What if AI became your productivity tool?

Artificial intelligence is now firmly established in companies. Where its use was discreet just a few years ago, it is now being encouraged and structured by management. Assistants and secretaries are obviously affected by this transformation. Today, it is essential to know how to use AI and to be aware of its limits and pitfalls. What tools should be used? For what purposes? Elisabeth Duverney-Prêt, a specialist in assistants and secretaries, takes a closer look.

Following the success of ChatGPT, a number of players have developed their own solutions: Gemini (Google), Copilot (Microsoft), Claude (Anthropic), Le Chat (Mistral), Perplexity, not forgetting specialist tools such as DALL E, Midjourney or Canva IA for visual creation. Each of these AI solutions has its own specific features and meets specific needs.

Some artificial intelligences are even directly integrated into office suites such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Before exploring the tools presented below, check whether an AI is already integrated into Outlook or Gmail.

AI for greater efficiency

For assistants and secretaries, AI has become an indispensable partner for a more efficient better time management and increased productivity. Creation, correction and reformulation of texts, creation of images and videos, generation of tables, minutes of meetings... it's all possible with AI.

Those who took the plunge right from the start have become true experts in the field, freeing up time to more creativity and inventiveness. It's a leap forward that's much appreciated by their employers! It's enough to motivate all employees to take the plunge.

AI has become a particularly useful aid.

Some examples of use

E-mails, letters, messages

• Rewriting (clearer, more diplomatic, more direct)

• Adapting the tone (customers, management, teams)

• Preparing a response based on key points

The golden rule: never copy and paste sensitive information into a tool not authorised by your company.

Meetings (agenda, summary, actions)

• Setting an agenda based on objectives

• Produce a structured report (decisions / actions / people responsible / deadlines)

• Identify blocking points and next steps

In Teams, Copilot can help during and after the meeting (summary, actions, Q&A).

In Google Meet, there are note-taking/recap functions depending on the Gemini/Workspace packages.

Organisation, planning, events

• Retroplanning from an event date

• Checklist (logistics, guests, service providers)

• If... then...“ scenarios for managing the unexpected

Reporting and tables

• Transforming raw data into readable summaries

• Propose a dashboard structure (indicators, frequency, sources)

• Prepare a commentary on the results with care (first the figures, then the interpretation)

Research and verification

• Perplexity and ChatGPT (and other research-oriented tools) can help you find sources and cross-check.

Ask for sources and go back to primary documents (official site, internal document, contract, procedure).

But then, should we fear that in a few years' time AI will have purely and simply taken the place of assistants? Certainly not! AI automates certain tasks, but it does not replace relational intelligence, the ability to anticipate, or organisational skills.

On the other hand, when it comes to hiring, employers will prefer someone who can handle AI agilely. So it's high time to get started.

Overview of AI tools

At first sight, it may seem difficult to make sense of the variety of AIs on the market. To help you, here are a few key points to remember.

ChatGPT, a versatile tool

ChatGPT has the advantage of being versatile thanks to its multitude of functions. It can be asked to generate statistics, forecasts and even recommendations on the basis of different data. It can synthesise notes from a meeting, bring together information scattered across several documents and summarise texts to extract relevant summaries.

From this document of over 130 pages, it is able to extract a two-sentence summary.

But that's not all: ChatGPT can also be used to write content for communication media, generate ideas for topics and improve texts. For meetings, it can help draft detailed agendas and plan the order of topics to be discussed.

For example, for the next trade fair you're organising, let ChatGPT help you come up with ideas for invitations.

Finally, on a day-to-day basis, it allows you to prioritise tasks according to their urgency and importance.

Gemini and Copilot, from analysis to creativity

Google Gemini is a very comprehensive tool, This is all the more important as it is now integrated into Google Workspace (depending on the subscription). It acts as an analyst, helping to spot trends, synthesise information and identify business opportunities, for example. In Gmail, it makes it easier to write and reformulate e-mails; in Docs, it helps to structure a report or summarise a large document. During meetings on Google Meet, it can automatically generate minutes from the discussions.

Gemini is also a creative tool that helps you design images and illustrations for presentations or internal media. It also supports note-taking and the organisation of ideas.

Read also : Optimising note-taking for greater efficiency

The same applies to Copilot, the AI developed by Microsoft and integrated into Microsoft 365. In Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Teams, Copilot can summarise complex e-mail exchanges, analyse data tables, generate meeting minutes or even design a structured presentation based on a few indications. This direct integration with everyday tools makes it easy for assistants and secretaries to adopt.

If you're short of ideas for developing your brand image, structuring a project or preparing internal communications, these tools can even provide you with relevant ideas, which you will then need to adapt to your company's environment.

