BERLIN: The most popular ones include ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Perplexity AI. They're AI chatbots, computer programs driven by artificial intelligence (AI) that simulate human conversation in text or voice interactions.

Not long ago the stuff of science fiction, they're now reality. And among other things, they can boost your job productivity and save you time. Here are seven ways how:

1. Write emails

Have you ever sat for God knows how long over an email reply, struggling to make sure your request or demand doesn't sound impolite? Well, AI chatbots can draft detailed email replies for you, says Janis Hecker, AI policy officer at Bitkom, Germany's digital association.

A virtual assistant in your email program, a type of chatbot, can do it. Or you can use an external chatbot by copying the email you're replying to and pasting it into the chat window. Then give the chatbot a prompt so that it knows what you want.

For example: "Write a friendly rejection and propose making a new appointment in August." Or: "Request a new offer with a delivery date by the end of October."

2. Provide text ideas

An AI chatbot can be a good brainstorming partner. These digital wizards can help you write texts for flyers, for instance, says Sören Schäfer at the August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute in Saarbrücken, Germany, which does digital research serving companies wanting to benefit fully from digitalization.

Here, too, all you have to do is give the chatbot the appropriate prompt. All manner of other texts are possible too, "say, posts for social media platforms or minutes of a meeting in short headings," says Hecker.

3. Summarise texts

Chatbots can also help you to summarize texts, something that can be useful in various areas of your work. "AI can filter out the most important points in a long report," notes Schäfer as an example. The time savings is even greater when it comes to texts in a foreign language, since chatbots translate too.

4. Organise talks

If you're preparing a lecture or presentation, you can enlist a chatbot to suggest ways to organize it. "This works particularly well in a dialogue, such as you'd have with a colleague," Hecker says.

Here's how: You could comment on the chatbot's first suggestion and ask it whether a certain subtopic should be included. "In this way, step by step, you arrive at a solution that isn't AI-generated, but AI-assisted."

5. Make scheduling easier

Let's say you and your colleagues are looking for a date to hold a big conference. An AI chatbot can simplify the process. "This naturally works best when AI has access to the appointments diaries of all of the prospective participants - in an office setting, for example," says Hecker.

Or if a number of the participants have written emails with proposed dates, you can copy the proposals, paste them into a chatbot, and then give a prompt: "Find a date on which all participating persons have time."

6. Evaluate data

Data, for example in a spreadsheet, can be uploaded into a chatbot as well. You can then ask it questions, say, about the sales trend. Or you could instruct the chatbot to search for any peculiarities. The answers usually take just seconds.

7. Generate images

Some chatbots can generate both texts and images. You simply tell it what you want, such as, "Generate a pencil drawing of an airplane taking off from an airport." The more detailed the description, the better the result, says Hecker. The images can be used to illustrate company reports or flyers, for instance.

 - dpa