OpenAI just shared real-world ways people use ChatGPT—and the patterns are clear: it’s best for speeding up writing, brainstorming, learning, coding, and everyday ops. Below are fast, low-risk workflows you can lift and use right away.
Source: OpenAI’s roundup of user stories and examples: How people are using ChatGPT.
What people actually use ChatGPT for
- Writing & editing: Draft emails, proposals, job descriptions, social posts—then tighten tone and length.
- Brainstorming: Generate angles, headlines, meeting agendas, outreach ideas, and alternatives fast.
- Learning & tutoring: Get step-by-step explanations, analogies, and quizzes on new topics or tools.
- Coding & debugging: Create snippets, fix errors, write tests, and add comments you can understand.
- Data & spreadsheets: Build formulas, clean text, write SQL, or outline quick analyses before deep dives.
- Customer touchpoints: Draft help articles, macros, FAQs, and templated responses for consistent support.
10 prompts to try now
- Revise this email for clarity and brevity. Audience: [role]. Tone: [formal/friendly]. Max: 120 words. Paste draft below →
- Give me 7 alternative headlines for this post about [topic]. Prioritize curiosity, 65–70 characters.
- Explain [concept] to a [beginner/intermediate] in plain English, then quiz me with 5 questions.
- I’m planning a 30-minute team meeting on [topic]. Create an agenda, timeboxes, and 3 decisions we must leave with.
- Here’s my error message and code. Diagnose root cause and propose a minimal fix with a short example →
- Transform this messy list into a clean table with columns [x,y,z]. Point out missing fields.
- Write a customer FAQ for [product]. 10 Q&As, grouped by onboarding, billing, and troubleshooting.
- Create a step-by-step learning path to get from novice to competent in [skill] in 30 days. Include daily tasks.
- Summarize this long article into 5 bullet takeaways and 2 counterarguments. Maintain source quotes where relevant.
- Turn these notes into a project brief: goals, scope, constraints, milestones, risks, owners →
Make it stick at work
- Start with repeatable tasks: outreach emails, meeting notes, support macros, weekly summaries.
- Write a short prompt library: audience, tone, constraints, and examples for your team’s top 5 tasks.
- Use structured inputs: paste context first (goals, audience, constraints), then ask for the output format.
- Integrate where you work: pair ChatGPT with docs, tickets, or repos so outputs flow into existing tools.
- Measure impact: track time saved, quality improvements, and error rates against a small baseline.
Risks and simple guardrails
- Confidential data: Don’t paste sensitive information into public models. Use enterprise controls when available.
- Accuracy: Ask for sources, cross-check key facts, and run small test cases before using outputs at scale.
- Bias & tone: Specify audience and style; request neutral, inclusive language and a short rationale.
- Ownership: Keep a human-in-the-loop for approvals on customer-facing, legal, or financial content.
Bottom line
Use ChatGPT where speed and structure matter most: first drafts, brainstorming, explanations, and small code. Define inputs, review outputs, and build a shared prompt kit.
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