Product Selection Consultancy

Breakthrough

In the last couple of years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) became more and more powerful and usable in real-life applications. This was, however, mostly unnoticed by the large public, because the applications were mostly quite specialized classification functions. An example for this kind of AI application can be found in smartphone camera software. Based on what the camera "sees", AI selects adequate settings. For an end user, it is hard to distinguish whether this is already AI, or whether it's done with classical algorithms.

Recently, ChatGPT has received a lot of attention, because, compared with applications we knew so far, it is different in various ways:

• The user interface behaves like any messenger client and users can communicate with the software in natural language including slang words, acronyms and grammatical mistakes.
• Apart from some content restrictions to avoid conflict with law, users can communicate with the software on virtually any topic.
• Its huge knowledge base and the quality of text understanding and assembly take ChatGPT from being a funny toy to being a useful tool.

Suddenly, teachers are confronted with homework from their students that might have been AI-generated. But can it do more than summarize stuff it found on the web?

Here's a DITA topic ChatGPT generated after some instructions. It gathered the information by itself, added hazardstatements (there were more, one was left as an example), and it was also able to apply terminology provided as a list.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE task PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Task//EN" "task.dtd">
<task id="remove-paint">
    <title>How to Remove Old Paint using NaOH Solution</title>
    <taskbody>
        <prereq>
            <p>Before you start, gather the following materials:</p>
            <ul>
                <li>Protective gloves and goggles</li>
                <li>NaOH (sodium hydroxide)</li>
                <li>Water</li>
                <li>Bucket or container</li>
                <li>Scrub brush or wire brush</li>
                <li>Putty knife or scraper</li>
                <li>Paper towels or rags</li>
            </ul>
            <p>Be aware that sodium hydroxide is a caustic substance that can cause severe skin and eye irritation. Use gloves and goggles to protect yourself from the solution.</p>
        </prereq>
        <steps>
            <step>
                <hazardstatement type="danger">
                    <messagepanel>
                        <typeofhazard>Skin and eye irritation</typeofhazard>
                        <consequence>Sodium hydroxide is a caustic substance that can cause severe skin and eye irritation.</consequence>
                        <howtoavoid>Wear protective gloves and goggles while handling the solution.</howtoavoid>
                    </messagepanel>
                </hazardstatement>
                <cmd>Mix 1 kg of NaOH with 5 L of water according to the manufacturer's instructions.</cmd>
                <info><p><b>Note:</b> Be careful when handling NaOH as it can cause skin and eye irritation. Follow the instructions on the package for safe handling.</p></info>
            </step>
            <step>
                <cmd>Apply the NaOH solution to the painted surface using a brush or sponge.</cmd>
                <info><p><b>Note:</b> Make sure to cover the painted surface evenly with the solution.</p></info>
            </step>
            <step>
                <cmd>Allow the solution to sit on the surface for 10-15 minutes.</cmd>
                <info><p><b>Note:</b> The length of time may vary depending on the thickness and age of the paint.</p></info>
            </step>
            <step>
                <cmd>Scrub the surface with a scrub brush or wire brush to remove the paint.</cmd>
                <info><p><b>Note:</b> Use a putty knife or scraper to remove any stubborn areas of paint.</p></info>
            </step>
            <step>
                <cmd>Rinse the surface thoroughly with water to remove any remaining NaOH solution.</cmd>
                <info><p><b>Note:</b> Use paper towels or rags to dry the surface after rinsing.</p></info>
            </step>
        </steps>
    </taskbody>
</task>

This was generated with few and general instructions, and just using the standard chat. For real-life applications like this one, the ChatGPT API would be used instead. This would enable providing the terminology and some DITA writing rules in structured form. A possible application could be that service technicians or engineering write a bullet list with instructions and the AI organizes them into a DITA task prototype that only needs to be fine-tuned by a technical writer.

What we can do for you

• We start product selection projects with a (physical or virtual) "round table" kick-off workshop to understand the big picture and collect the key requirements.
• To round this information out, we keep contact with your different stakeholders and user groups to identify more details. This also includes the IT department to make sure the new system follows your IT policies and can be seamlessly integrated into your existing infrastructure.
• We document the requirements in tabular form and agree on them with you.
• Based on the confirmed requirements, we choose possible candidates and sort out products that are surely non-matching from the systems that we know about. Per category, these are 30 to almost 100, depending on the category. We evaluate public information as well as our experience with the vendor or product from previous selection projects.
• Depending on the relative and absolute adequacy of the products in the list, we try to cut the list down to 2 or 3 candidates. If there are more candidates, we try to get more details from vendors to have a decision base.
• We discuss the use cases and requirements with the remaining vendors to have a reliable how your business requirements will be solved.
• We organize online or presence product presentations with all remaining vendors, if possible, all in the same week.
• After the meetings, we discuss the findings with you and moderate your decision process.
• Finally, we document the product selection for you, including a management summary for your internal communication.
• Optionally, we moderate the fulfillment project with the software vendor you have chosen to make sure the system matches what was discussed before and layed down in the vendor's proposal.