Have you ever thought about the fact that we basically live in The Jetsons these days?

In the chance you missed it, The Jetsons was an animated sitcom created by Hanna-Barbera in both the 1960s and 1980s, which depicted the goings-on of a Space Age family. The show depicted tons of technological advancements that we actually have today, like video chat, instant food delivery, smartwatches, and dogs on treadmills.

Yes, actual Jetsons technology.

While it’s disappointing that we don’t have flying cars yet, we are surprisingly close to one bit of technology from the show you may not have realized: robotic assistance.

That’s right, while we’re not quite as sophisticated as Rosie, the Jetson’s AI-powered robot maid, AI bots can actually help you do a lot more than you’d think. Specifically, though it may be surprising – they can actually give a tremendous boost to your game audio career.

If that boggles your mind, you’re in good company, I didn’t expect it either.

Let’s walk through three specific examples examples where AI can solve significant problems for you today:

1. AI can help grow your network and connect with potential clients.
2. AI can help draft and edit cover letters.
3. AI can draft difficult messages like salary negotiations.

For some, reaching out to talk and “network” with people can be daunting
This is largely because we don’t know what to say, or we feel like we’re tripping on our own words as we write. When we know we should keep it short, we’ll write a long gushing message to someone we really appreciate. Or, we just won’t send anything at all because we run into writer’s block.

This is where an AI chat bot tool like ChatGPT can help (find it at https://chat.openai.com – I’m sure other, better tools will exist in the near future).

Let’s say you want to send a direct message to a sound designer on a social media platform like Instagram. You want to tell said sound designer that their lightsaber sounds were incredibly inspriring to you and lead you to practice creating your own laser gun sounds. But, you’re struggling to say that and effectively communicate your emotions while staying succinct.

Instead of writing the message yourself and editing ad nauseum, let’s write out a prompt for ChatGPT and see what we get…

If we put in the following prompt:
“Write a 50-75 word direct message to a sound designer on instagram letting them know that their lightsaber sounds were extremely inspiring and lead me to create my own laser gun sounds for my demo reel. Thank them for encouraging me a lot.”

Here’s what ChatGPT gives in return:
“Hey [Sound Designer], just wanted to reach out and say thank you for your amazing lightsaber sound design. It was so inspiring and really helped me push myself to create some unique laser gun sounds for my demo reel. Your work truly encouraged me a lot. Thank you!”

I don’t know about you, but I was shocked at how tight, articulate and accurate the response was the first time I tried this. That response is pretty phenomal, but it’s definitely not even scratching the surface of what we can get. In future articles, we’ll discuss how to generate additional responses of varying tone, formality, etc.

Cover letters are another place we can run into difficulty with wording
Not only is it difficult to know how to write a cover letter in general, it’s difficult to know how to say what we want to say! Often, great cover letters take experience described on your resume and elaborate on it in detail, connecting it to portions of a job description.

Let’s say you don’t have any gaming industry experience, but you see that a job description mention managing and organizing sound assets and you’d like illustrate that skill with your experience as a student.

If we put in the following prompt:
“write two paragraphs for a cover letter using my experience as an honors student while jugging game jams as illustrating how I meet job description criteria of managing and organizing sound assets”

Here’s what ChatGPT gives us back:
“As an honors student and experienced game jam participant, I have proven skills in time management and asset organization. In my role as a sound designer, I have consistently demonstrated the ability to efficiently create and implement sound effects and music within tight deadlines by effectively managing and organizing my sound assets. These experiences have prepared me to excel in a role where these skills are crucial, as reflected in the positive feedback and successful completion of multiple game jam projects.”

This example is a great illustration of a point I will continually make – it’s often not good to copy-paste the response without revision and editing. In this case, the response assumes you’ve worked on multiple game jams. It’s also not giving any specific, illustrative examples from your work. But this a great response to give you a starting point, which you can edit into your own unique voice with your own lived examples.

One of the places we panic the most is how to articulate verbiage around money
Surprisingly, ChatGPT and other tools can help with that, too. Much like the cover letter example, you need to have some clear thoughts as to what you’re trying to say or what you want before a response will be helpful for you. If you have no idea of how much you want or need to get paid, no bot will really be able to tell you.

But, if we already have an idea in our heads, we can prompt the bot like this:
“write a one paragraph salary negotiation email thanking the game development studio for considering me as a candidate and requesting a salary of $2,000,000. Give a strong rationale as to why you’re asking for that number”

Here’s the response we get back:
“Thank you for considering me as a candidate for the sound design position at your game development studio. I am excited about the opportunity to join your team and contribute to the success of your projects. I am confident that my skills and experience make me a strong fit for this role, and I am eager to bring my passion and creativity to the table.
In terms of salary, I am requesting a rate of $2,000,000. This amount reflects my extensive experience in the industry and the value that I can bring to your team. I am confident that my skills and contributions will more than justify this investment, and I am committed to delivering exceptional results for your studio. Thank you again for considering me for this opportunity, and I look forward to discussing this further with you.”

The amount here is intentionally absurd, but once again we have a great bolierplate that we can then edit to reflect our own voice and specific reasons for the request. The reponse here is vague enough to edit, and professional enough not to need to be heavily altered if you feel it’s unnecessary.

But Adam, isn’t using an AI chat bot a bigger moral and ethical no-no than a wooly mammoth riding rollerstakes blocking traffic on an eight lane highway???
I can’t tell you what’s right or wrong for you and your conscience, and I can’t speak as any sort of an expert to the “AI is going to take our jobs” conversation.

What I do know is that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are a tool, and tools can be used for good. I don’t advocate writing a prompt and copy-pasting the response without at least reading it. I rarely advocate copying and pasting the response without slightly revising it. I don’t think you should use these tools for anything that violates your conscience, breaks the law, or knowingly steals from someone.

All that being said, I know how many folks struggle with words. From being a recepient, I know how many folks have no idea how to articulate their needs, wants, and desires in DMs or emails – and are frustrated by it. So, I see a tool that can help, and I think it’s wise we use it. I’m horrible at editing, and this very article was edited using ChatGPT – it helps me be more clear and learn to write better, too!

So, I can’t and won’t police you, but I don’t think getting boilerplate help with DMs, emails, and cover letters spells humanity’s downfall.

So how can AI chat bots help boost your career again?

1. AI can help grow your network and connect with potential clients
2. AI can help draft and edit cover letters
3. AI can draft difficult messages like salary negotiations

While some envision the use of any AI winding up like the ending of any Terminator movie…
I think we overlook The Jetsons as a great example of our use of technology. Insead of occupying your time with how bots may take your job, be your creative self and use them as tools to amplify what you’re already doing!