Building Your Own Tone of Voice Bot: A Guide

"AI can't write in our tone of voice." You've probably heard this before, but I disagree. However, I understand why many people are not happy with the results they get from AI-generated text.

The Common Issues with AI-Generated Text

Many can spot AI-generated text from a mile away. Words like 'embark,' 'delve,' and 'revolutionize' can kill the authenticity of any text. But this doesn't have to be the case. The real issue lies in how we prompt and use AI tools.

Typical Mistakes When Using AI

Here are some common pitfalls when trying to get AI to replicate a specific tone of voice:

- Vague Descriptions: A one-sentence description of your tone of voice isn’t sufficient.

- Lack of Examples: Not providing clear, specific examples of the desired tone.

- Giving Up Too Soon: Abandoning experimentation after a few failed prompts.

- Wrong Word Choices: Using terms like 'professional' that lead to generic, stiff results.

- Overloading Prompts: Trying to make AI do too many things in one go, such as researching, writing, and reviewing all at once.

Treat AI Like a Motivated Intern

AI isn’t a genius; it’s more like a motivated intern that needs proper guidance. Here’s a step-by-step guide to building your own tone of voice bot:

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Gather Examples

- Collect excellent examples of your desired tone of voice from various sources. These could be past writings, favorite articles, or even specific phrases and sentences that capture your style.

2. Analyze Your Tone

- Use AI to analyze these examples thoroughly. This can be done with models like GPT-4 that can break down and understand stylistic elements.

3. Brief the AI

- Generate a detailed briefing from the AI on how to recreate your tone of voice. This briefing should include specific attributes like sentence structure, vocabulary, and stylistic preferences. Tweak this briefing for accuracy.

4. Combine and Refine

- Combine the tweaked AI briefing with at least two examples of your tone of voice. This helps to solidify the AI’s understanding and application of your style.

5. Test Extensively

- Test the AI’s output extensively. Experiment with different prompts and find the words and phrases that make a difference. Continuously refine the prompts based on feedback and results.

Experiment and Adapt

Will AI be 100% accurate in mimicking your tone? Probably not. But it can save you a significant amount of time—around 80%. By experimenting and adapting, you’ll get extremely close if you put in the effort.

Conclusion

Building your own tone of voice bot requires patience, experimentation, and a clear understanding of your style. By following the steps outlined above, you can create an AI assistant that writes in a tone that resonates with your unique voice.

For a detailed walkthrough, check out the article I wrote on this topic in the comments. If you need any help, feel free to shoot me a message.

Happy experimenting! 🚀