How to use OpenAI's GPT-3 to spark content ideas

If I were working with an external AI writing tool, I would need to open the tool and enter the following prompt: What are five topic ideas related to ways to distribute content? Additionally, could you provide five subtopic ideas? The AI tool, such as GPT-3, would then generate the results based on the given prompt.

If I were working with an external AI writing tool, I would need to open that tool and type out the prompt: "What are 5 topic ideas related to ways to distribute content? What are 5 subtopic ideas?" GPT-3 would render its results in that tool.

In my Zap, I use the same prompt but with the information from my Trello card.

To set up the action step:

1. Select OpenAI for your action app.
2. Select Send Prompt for the action event.
3. Add your repeating prompt to the Prompt field.

For my example, I added "If I were to write an article about {Trello card name}, what are 5 topic ideas? What are 5 related subtopics?" to the Prompt field. To add the Trello card name to the Prompt field, click within the field and select the Trello card name from the list of data available in the dropdown menu.

Depending on your project management tool, this will be a bit different, but you'll want to select whatever field has the text you'd like to use in your prompt.

You can also limit the length of your results. If you know, for example, that you don't want more than 500 characters, you can add that limit in Zapier when you set up your action step.

As a side note: I've gotten better about entering more specific topic descriptions in my Card Name field in Trello as a result of using the OpenAI integration with Zapier. Before, I would only include a few words ("ways to distribute content") to jog my memory about the idea. Now, I might add something like "what are unique ways to distribute content?" to get better results from the GPT-3 prompt.

Step 5: Return the content ideas to your project management tool

Once the GPT-3 results are generated through Zapier, you'll want the results returned to your project management tool. After all, the whole point is never to leave the tool. To do this, you'll need to add an additional action step to your Zap.

In Trello, I wanted the results added as a Comment. Trello also has a Description field for cards, but I use this field for other information. If you're using another project management tool, identify the best place for your GPT-3 results.

To set up this additional action step:

1. Select Trello for your action app.

2. Select Create Comment for the action event.

3. To link the comment to the correct card, you'll need to select the Card ID. Click on the Custom tab in the Card field, then search for ID. Select the Card ID field from Trello.

4. Add your GPT-3 results by clicking in the Comment Text field and selecting Choices Text from the data dropdown.

And that's it — you're done setting up the Zap!

In Trello, this entire process happens in a matter of seconds. I add the OpenAI label to my card, and by the time I've taken a sip of coffee, the GPT-3 results have been returned as a comment. That "research" step I would have done previously in Google or another AI writing tool now begins in Trello.

GPT-3 is a valuable resource

The use of AI for creatives has been a source of near-constant debate. As a writer and journalist with an eye on quality, I cringe at the idea of entire articles written by robots—even though I know tools out there claim to have that capability.

But there's no denying that GPT-3 speeds up my writing process when I'm trying to outline ideas. Sometimes, I completely disagree with the results of GPT-3. But I still have to think about why I disagree, and that sparks other ideas. I then take the ideas, and those become the basis for additional research and my own unique contributions to the topic. GPT-3 is a springboard, not a final result.