Hey Chat, I'm want your help to create a blog post that's going to tell the story of how I would like to automate some of my daily tasks using ChatGPT as well as other AI-powered productivity tools. Is that something that you can help me with?

Chat GPT: Absolutely, JP — I can help you with that! We could structure your blog post as a personal narrative that shows how you, as a chamber leader and busy professional, are experimenting with AI-powered productivity tools (ChatGPT, Notion AI, Motion, Power Automate, etc.) to streamline your daily workflow. That way, it’s not just a “how-to” article but a story that readers can connect with.

I want it to be kind of a question and answer/ back and forth, almost like a conversation with a person. So I'm going to ask you a few questions and ask you to do a few things, and we'll piece it together afterwards and put it into a blog post that looks a little bit like an interview.

Q: So my first question is, can you give us a one-paragraph overview of the news coverage that came out over the past week or so in regards to companies not achieving the levels of increased productivity they were hoping when using AI technologies such as ChatGPT?

Chat GPT: Over the past week, a wave of headlines has spotlighted a growing *AI productivity paradox*: despite massive investments in technologies like ChatGPT, Copilot, and broader generative AI, most projects are not delivering meaningful improvements. For instance, MIT’s 'GenAI Divide' study reports that 95% of generative AI pilots are failing to produce measurable financial or operational returns, with only about 5% moving from pilot to full deployment. In Australia, Commonwealth Bank reversed layoffs of 45 call‑center workers after its AI voice bots underperformed—highlighting the risks of rapid automation without human-centered planning. These examples, along with broader skepticism from businesses delaying or restructuring AI projects, underscore how often the hype still exceeds tangible workplace gains.

Q: Thank you for that summary. I think a lot of companies are struggling to really see how they can use AI-driven technologies. I myself mostly use you for basic research and proofreading and other tasks like that. Knowing what you do about the chamber and about all the different aspects of work that we do, are there any opportunities that you see to be able to automate some of that work using ChatGPT, as well as some other AI-powered productivity tools? Or to build out a specific small language model in order to be able to assist with our daily tasks? Remember, this is just an interview-style conversation. So just give me a real brief paragraph or maybe a list of five items with a one or two sentence description.

Chat GPT:  There are definitely some low-hanging fruit opportunities where tools like ChatGPT—or even a small, chamber-specific model trained on your own documents—could lighten the load. Here are five:

1. Board Packet Summaries – Auto-generate concise recaps of committee minutes, financials, and policy updates so you’re not hand-crafting every report.

2. Event Communications – Draft and personalize member invites, thank-you notes, and press releases with a few quick prompts.

3. Policy & Council Tracking – Monitor Lodi City Council agendas and state legislation, flag items relevant to Chamber advocacy, and summarize implications.

4. Member Support Q&A – Deploy a Chamber-trained chatbot that can instantly answer FAQs about events, benefits, or billing, saving staff email time.

5. Strategic Planning Assistant – Use AI to pull data from surveys, interviews, and budgets, then organize it into SWOTs or draft workplans for the Board.

Would you like me to sketch how a Chamber-trained mini-model (built on your bylaws, agendas, event histories, etc.) could actually function day-to-day—almost like a digital staffer?

Q: Thank you for that offer to sketch it out, but I don't need you to do that at this time. But I am encouraged because several of the things you suggested, I am actually going to work on implementing. Fortunately, we have a group in town called Open Innovation Centers. They have recently received grant funding in order to be able to help businesses take a look at integrating AI into their operations and helping to build out those automated systems. I had a discussion last week with them about what we could do at the chamber. A couple of things that you mentioned, including policy tracking and managing our event calendar are a few of the things that we are going to work on. I am going to provide a list of the different publicly available resources and websites that monitor legislation moving through the city, county, and state, and try to get a weekly automated report that will help ensure I am able to advocate on behalf of our members to anything important that may be coming up for committee review, a vote, or any other important step. That way I can make sure to get in touch with the appropriate elected official and ensure that they are informed as to how that specific law or policy will impact our member businesses. Do you think that is doable?

Chat GPT: Absolutely—it’s both doable and incredibly valuable. The raw data is already public; the key is stitching it together so it lands on your desk in a usable way. A weekly AI-curated digest would:

- Save Time: No more combing through multiple websites and agendas; the system does the scanning for you.

- Increase Responsiveness: You’ll know about key hearings or votes early enough to mobilize members and weigh in with decision makers.

- Strengthen Advocacy: Having a structured, automated pipeline means you won’t miss an item that could affect local businesses.

- Add Consistency: Even during your busiest event weeks, the process keeps running in the background.

Think of it as an 'early warning system' for the Chamber’s advocacy arm. Instead of being reactive when a policy hits the floor, you’re proactive—already in the room shaping the outcome. Do you want me to show you how this could look in practice—like a sample weekly advocacy brief generated by AI, pulling in city council, county board, and state legislature items side by side?
 

Q: No thank you. I am excited to see what Open Innovation Centers will develop. I would imagine they will be using your assistance as well. One of the other things I'm hoping to do is to create what's called a second brain, which I know you are well versed in. This would be to help us as a chamber to manage the knowledge flow of all the different aspects of our work into one space. We do such a diversity of things here at the chamber, including running events, our business advocacy, informing members about upcoming networking opportunities or technical assistance programs, and the amount of information that we have to receive and process is immense. Having the ability to keep it in one place where we can leverage AI technology in order to find opportunities for synergy, to ensure that things aren't slipping through the cracks, and to more efficiently report back out to our members and to the community would be of great value to us. What do you see as the advantage of using an AI-powered system such as Notion in order to be able to utilize that so-called second brain? 

Chat GPT: The beauty of using an AI-powered 'second brain' in a tool like Notion is that it doesn’t just store information—it helps you connect it. Here’s what that can mean for the Chamber:

- Unified Knowledge Hub – Instead of events in one folder, advocacy notes in another, and membership updates in someone’s inbox, everything lives in one searchable, structured workspace.
- AI-Powered Discovery – The system can surface hidden connections: e.g., linking an upcoming city policy change to a planned Chamber workshop or flagging members most affected by a proposed ordinance.
- Context on Demand – With natural language search, you don’t have to remember where you filed something; you just ask, 'What did we promise in last quarter’s Government Relations Committee?' and get the answer instantly.
- Efficient Reporting – Generating board packets, newsletters, or advocacy briefs becomes easier because the system can pull directly from tagged, organized data.
- Reduced Cognitive Load – Staff and leadership can focus on strategy and relationships, knowing the 'second brain' is keeping track of details and deadlines.

In short, it’s not just about organizing information—it’s about creating a living, breathing institutional memory that frees you up to lead. Would you like me to give an example of what a weekly workflow might look like if you were fully running Chamber operations through a Notion-based second brain?
 
No, thank you, Chat. You've been more than helpful today. I look forward to updating our members on implementing some of these things into our operations. Now, can you please take these question-and-answer pieces and put them into a single document that then I can copy and paste into our blog software?

Chat GPT: All set! I’ve compiled your Q&A conversation into a clean document.

**This blog is an unedited 'conversation' using Chat GPT with vocal prompts. Stay tuned to see how effectively we can build out these automated systems and how they will impact our mission to serve our members and the community!