Recruitment;
• Global trade and compliance;
• Real estate groups;
• Healthcare;
• Digital marketing and SEO, and more.

3. Continuous Upskilling and Reskilling for Tech Specialists

In the AI-driven landscape, non-stop learning is essential for tech specialists and businesses striving to stay in demand. And since artificial intelligence technologies are evolving almost at light speed, tech teams must keep up with the latest AI advancements and trends, take AI courses and certifications, participate in hackathons, gain practical project experience, experiment with AI frameworks and tools, and collaborate with experts.

4. Ensuring a Human-Centric Approach

Humans are the ones who bring unique insights, creativity, and empathy to tech products. That is why, just as doctors using decision-support systems make the final call, tech specialists utilizing AI are the ones who make sure the final product aligns with the client’s vision. Taking a human-centric approach leads to the ethical and responsible use of AI technologies, which helps ensure they go along with human values and make a positive impact.

AI as an Ally, Not an Enemy

The potential of ChatGPT and generative AI to revolutionize both day-to-day tasks and the implementation of strategic business goals is tremendous. And while we can’t predict what the role of this technology will be in 20 years, right now, it’s not a substitute for humans but an ally that can help drive innovation, efficiency, and creativity within tech teams. 

Having multiple AI projects under our belts, the Beetroot team is ready to help you embark on your AI journey, unlock the full potential of these technologies, and assist you with building modern and sustainable tech teams. 

Get in touch to learn more about our services and explore how we can create a synergetic partnership and build meaningful AI-driven products together.