ChatGPT gives Cloud Four (incorrect) awards

Intrigued and uneasy. That’s how I would describe my feelings about the latest wave of AI tools that seem to have appeared overnight. ChatGPT was the first tool I played around with, and I immediately saw its utility. I could certainly envision using it to help spark inspiration or clear any writer’s block I might’ve been struggling with. It’s an excellent idea generator or can kick off your writing in a way that a blank notepad document does not.

Sometimes, I welcome our robot overlords. Last week, I was reminded about how early this technology is.

I was scrolling my LinkedIn feed, and I came across a post by Alex Boyd, founder of RevenueZen, that a connection of mine had commented on. In that post, Alex says they got their first lead from ChatGPT. My mind spun a bit – a client lead? How in the world did that happen?

It turns out they aren’t totally sure either, but a potential client asked ChatGPT a question that led them to Alex’s company, and they reached out to connect.

As a small business owner, this piqued my interest. At Cloud Four, we’ve been adjusting to the world since 2020 and what it means for our business development efforts. How do we reach potential customers when our usual avenues have changed significantly? So, the idea that AI might help in that regard was interesting.

I was able to get ChatGPT to list potential agencies to contact for our niche (which, you may be surprised to know is not AI, but instead responsive web development and progressive web apps), but it tries hard not to make recommendations (“As an AI language model, I do not have personal recommendations…”)

That was an interesting endeavor, but the most fascinating part happened when I asked ChatGPT to tell me what it knows about my company, Cloud Four.

Cloud Four is a web development and design agency based in Portland, Oregon, USA. The company was founded in 2007 and has a team of experienced developers and designers who specialize in building responsive websites, mobile apps, and progressive web apps (PWAs).

Cloud Four is known for its expertise in web performance, accessibility, and user experience (UX) design. They have worked with a wide range of clients, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, across various industries, including healthcare, finance, and education.

So far, so good. You are really nailing it, robot!

The agency has received several awards and recognition for its work, including the 2018 Net Awards Agency of the Year and the 2019 Awwwards Agency of the Year.

Wait, what? Does ChatGPT know something I don’t? We don’t typically submit for awards like this (although our clients sometimes do).

It turns out that part was wildly inaccurate. I’m not even sure where that information came from. But, it shows both the power and the challenge of AI content generation. You have to be really careful, and it’s easy to be fooled. This feels like a step in the wrong direction in a world teeming with misinformation.

So, for now, while it’s all very exciting and interesting, I’ll be proceeding with caution. The robot overlords won’t take me yet.

(And I did not use ChatGPT to write this article, but I did use Grammarly to help edit it. Thanks, robots!)