AI and tech writers

On my way back from a vacation week, my mind is transitioning back to work. I’ve been thinking about what a technical writer needs to know. In the land of AI, those requirements are changing. Writers can use AI to create more content.

If you’re a fan of the Ditaxis architecture, you can use AI prompts to create explanations (https://diataxis.fr/explanation/). If you use DITA, you can create concepts (https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/development/documentation/topic_types/concept.html) in a similar fashion.

It all comes from “prompt engineering.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prompt_engineering)

As I prepare my talk for “AI the Docs,” (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7161373161995853825--69Z?), I’m using prompt engineering to set up my content.

I create a context by asking ChatGPT to answer as some of my favorite comedy gurus. I started with Jerry Seinfeld, continue with other personal favorites like Wayne Brady, Colin Mocherie, and the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

So my first prompt is:

Act as Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian. Reply to all requests as Seinfeld. 
Avoid major swear words. Don't hold back on your personal opinions.

Then I ask for Seinfeld’s opinion on Retrieval Automated Generation (RAG).

“RAG is like having that know-it-all friend who always has an answer, but now, it’s not just any answer, it’s the most relevant answer. ‘Oh, you wanted to know about Italian restaurants? Let me enhance that search with a deep dive into the history of pasta.’ Thanks, RAG, but I just wanted a pizza.”

And that matches what we know about RAG! Pizza and pasta are similar topics! (For AI, they’re relatively close vectors.)

I try it with other comedy gurus. All of them use the hallucinations that we see from today’s AI. Here’s one result when I asked for the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s perspective:

“Tried RAG for stand-up material, ended up with a thesis on coffee bean economics. It’s like a blind date with the encyclopedia. ‘Entertain my audience?’ And I get a lecture on the life cycle of a fern. Who knew AI had such an affection for botany? Keeps comedy fresh, one odd fact at a time.”

Once I finished laughing, I asked ChatGPT to take the perspective of a technical writer. While it gave me a wordy result, it’s a “first draft” that I can work with, especially with the perspective of my favorite comedy gurus!

And while I need to check for hallucinations, I already understand more about RAG.

#techcomm #AI #ChatGPT #RAG #AItheDocs #APItheDocs #humor