Imagine you need to develop a new marketing strategy, original suggestions for growing your product line, or even imaginative ways to recognise your anniversary. Gathering a group of people in an environment or on a Zoom call for some brainstorming is the usual method for solving these kinds of issues.

While there are many strategies and tactics to try and make these meetings more fruitful, a lot of research indicates that traditional brainstorming doesn’t always work very well. According to studies, most people are either too shy or loudmouthed to shout out crazy ideas in front of a bunch of co-workers.

A brainstorming buddy who’s immune to embarrassment

But do you know someone who has no shame and is full of strange ideas? AI-driven chatbots. Because of this, creative teams have long experimented with these tools to spark ideas and steer their thinking in new directions. The majority of the output from these tools will be dull or downright insane, but their blatant contempt for reality and common logic can be a significant asset during the idea-generation phase of the creative process.

This testing has been further accelerated by the introduction of significantly more potent bots like ChatGPT-4: How to use this technology to boost your creativity and productivity has been shared by a staggering number of marketers, creators, and other makers. Many of these suggestions come in the form of specific exercises to perform, but Reece Rogers just published an essay in Wired that adopts a more general strategy.

1. Decide on your key issue

If you don’t know exactly what you need help with, not even the best A.I. tool in the world will be able to assist you. While effective brainstorming should lead you down unexpected avenues, you must begin with a clear understanding of the issue or concept you’re trying to explore. “A good brainstorm still starts with a strong premise,” insists Rogers.

2. Be Persistent

A.I. is similar to human intelligence in one important respect: it tends to start by thinking about the most obvious solutions. However, the purpose of using these tools is to guide us towards novel concepts. You’ll probably need to be persistent if you want to accomplish it.

“Repeat the same query repeatedly while making minor adjustments to see how the chatbot replies. According to Rogers, the more questions you pose, the more probable it is that you’ll receive an answer that stands out as unusual or extremely valuable. You can also ask for further background information on any concept that interests you. Simply begin another session if things become too bizarre or unsettling.

3. Try requesting lists

When brainstorming quantity is everything. Even though the vast majority of ideas are wild non-starters, having more proposals usually results in more creativity and a better result. Asking your AI brainstorming partner for lists can be very helpful in this regard.

“Even though a chatbot’s response may be rote and uninspired in some ways, if you take the time to browse through multiple lists from the chatbot, you may catch a glimmer of something you could make your own,” says Rodgers. She also advises explicitly requesting lists of weirder or more imaginative ideas if you’re not pleased with the bot’s initial suggestions.

Sometimes the responses can be strange or humorous. However, science demonstrates that laughing actually relaxes us and encourages the flow of ideas, so even the craziest suggestions might be fruitful.

It’s still extremely unclear exactly how business owners and other professionals will use these technologies. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start using them as a brainstorming partner right away to help you shift your perspective and come up with original answers to common issues.