Hey, Scott Austin here.

I started using ChatGPT with my agency, JadePuma, two years ago.  And since then, it has become a constant companion for me that I increasingly rely on.  This is my fourth podcast episode on AI in two years and that's because I see it as such a significant tool that every business can benefit from including yours.

So in this episode, I'm going to go over some of the new ways that use I use AI in my agency.

Let's start by talking about where you can find AI.  And the short answer is that it is now almost everywhere.  There's AI built into the Shopify admin.  They identify it with  a two star, sparkle icon.  There's also AI in many of the other services that you use.  Like the auto-responses that you see in email and text?  Well those are driven by AI.  I use Loom for communicating through video and AI nows summarizes the video content.  I use Notion for task management and it now has AI integrated.  I use the suite of Adobe products and it's deeply integrated with AI.  It's like 1995 all over again when all of our desktop apps were rolling out internet integrations that we take for granted today.  AI is quickly becoming the same way, it's becoming integrated into everything.

Now that said, my main AI app is still ChatGPT which I'll link to in the show notes.  I pay the monthly subscription which is $20 which I think is a great value.  The rest of this podcast will focus on how I use ChatGPT.  There's currently an AI technology battle going on.  Who knows who the winner will be.  My strategy in times of rapidly advancing technology is to stick to one provider instead of bouncing from whichever provider has the latest release or the best review of the week.  You see, every app has a learning curve, and I value my proficiency in an app more than I do who is ranked #1 this week.  As long as ChatGPT is in the top tier, I'll keep using it.  The analogy I'll give you is with cell phones.  Most of us pick one ecosystem, Apple or Android, and stick with it for the long term.  Imagine the confusion you would experience if you tried to switch between Apple and Android every time you got a new phone.  Resisting the temptation to see if the grass is greener on the other side will help you stay productive and move your business forward.

What we've covered

Let's review what I've talked about before in previous AI episodes.  I'll link to the previous episodes in the show notes. 

In Episode 96, I covered leveraging AI to kickstart copy creation for Shopify stores. AI tools can efficiently generate draft content, which is particularly useful for those who struggle with writing. I shared my process of refining AI-generated copy for a brand, highlighting the benefits and limitations of AI in capturing brand-specific details. The episode emphasized using AI for a first draft, followed by heavy editing to align with brand voice, making it an ideal solution for store owners needing help to overcome the blank-page hurdle.  ChatGPT's capabilities have improved quite a bit since this episode, so you'll find it even more useful in copy creation.

In Episode 118, I explored the use of AI tools like DALL-E 3 and Adobe Photoshop for generating images for Shopify stores. I walked through how these tools can quickly create diverse visuals for branding, product displays, and blog headers. While AI-generated images aren't always perfect, they offer a cost-effective solution to create visually consistent and engaging content. I shared best practices, including prompts, adjusting for brand colors, and creating realistic scenes, providing a guide to help you incorporate AI images into your content toolbox.  ChatGPT has made huge improvements in image creation including text in an image since this episode.  Back then, getting text like 'Veteran's Day is November 11th' included in an image was nearly impossible.  Now, it gets it right around 80% of the time.

In Episode 122, I covered how to use AI, particularly GPTs from ChatGPT, to enhance customer support on Shopify. By setting up a customized GPT for your brand, customer service reps—or even AI—can pull accurate answers directly from your website or other selected sources. This setup provides faster, more reliable responses, which is especially helpful for outsourced teams unfamiliar with the brand. I guided listeners through configuring GPTs, uploading product documents, and tailoring response tone, to make GPTs a valuable tool for your customer support.  I now have multiple GPTs and they are great in setting the right context with ChatGPT which increases the quality of its output.  For example, I have two clients who have coconuts as an ingredient for their products.  One client sells substrate for lining the tanks for pet reptiles.  The other client sells organic snacks.  By setting up separate GPTs, I don't have to explain the situation every time I ask ChatGPT for something.  It knows that coconut does a great job in retaining moisture as a substrate and is organically grown in the Philippines for the snacks.

So if those topics sound interesting to you, please go back and listen to them to get caught up on how you and any e-commerce store can be using UI.

