AI and Customer Emails

I use ChatGPT as a writing assistant for some customer emails. I want to be clear about exactly what that means, because my customer service is still personal and I intend to keep it that way.

I read your email first

The first person to read your email is me. ChatGPT does not automatically read through my inbox or all of my customer emails.I decide whether AI has any place in helping me with a particular reply. I also decide what advice I want to give, what information needs to be included and what the answer should say. If I use ChatGPT, I give it the information and instructions it needs to help me turn my answer into a clear email. I correct anything that is wrong and make sure the finished response says what I want it to say.

ChatGPT does not independently decide what advice to give my customers, and no customer emails are automatically answered or sent.

Personal and sensitive emails

Some customers share very personal information with me. I read emails before deciding whether to use AI assistance, and if I feel a conversation is too personal or sensitive, I do not use ChatGPT to help me reply. If you would prefer me not to use AI assistance with your emails at all, just tell me. I am completely happy to reply without it.

Why I use it

Jo Thornton is a very small business – essentially, it is me. Detailed customer emails can take a surprising amount of time to write, particularly when I want to make sure I have explained everything properly. Using ChatGPT as a writing assistant helps me spend less time physically putting those replies together, without replacing my own product knowledge, judgement or personal customer service. You can read more about why and how I use it in my article, How I use AI in my little business.

For information about how personal information is handled, please see my Privacy Policy.