Build a Simple Expert Custom GPT
In our community we had to make a decision about a major infrastructure investment. We sourced data and invited consultants to give us their opinions. We compiled a report with all the facts from different sources about the project. The substantial report included the reasons for the need for action, the justification for the investment, the different possibilities of approach and execution as well as the different options of cost sharing and financing. We also had further bits of information in email messages and websites.
The final decision would result in a significant expense for every household in the community. The community is very diverse, more than 100 households with varying levels of prosperity and very different viewpoints. In discussions it became clear that facts were often mixed with emotions and beliefs which at times led to unproductive discourse. It was also obvious that the available information was not taken in fully by everyone, leading to repetitive questions or sometimes unfounded assumptions.
We fed the report and other bits into a Gen AI system. We asked to compare the situation to similar cases around the world. The Custom GPT produced a short summary of the report, explaining complex issues without jargon (prompt: “explain in simple terms”). It produced a comparison of solutions in a simple table format. It was then able to answer questions about specific issues, quoting its sources, from consultants reports or from external sources.
This use of AI is certainly not ground breaking, but it shows a practical application where AI assisted and saved a lot of people a lot of time.