New use cases

I want to now bring up some new use cases that I have not covered before.  In the past, AI wasn't that good with these use cases.  But as AI is continuously improving, these use cases have become possible and I'm now using AI often in these situations.

1. Evaluating content

When it comes to keeping your Shopify store’s content fresh, accurate, and optimized, AI can be a powerful tool. With a web connection, AI tools can access any page of your store—whether it’s product descriptions, blog posts, or FAQs. This means it can help evaluate each page for clarity, effectiveness, and SEO alignment without you having to comb through the site manually.

For example, let’s say you want to check that all your product descriptions are optimized. AI can analyze each product page and evaluate whether the descriptions are engaging, if they contain the right keywords, and if they’re speaking to your target audience effectively. It can also highlight inconsistencies in tone or style that might affect your brand’s credibility.

I've been amazed at the quality of feedback that I get.  For example, everytime I finish a transcript for this podcast, I ask AI to give me a bullet point list of suggested improvements.  The feedback I get is pretty extensive and insightful.  I don't implement them all because some are not my style.  But having the list and acting on the ones I decide to follow helps me accelerate the transcript creation for each episode.

2. Summarizing content

AI can be a tremendous help in summarizing large amounts of content into bite-sized, reader-friendly sections. This is particularly useful if your store has detailed product descriptions, lengthy blog posts, or even educational resources that could benefit from quick summaries.

For example, a little earlier in this podcast, I gave you summaries of the 3 previous episodes that I have done on AI.  Well, I had AI create the first draft of each of those summaries.

A use for your store could be for product pages with in-depth details about features, specifications, or benefits. While some shoppers love digging into the details, others just want the main points. AI can generate concise summaries of each product that you can place at the top of the product page.  When I'm doing this type of task, I'm usually pushing AI to make the summary shorter and shorter which you can do by just asking it to shorten the summary it gave. 

Another way you can use AI to summarize things is for someone else's long-form content.  Let's say someone sends you a link to an article they want you to read.  Well you can have AI summarize it for you if you don't have the time to read the full article.

3. Manipulating spreadsheets

When managing a Shopify store, spreadsheets or CSVs are often at the heart of organizing large datasets—especially when it comes to inventory, product details, and SEO. AI can now manipulate spreadsheets in ways that save significant time and reduce your work. One great example is generating SEO-optimized collections based on product data tags or metafields.

Imagine you have a spreadsheet filled with product data, including categories, tags, and attributes for each item. To boost your store’s visibility, you want to create specific SEO collections that highlight the features of the products to target tail queries, such as “Size 12 Men's Leather Loafers in Brown,” or “Gluten Free Chocolate Bon bons,” or “Flowering houseplants that do well in climates with a long winter.” Manually sifting through thousands of rows to identify which product traits to turn into collections could take hours, if not days. But with AI, this process can be automated.

With AI, you can upload your CSV and have it analyze the data or perform specific manipulations.  Before I first used AI to manipulate a CSV I was skeptical because I'm used to AI making things up.  But I was amazed by the quality of the results.  And I realized that AI is less likely to make things up when given a specific set of data to work with and clear instructions on what to do with that data.

Beyond SEO collections, AI can be applied to any task that involves manipulating large sets of data. Whether it’s updating pricing, evaluating product descriptions or creating SEO content, AI-driven spreadsheet manipulation allows you to make these updates in bulk with a surprising amount of precision.

4. Editing AI Images

Images play an important role in e-commerce, but most brands have a hard time creating them.  Recent advancements in AI tools like ChatGPT can now generate images on demand. This opens up new possibilities for you to create unique and tailored visuals without needing a full design team.

The process is straightforward: you can prompt ChatGPT to generate an image based on your specific needs. For instance, if you’re putting together a campaign for a holiday, you can give AI some direction about the campaign and the brand and ask it for desktop and mobile banners.

And here’s where it gets even more powerful—AI now allows for edits to the generated images. Let’s say the initial image isn't quite right, you can request edits, and ChatGPT will adjust the image based on your feedback. Need a brighter color scheme? Want to see the setting in a different environment, like outdoors or in a cozy room? AI can make these changes quickly, letting you iterate until you’re satisfied with the final result.

