ChatGPT is Far More Than a Simple Q&A Tool

Let's be honest: most articles about AI are either too technical or filled with vague promises. Today, we want to cut through some of this abstraction and share (7) experiments I've found that push ChatGPT beyond basic Q&A while delivering tangible benefits.

The truth is, you'll learn more in 30 minutes of hands-on experimentation than from reading a dozen AI think pieces.

For these examples, I am using ChatGPT, but the reality is they can be used iwth any other LLM: Claude, Gemini, etc.

OK. Without further adieu, here are The Seven Experiments!

And of course, feel free to experiment with any of these in ways that are more applicable to you! (Apologies: I guess there was a bit further adieu after all.)

1. The "AI Business Advisor" Experiment

What it is: Making AI sweat through tough business problems to see if it can deliver real, practical strategic value.

Try this:

• Feed it the URL of your business into ChatGPT and then challenge it with something like "How would you allocate my $5,000 marketing budget for maximum impact?"

• Demand specifics. Exact dollar amounts. Timelines. Expected outcomes

• Push back on its initial ideas with "What could go wrong?" or "What am I missing?"

This saves you money on consultants while generating fresh ideas you might have missed. Even when it's wrong, it often helps clarify your own thinking.

2. The "Personal Writing Assistant" Experiment

What it is: Teaching AI to write like you do…not just some generic corporate voice.

Try this:

• Feed it examples of your emails, blog posts, or other writing

• Tell it to analyze your style…the good, the bad, the ugly!

• Have it draft something in your voice, then critique its attempt

• Keep refining until it nails your tone

Once it gets your style down, you can churn out drafts in minutes that would normally take you hours. It's still you…just faster.

Important Note: Be careful of not offloading your critical thinking to ChatGPT by just having it write your answers to everything. The goal with something like this should be to help you shape your ideas.

3. The "AI Socratic Teacher" Experiment

What it is: Go ahead and flip the script by making ChatGPT ask you the questions instead of answering them.

Try this:

• Tell AI you want to deeply understand a complex topic (like Web3, quantum computing, behavioral economics)

• Ask it to create a series of increasingly difficult questions that challenge your assumptions

• Request that it purposely identify and target gaps in your reasoning

• Have it evaluate your responses and suggest where your thinking needs strengthening

This approach forces you to articulate your own understanding rather than passively consuming information. It's like having Socrates himself beside you who knows exactly where your knowledge falls short and pushes you to fill those gaps yourself….without judging you!

4. The "Impossible Constraints" Experiment

What it is: Deliberately imposing ridiculous limitations to force truly original thinking.

Try this:

• Present a real problem you're facing, e.g., “My website is terrible!”

• Add seemingly absurd constraints: "Solve this without spending money, using technology, or requiring more than 5 minutes per day"

• Push for multiple solutions that work within these constraints

• Gradually relax the constraints and watch how the solutions evolve

This technique can break conventional thinking patterns and reveal pretty interesting solutions that might otherwise be hiding in plain sight. The real magic happens when you force AI (and yourself) to abandon the obvious approaches and explore the edges of possibility.

5. The "Multiple Perspective Generator" Experiment

What it is: Step out of your echo chamber and force ChatGPT to debate itself.

Try this:

• Present a decision you're wrestling with

• Ask for analysis from multiple viewpoints…financial, creative, customer, etc.

• Have these perspectives challenge each other

• Look for surprising insights where these viewpoints conflict or align

It's like having a diverse team of advisors in your pocket, helping you see blind spots before making important decisions.

6. The "Competitive Intelligence Analyzer" Experiment

What it is: Using AI to decode your competitors' strategies and anticipate their next moves.

Try this:

• Feed ChatGPT your competitor's website content, marketing materials, or job listings

• Ask it to break down their business model, target audience, and unique selling points

• Challenge it with something like, "If you were their CEO, what would your next three moves be?"

• Have it develop a counter-strategy specifically tailored to your business

This gives you some vision into competitor playbooks without expensive market research. The tool can spot patterns and positioning details you might miss, helping you stay a step ahead in your industry.

7. The "Executive Deck Decoder" Experiment

What it is: Transforming lengthy presentations into critical insights in seconds.

Try this:

• Upload a real PowerPoint deck or paste its content (internal reports, sales decks, industry briefings). The uglier, the better!

• Ask for the key takeaways distilled into bullet points

• Say something like: "Now condense this for a CEO who only has 30 seconds to read it"

• Request it to identify the three biggest business risks or opportunities hidden in the material

Particularly valuable for executives and decision-makers drowning in presentation overload.

BONUS (For Fun): The “AI Reality Bender” Experiment

Goal: Test how well ChatGPT can invent and maintain a totally new reality.

How to Try It:

1. Start with:
   “We are in an alternate universe where gravity works in reverse. Describe daily life.”

2. Go deeper/add layers:
   “What does architecture look like? How do humans evolve in this world? What are the most important philosophies of this world?”

3. Take it to the extreme:
   “Now imagine this alternate universe crashes into our real world…what happens?”

This is a fun test to see how well AI can maintain a kind of logical consistency in an artificial setting.

For example, I asked: “What if humans saw sound instead of hearing it?” It gave me a remarkably detailed answer, which I have tried to condense here:

The Experimental Stew: Combining These Approaches

The real magic happens when you start combining these experiments.

For example, imagine using the Competitive Intelligence Analyzer to spot a market gap, then immediately spinning up the Multiple Perspective Generator to evaluate it from different angles.

Or picture yourself using the Impossible Constraints technique to develop a new business approach, then refining it with your Personal Writing Assistant to craft the perfect pitch.

The most successful Gen AI users I've met don't just run occasional experiments; they've integrated these approaches into their daily workflow, creating feedback loops that continuously sharpen both the AI's performance and (hopefully) their own thinking.

Which brings us to the uncomfortable truth: the gap between those who master these tools and those who ignore them is widening daily. Every industry has its early adopters quietly building these supercharged workflows while their competitors remain stuck in pre-AI swamps of inefficiency.

So: Pick one experiment that solves a real problem you're facing right now. Run it today—not next week. Today.

Then move to the next. Your future self will thank you.

Contact us at NorthLightAI.com to learn how we can help you build a stronger admissions and recruitment infrastructure using AI.