AIBU to wish people would stop writing professional emails with Chat GPT?

[4pmfireworks]

One of my managers writes absolutely everything with Chat GPT and as a result, all her emails are oddly formal and often get people's backs up. The tone is all wrong. I don't think she realises how badly she is coming across - and most of the team don't realise that the reason her communication is so lacking warmth and human touch is because she's telling AI what she wants to say.

She even once sent an email to me to let me know that "Marie Jones (your team leader) will advise you on this matter separately." Oh, THAT Marie Jones?! My team leader?! The one who I share an office with?! Thank God you included her surname and clarified her role or I would not have had a clue which Marie (the only one who works with us) you were talking about.

I've just had a general class update from my child's teacher that has been written with Chat GPT - I guess it saves time and I don't really blame him, but I do find it cringy. Once you spot it, it's so obvious. I would be embarrassed to send it.

I should add that I'm not always entirely sure why it's obviously written by AI. The adjectives are a bit off I think. And the sentence structure is recognisably formulaic and always rather longer than a human tends to write.

If you do this at work, you should know that some of the recipients know exactly what you're doing, and it doesn't look great.

I think AI has it's uses..letter writing isn't one of them. You can always tell. I worry too that future generations will not know how to write letters. It's all rather sad and worrying at the same time.

@Jaehee that sounds tough. But in reality you are an outlier who rightly finds it useful.

How do you know I’m an outlier in ‘rightly’ finding it useful? Have you asked anyone? Have you conducted or read any research on the subject? It sounds more like an assumption than reality.

Blimey @Jaehee I'm showing empathy. An outlier in the sense that most people simply don't need to be using it; whereas you obviously (because you say you do) need to.

I agree with others who say for most people it's a waste of time and energy. But for you, I believe you when you say you might need to use AI.

Exactly! I tried it once, took me longer to add in everything I want to say and edit it, than to write it myself!

Please tell the candidates so they know for future job searches

One hour training Chatgpt data uses as much energy as 80,000 households in a year. It uses as much as 25 times more energy than a Google search. By 2026 it will be using as much energy as Japan. Please stop using it.

Yes.

www.newscientist.com/article/2396064-should-we-be-worried-about-ais-growing-energy-use/

That's insane. I had no idea. And here's me thinking that the problem with 'the internet' was spam, online adverts and all those thousands of photos we all store, 99% of which are duplicates, blurry, accidentally taken or unflattering selfies that we'll never look at again anyway.

I thought that as well!

I like it for somethings, I need some basic questionnaires, it saved me time. I’ve not tried it with emails.

A ChatGPT query is estimated to emit approx 4.2 grams of CO2. A single Google search emits approx 0.2 grams.

However, each website click emits ~1.76 grams. So after three clicks in your Google results you’ve already generated more CO2 than if you’d asked ChatGPT.

To put things into perspective:

Driving a modern car 15 kilometres generates ~2550 grams of CO2.

A litre of milk generates ~2400 grams

A cotton t shirt generates ~7000 grams

gas central heating emits ~215 grams per kWh (assuming your boiler is energy efficient)

A return flight from London to Paris emits ~130,000 grams

So people submitting a few ChatGPT queries is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

And it’s very likely that AI will contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions https://www.industrialdecarbonizationnetwork.com/sustainability-data-analytics/articles/8-ways-artificial-intelligence-can-drive-decarbonization

You know reading this post makes me wonder about a couple of things, no.1 I'd be wondering why the manager is not being supported more, for example I'd simply ignor the chat and focus on the message, to break it down for you... why do you care if she used chat gpt or not! Why does it matter that she mentions your line manager to pick this point out of the email when you clearly know chat wrote it and not your manager suggests you have a problem with the manager!

Second point perhaps it's your picking at points so inconsequential and I'll hazard a guess that since you shared it on here, you probably shared the info with all your colleagues too with a certain tone in your voice? did you address this concern with the manager?

Perhaps your character assassination attempts could be the reason there's no WARMTH in the office......

Chat is an excellent tool, advise your manager that you require a warm friendly tone to your emails and chat will lick your ego with flattery, every time she sends one.

Looks like those applicants had a lucky escape, your recruitment strategy sucks big time!

ChatGPT is now in addition to all those flights, tshirts etc. It has a long way to go before cancelling out its own carbon emissions and we do not have much time. It also uses vast amounts of water which depletes resources and harms wildlife. It is also associated with poor labour practices.

Only if you work as a tick box manager in a tick box company.

That's a bit daft in my opinion. A good CV and experience is far superior to a well written covering letter. Bit short sighted to pass on the candidate even after acknowledging you believe they have a good CV, because they've used ChatGPT for a covering letter.

Good luck with that one 👍

Part of the reason for massive investment in energy, infrastructure and small nuclear reactors is the need to supply these massive new data centres with energy.

AI has too many uses for science, tech ology, health, finance etc for it to slow down. Governments and private industry will invest heavily, it's not going away.

We need to fully transition from fossil fuels, that's the aim of the game. Global energy consumption has only ever gone in one direction.

ChatGPT says:

I totally get your frustration! Sometimes it feels like people rely too much on AI for writing emails and miss out on the personal touch or the nuances that a human voice can bring. Professional emails often come across as stiff or robotic if they’re too AI-generated, and that can hurt the overall communication.
In a way, it’s like when everyone starts using the same template or format—things feel less genuine. I imagine you’d prefer more authentic, thoughtful messages from people, where their true voice and personality shine through. What kind of emails do you wish you were seeing more of?

I think some people struggle with creativity, even in the most basic sense.

How delusional is everyone on here pushing this nonsense about ChatGPT being the big bad carbon emitter. Sure, I guess it does to some degree. But what about Drax, the UKs biggest power station at 4GW - it burns biomass i.e. wood pellets, from trees that are cut down solely for that purpose.

What about the US and Saudi and the rest of the Gulf states incessantly searching for more oil.

What about the UK granting more licenses to oil companies to extract more oil.

What about out the lack of government investment across the world in infrastructure and incentives for consumers to purchase electric vehicles.

Do you know how many countries still burn coal as one of their main sources of energy - a bloody lot.

Those issues should probably be dealt with, rather than 4g of CO² per search - you're away with the birds.

I love it. You don't have to edit it yourself, you ask it to edit itself. I read a paragraph, tell it what I don't like and it changes it. Saves me a shed load of time coming up with ideas. I can see how it might not be useful in some fields of work though.

It's brilliant and I don't understand the persistent snobbery around it. It's here to stay - may as well embrace it and teach people how to use it to its fullest.

Ps - I have an English degree and am an ex teacher. I still think it's a remarkable resource if it's tweaked by the user.

Then maybe they should practise and develop their skills, rather than outsourcing the job to a machine. Your creative "muscles" can be honed just like your physical ones.

If all this carries on, we'll lose the ability to think for ourselves, and then what?

Not my job but a friends place of work in a role that involves sending a ton of emails, they all do this. All of them. Every email. It probably saves tens of thousands of hours over a year across the company because the ai corherently organises all the information needed and book ends it with pleasantries.

I absolutely hate writing emails myself and would instead just let AI do it for work purposes. These are not important and there's no need for them to be personal, hand written affairs. It's not a birthday card, as long as it contains all the relevant information and isn't offensive then it's fine.

You're taking it personally, it isn't personal it's just the way the world has gone. Sort of like sending a text is generally informal but a letter is now considered very formal. Things change with time.

Assuming the CV gets read. If a ChatGPT covering letter means you don't make it past the first cull, all the experience in the world on the most perfect CV won't help you.