If you’re like most chamber pros working with AI, your best friend is ChatGPT. After all, it has a free version and is one of the simplest tools out there. You can ask it for a new exercise routine, what to pack on your next trip, or about problems your vehicle is having. There are also business applications like writing emails, suggesting blog topics, and summarizing articles for you.
It’s rich with knowledge and can do things in a fraction of the time it takes us. The content and answers it generates are solid, assuming your prompts are well-written.
But did you know there are other free tools you could be using at your chamber of commerce? ChatGPT is an excellent generalist but sometimes you need something very specific. That’s where the following tools can help.
Free AI Tools You Never Knew You Needed at Your Chamber
Lyric Remover
Have you ever wanted to use a song* under your narration on a video but the lyrics are too distracting? Well, if you can’t find an instrumental version of that song, Vocal Remover can strip out the lyrics for you instead. After you run your music through Vocal Remover, you’ll receive two tracks–one with the vocals (sort of like acapella) and an instrumental with no vocals (like what you would hear coming from a karaoke machine). The service is free but the company takes donations to help support their efforts.
*A note about using copyrighted music in your chamber videos: You can license music to use it but it’s generally very expensive to do so. There is public-domain music you can use and a host of other options that might work for your chamber budget. But it’s inadvisable to take a song you downloaded and use it in your chamber video. There’s a big difference between doing your own personal TikTok with your child and using that same song to “sell” the chamber.
Learn more about the ins and outs of licensing music for commercial use here.
Music Generator
If you don’t want to be bothered by licensing (or if it’s not in your budget), you can make your own music or rather, an AI can. AIVA can create just what you’re looking for based on a few inputs. There’s a free version (limited to three downloads a month) and two paid versions depending on what your music-creating needs are.
If you’re wondering what it’s capable of, give it a listen:
Find That Phrase
Have you ever been in the middle of writing a chamber blog or newsletter and decided you wanted to use a movie or TV clip? If you remember where it came from you likely open GIPHY and search for a meme or video clip. But what happens when you can only remember the quote but not where you saw it? Enter PlayPhrase.me. You can search for an exact quote or an approximation on a topic and the AI will show you several clips. For instance, you can plug in something exact like “Play it again, Sam.” or something general that conveys your theme or feeling like “I’m tired.” When I did the latter, I got quotes/clips from the Joker, Shawshank Redemption, and Gladiator. If you are not a sponsor of PlayPhrase.me, you’ll be limited to five clips per search.
This tool is a lot of fun but also a giant rabbit hole that you could lose an afternoon in. You’ve been warned.
Summarizing Like a Law Clerk
ChatGPT does a great job summarizing content. However, if you have really long content like an industry report, you might want a tool designed for that sort of thing. Meet Claude. Claude’s specialty is use cases including summarization, search, creative and collaborative writing, Q&A, coding, and more. You can upload text and PDFs for summaries too. Claude can also receive prompts on personality, tone, and behavior. Claude-Instant is free but requires an account sign-in.
Tips for Using AI Tools at Your Chamber
As you’ll often hear people saying, AI is a tool just like a hammer. A hammer alone cannot build a house. There has to be someone operating the hammer (and many other tools for that matter), to create a structure where someone could live. The same is true of these (and other) AI tools. They are terrific time savers but they need your vision and supervision.
However, that’s not the only thing you’ll need to think about when implementing AI. Additionally, any lesson you learn in AI adoption can be passed on to your members.
You’ll want to:
- Use change management. AI tools can make you more efficient and help you serve your members better. However, they’ll likely replace (or at least impact) how you work and who you work with from a vendor perspective. It may also align how you use your staff for greater efficiency. These things require change management skills. Someone on your staff may be fearful for their job when you start talking about the magic of AI. Be sensitive to that. Help them navigate the uncertainty with trying something new.
- Research the right tools. There are a lot of AI tools out there and some do concrete things much better than the generalist platforms out there. If there’s something you’re working on in your chamber that is cumbersome and time-consuming, do a little research to see if you might find some AI assistance. Just because you’ve tried one AI and weren’t impressed with the results doesn’t mean you should ignore AI. That’s akin to making a bad hire and deciding you’re never hiring anyone else again. Each AI has its strengths. For instance, Bard doesn’t formulate inspiring writing, but it’s a strong idea generation and search tool.
- Ask “What else can we be doing?” If AI frees up some of your administrative tasks, what else can you accomplish? If you don’t set goals for that freed-up time, you may use it doing something less impactful. Map out what it could mean to your chamber. For instance, if you spend an hour coming up with blog topics for the month and AI can do it for you, how will you use that hour you’ve been given?
- Get good at asking for what you want/need. AI is only as good as the prompts you give it so make sure you hone your communication skills. Always address the who, what, where, and how you’re giving it. Talk about who the message is for, what the goal behind it is, all of the details needed, and the media or format you want AI to create. The more time you spend on the prompt, the less time you’ll need to spend cleaning it up or regenerating it.