There are times though, when your customers may respond negatively to AI images.  We built an extensive blog for a client using lot's of AI images and the customers were not happy with it.  We had to take down the AI images and replace them with real photos.  But even in that situation, you can use AI to create the image concept that you have in mind and give that to your photographer or graphics designer as your requirements.  

5. Creating and editing code

I know what you saying.  Hey Scott, I'm a Shopify store owner not a programmer.  I leave the code edits to you.  But AI has made coding more accessible than ever, especially for those that do not have a background in programming. Today, AI can help non-programmers with everything from making small adjustments to their Shopify Liquid code, creating batch files for file management, or even adding scripts to Google Sheets—all without requiring deep technical expertise.

Imagine you want to make a simple change to the layout of your Shopify store. Perhaps you’d like to adjust the text color on a landing page. With AI, you can describe what you want in plain language, and ChatGPT can provide the CSS code needed to make that change. You don’t have to worry about understanding the intricacies of Liquid, HTML or CSS; AI can generate the code snippet and guide you on where to place it within your Shopify theme. This empowers store owners to make customizations that align with their brand, without needing to hire a developer for every small tweak.

Beyond theme edits, AI can assist with batch file operations. Let’s say you need to rename a set of images for SEO purposes, ensuring each file follows a specific naming convention. AI can help you generate a batch script to rename these files automatically, saving you from manually editing each filename. This is especially useful for large stores with extensive media libraries.

Another area where AI shines is in automating tasks within Google Sheets. Need a script to calculate sales tax, or perhaps automate a task? You can ask ChatGPT to create a custom Google Sheets script tailored to your needs. AI will generate the JavaScript-based code (also known as Google Apps Script) and guide you on how to implement it, adding the functionality to your spreadsheets without the technical hassle.

Here's a real life example.  I'm currently working with a copy editor in her 70s to put together a template and process to create 270 separate PDFs from a Google sheet.  As we were digging into the project, I was asking her to automate more of the steps.  She said she had no skill or experience in coding and scripting.  So I told her about ChatGPT.  She was quite skeptical.  Two weeks later, she's created 4 or 5 new scripts and integrated them into the process automating many steps she was planning on being manual.

The coding ability that AI gives non-programmers is immense and will have an immediate impact on your business.

6. As a replacement to search

Another practical application of AI is using it as a replacement for traditional search engines. Instead of scrolling through endless search results, you can get direct, conversational answers to your questions. Whether you're seeking quick insights on e-commerce trends, instructions for Shopify features, or ideas for content, AI can deliver targeted information quickly. However, unlike search engines, AI can sometimes “fill in the blanks” if it doesn’t know an answer, might make things up. Fortunately, there are ways to control this tendency so you get accurate and reliable responses.

The key is learning how to ask questions that guide the AI toward fact-based answers. One effective method is to request the AI to answer only if it has “high confidence” in its information. For example, instead of asking, “What are the current fashion trends for this year?” you could specify, “List this year’s top fashion trends only if you have high confidence and data to support them.” This encourages AI to stick with information it’s certain about and avoid making up any answers.

Another useful approach is to ask AI to reference specific sources or to confirm if it’s pulling from known data. For instance, you could phrase a query like, “Provide product photography tips that align with Google Merchant's documentation,” or “Only share SEO tips that are standard practice.” This prompts the AI to align its answer with established guidelines.

You can also limit AI responses to verifiable facts by asking it to avoid hypothetical or invented information. For example, if you’re seeking guidance on Shopify Liquid coding, you might say, “Give me a verified solution for adding a cart upsell in Liquid code; avoid making up code or adding guesswork.”

Using AI this way allows you to directly get high-quality answers instead of trying to determine which search results are relevant.

Summary

My closing recommendation for this podcast is real simple.  If you are not yet using AI with your business, start doing so now.  This technology is rapidly advancing.  The sooner you become familiar with it, the easier time you'll have in adapting to the changes that are coming to our industry because of AI.  Also it's a powerful tool that will save you tons of time and help you accelerate your business today.

Thanks for listening.