Le Chat (Mistral) and Claude, complementary tools

For its part, Mistral has established itself as a major European player in generative AI. Its models, recognised for their performance and their approach based on data sovereignty, are particularly appreciated by organisations concerned about the security of their data. confidentiality. Writing, reformulating, translating, summarising documents or preparing events... Chat is an effective conversational assistant for structuring information and saving time on a daily basis.

Do you need to reorganise your schedule or prepare a back-plan for an event? AI can offer you an optimised organisation based on your constraints.

Read also : Company seminars: the strategic role of the assistant

Claude has particularly strong analytical and writing skills. Depending on the type of subscription, he can analyse large documents (approx. 1500 A4 pages), extract key information from PDF files or produce structured summaries. It can also help you write briefing notes, detailed reports or professional content with a controlled tone.

These are undeniable advantages for assistants, and are also found in tools such as Perplexity, which is particularly useful for carrying out documentary research and verifying information.

All these AIs are highly effective in text generation, But that doesn't mean we should forget the images. A number of specialist solutions have been developed, including DALL-E, Midjourney, Canva IA and Adobe Firefly, which are particularly well-suited to the rapid creation of professional visuals. As with text, the quality of the result depends on the accuracy of the prompt.

Read also : Canva: the essential visual creation tool with built-in AI

So there you have it, a clearer picture of the benefits of AI for your business.

AI, where to start?

Where can you find the time to get started? Here's a plan to help you get organised:

1st month: risk-free use (zero sensitive data)

• Reformulation of e-mails (without confidential information)

• Document plans, checklists, reverse checks

• Summaries of already public or internal non-sensitive texts

2nd month: integration into your tools (with validation)

• Copilot/Workspace Gemini in the office suite if available

• Systematic proofreading of reports

• Recurring templates (agenda, minutes, invitations)

3rd month: optimisation + team rules

• Library of validated prompts

• Naming rules, version control, traceability

• AI Charter: what is authorised / prohibited / controlled

The importance of promptness

To use AI properly, you need to be particularly precise in your request. This is called the prompt and consists of detailing the instructions that the AI should follow. The prompt must be clear and unambiguous. It is therefore necessary to use vocabulary adapted to the context and to give as many details as possible using short sentences.

Writing a reply to an e-mail: example of a prompt

«You're my editorial assistant. Objective: to reply to a colleague about the seminar. Requirements: professional and cordial tone, 120-160 words, include: (1) schedule of next steps, (2) date/time of next meeting, (3) 3 actions expected of him/her. Format: e-mail with subject + greetings + signature. Suggest 2 variants: neutral / more dynamic».»

Taking minutes at a Teams meeting: example of a prompt

There are three steps involved: first, you need to activate transcription in Teams in order to generate the text automatically. Then you need to download this transcription and submit it to the AI with the following prompt:

«Can you sum up this meeting transcript in 1,500 words? This summary will be sent to all our export customers. I'd like to include the sales progress monitoring table.»

But beware: your transcription may be too long. You then have two options: either submit it in several parts to the AI, or upgrade to the paid versions, which offer more extensive features.

Points to bear in mind

Whatever the result of the query, it's essential to remember that you can't rely on the writings generated by AIs with your eyes closed: they can hallucinate (invent), make mistakes, or omit important elements (error of omission). Many errors can creep in. It is essential to question the veracity of the information produced.

So don't hesitate to reread the texts and check the data by cross-referencing other sources. Your reputation is at stake.

Beware, too, of information overload. Drawing on content from all over the world, most of it Anglo-Saxon, AI often tends to transcribe all the information it has on a given subject, but some of it will probably not be useful to you. Don't hesitate to reframe your request.

Finally, because generative AI models were created by human beings, certain biases are sometimes present in the texts produced: discrimination, bias, deliberate omission of information, etc. It's up to you to use your critical faculties to give your texts the value they deserve.

Once you've taken these few points into account, you'll know how to make AI your productivity asset.

Confidentiality Do not put sensitive data (contracts, HR, salaries, customer data, strategic information) into a tool that has not been validated.

IT Governance Check what is authorised by your company (AI charter, authorised AI tools, data transfer, etc.).

3 “safeguard prompts” (to stick at the end of your prompt)

• Check

Before answering, list what you need to check (names/dates/figures). If you can't check, mark it clearly.

• Anti-hallucination

If a piece of information is not included in the content provided, don't make it up. Ask a question or write “information not provided”.

• Strict format

Strictly adhere to the format requested. If this is not possible, explain why in 2 lines and suggest an alternative format.

Generative AI enables a quantum leap in the management, organisation and creativity of assistants.

Knowing how to use AI, in a measured way, has become an asset that is highly valued by employers, along with the hindsight and critical thinking needed to use it properly. And what about tomorrow? AI is making constant progress. Conversational assistants are taking on greater importance in the work of assistants. Future progress will undoubtedly focus on more precise and collaborative models. It's up to you to jump on the bandwagon now, so you don't get left behind in the months and years to come!