Ai for Bankers: A Practical Guide to Responsible Use

A Banker’s Guide to Staying Authentic with AI

On November 30, 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, and drastically changed written communications, perhaps forever. This AI tool became a huge success, reaching 100 million users in just nine months, according to Reuters. 

Today, it’s used by millions daily and has even ingratiated itself into search engines like Microsoft Bing. 

It’s also crept into online business platforms that include LinkedIn, where its presence has proven to be something of a double-edged sword. Yes, it can provide proper grammar and syntax and suggest topics that will resonate within a user’s LinkedIn network. 

But it also some rather obvious downfalls. 

While ChatGPT can be helpful, it’s easy to spot posters who rely on it too much. For bankers and credit union employees specifically, a sense of trust and genuineness is crucial to their personal branding. If a financial services professional wants to stand out by presenting his or her personal thoughts on the industry, those thoughts need to be created personally. 

Online audiences want to hear from content creators themselves, not just a generic AI response. Electronically created posts, which can come off as hollow and fake, can actually impede a professional’s reputation, or out-and-out hurt it.  

The Dangers of Impersonal AI in Banking Communications 

Simply copying and pasting the output of AI can make social media posts feel unauthentic. The better tactic is for bankers to use AI to organize general ideas, from which he or she “translates” those thoughts into effective content. The translation phase is important because it: 

  • Eliminates the stilted verbiage that often results from algorithmic authors 
  • Presents ideas with a natural writing style 
  • Reads like a human created it and not a machine
  • Provides a more genuine, clearer, human-crafted reputation of the brand (personal or corporate) behind the post 

Some LinkedIn users (casual ones, yes, but especially super-users who have gained the reputation of “The ChatGPT Police”) can easily spot posts that seem overly AI-generated. Once an inauthentic tinge gets attached to a post, it is almost destined to fail. In its aftermath, the poster may need to work hard to reestablish the lost credibility. 

5 Signs a LinkedIn Post Was Written by AI 

The following content examples—presented as a “don’t-do” listrepresent common “tells” that an algorithm (rather than an author) has created a post: 

1. Emoji Overload: The LinkedIn Authenticity Killer

Before ChatGPT, emojis weren’t common on LinkedIn. Now, some posts are packed with them—as many as 10 or more. A dead giveaway to inauthenticity is when they are used as bullet points.

While emojis can make posts more engaging, using too many makes them look fake, unprofessional or even immature. In instances where they represent an actual improvement to the written text, sticking to one or two can serve the purpose while keeping things professional. Also, consider carefully which emojis to deploy. A wineglass or a monkey covering its eyes might be a bit of a stretch for a business social media platform.

2. Odd Word Choices Like Ethos

Keep the vocabulary clear and common. Ethos, for example, isn’t a word most people use every day. But it’s becoming common on LinkedIn because AI seems to prefer it nowadays. If a word is not part of your everyday vocabulary, avoid using it. Your followers will recognize it as being out of place for you and could discount your post as a result. Write the way you normally speak. 

3. Clichés

Phrases like “As we embark on this historic journey” might seem inspiring but can become generic and robotic. Instead, write something personal that connects with your audience. Think of the last time you inspired a banker in person. Whatever was said in that context would work well in a LinkedIn post, while still enabling you to sound like you. 

4. Sudden Style Changes 

If your posts have suddenly become longer, use more emojis, or sound very different, your readers might notice. Stay consistent with your usual tone and style. I recently went back a year through the threads of someone in banking that I follow. I noticed how their posts’ format changed over time quite easily. 

Look at the prompt I gave ChatGPT below. Look at the output. How many LinkedIn posts have you written or read that look exactly like this one? 

  • Prompt: “Write me a LinkedIn post meant to inspire banking customers to be excited about changing banks” 
  • ChatGPT response: 

5. UTM Codes: The Smoking Gun That AI Was Used

When ChatGPT suggests links, its machine learning sometimes includes codes like “?utm_source=chatgpt.com.” These links are a clear sign that an author has used AI. If you are using AI text generation in a professional setting, double-check the sources, ensuring they are clean, direct links. Or simply delete all the characters in the code string that appear after the question mark symbol.

The Takeaway for Bankers: Be Authentic

If you want to retain your trusted reputation as a banker or credit union leader, put in the effort to create genuine posts. Start by writing your thoughts, use ChatGPT to refine them, and then review everything, re-tweaking to make sure what’s presented is in your voice. Avoid the “tells” that make your posts look overly AI-generated. 

Your audience follows you because they want to hear what you think, not what ChatGPT thinks. In banking, trust and authenticity are everything. By taking the time to write real, personal content, you’ll build stronger connections and stand out as a banking leader. 

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