Make the Matrix Work for You by Leveraging ChatGPT and AI in the Parking Industry
At the beginning of the classic science fiction film “The Matrix,” the character Neo faces a choice: take the blue pill and forget what he’s learned about the dystopian Matrix that controls his simulated reality or take the red pill and see reality as it truly is. Thankfully for movie fans, Neo takes the red pill.
Unlike the Matrix, today's artificial intelligence (AI) is not an all-powerful system built to enslave humanity. (At least not yet!) But AI is transforming many industries, including parking. From license plate recognition (LPR) software and smart parking systems to chatbots for customer service, AI technology touches many aspects of our field.
However, many of us are still learning how to harness this technology in our daily operations. This article will explore AI tools that can enhance your life and your staff’s productivity by streamlining processes and improving how you approach work. Just as Neo chose to address reality head-on, you can choose to address AI and learn how to take advantage of some of its useful tools.
AI Defined
AI refers to machines simulating human intelligence processes like learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perceiving, and understanding language. AI aims to create systems that can mimic cognitive functions and perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Examples of AI include:
- Natural language processing: Google Translate, Amazon’s Alexa
- Machine learning (ML): Netflix and Amazon’s recommendation engines
- Computer vision: facial recognition used by security systems
- Expert systems: automated support systems that troubleshoot and provide support information
- Autonomous vehicles: drones used for delivery or self-driving cars
AI can enrich both our personal and professional lives. Let’s delve into an AI platform that uses both natural language processing and machine learning — ChatGPT.
ChatGPT: The New Matrix
ChatGPT is an advanced natural language processing system. It is a large language model that uses machine learning techniques to understand and generate human-like text based on input. ChatGPT can help with tasks like text completion, conversation, translation, and more.
Although highly capable, ChatGPT can present challenges, such as requiring detailed prompts, ensuring data accuracy, and addressing privacy concerns. The following settings and tips can enhance your ChatGPT experience.
Custom Instructions
Custom instructions can save a lot of time. By setting directives for ChatGPT to follow, you can skip adding these instructions every time you prompt the AI. For instance, if you are a parking operator and want all responses to be relevant to the parking and transportation industry, you can set specific instructions.
For example, say you are a parking operator and want all the generated material to cater to the parking and transportation industry. In this scenario, using ChatGPT’s custom instructions you can say, “I am a general manager for a large parking operator in Chicago and will be using ChatGPT to help me generate relevant information for my parking clients, operations, and other experts in my field. I want to use professional vocabulary and keep the tone engaging and optimistic.” Every subsequent answer then would follow that criterion.
How-to: Click on your profile picture in the upper right-hand corner and "Customize ChatGPT." You will see a pop-up window with two text boxes asking, "What would you like ChatGPT to know about you to provide better responses?" and "How would you like ChatGPT to respond?" Once you have entered your instructions, make sure the toggle next to "Enable for new chats" is turned on so that it is used every time you type in a prompt in the future. You can toggle the setting back off if you want ChatGPT to ignore the instructions for a specific answer.
Creating your _STYLE
If you haven’t instructed ChatGPT on the specifics of your writing style before, you may not realize the valuable time you could save from editing impersonal and robotic sounding first drafts. The easiest way to do this is to create styles and submit samples for it to reference. When creating a style, create a name and follow it up with “_STYLE.” For example, if you want to create a style for writing emails, you might name it “kbemail_STYLE” and provide numerous emails you have written for it to reference. If you need to write policies on behalf of the company, you might name it “policy_STYLE” and provide samples of similar policies you want as output.
How-to: To create a simple style, start a new message chat. Begin by telling ChatGPT that you want to create a writing style for it to learn. Let it know what you are going to name it and explain that you will be uploading examples for it to reference.
Format Matters
ChatGPT can do more than provide standard text responses. It can deliver output in various formats, such as text, charts, tables, Excel, and code. For instance, if you need to conduct a rate study, ask it to provide all the parking rates for downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and present the data in a table format with headers like Location Name and Rate. It will give you a table with several parking facilities and their rates. Take it a step further and ask it to compare that table with other cities of similar size in the Southeastern United States. You will receive a table listing several cities, their states, locations, and parking rates. The entire process takes minutes.
Privacy Matters
ChatGPT collects data during your interactions, and just like Neo’s journey in the Matrix, this information can be used to enhance its knowledge. To protect your company’s sensitive data, consider enabling a privacy mode. Detailed instructions on how to do this are provided in the ‘How To’ section. Additionally, you can use the temporary chat feature, which prevents your conversations from being saved. To activate temporary chat, simply click on the ChatGPT menu at the top of the page and select Temporary Chat.
How-to: Navigate to your account profile, select Settings, and then choose Show Data Controls. Toggle Chat History and Training to “Off” to ensure your conversations aren’t saved.
Be Neo, Take the Red Pill
AI tools are here to stay and will continue to evolve. Embracing AI technology can significantly enhance your efficiency and productivity. By leveraging settings like custom instructions and creating writing styles, you can harness the power of AI to better your work life. Take the red pill, embrace this technology, and let it help you become more efficient and productive.
KATHERINE BEATY is executive vice president of customer experience for TEZ Technology. She can be reached at katherine@teztechnology.com.
