Generative AI tools are really good about creating outlines and bullet points, so documentation flows well –as long as the prompt has enough details about the product or process.
While working on a variety of my own documentation requests, I realized my writing career has included several pivots. Could Microsoft Copilot predict salaries for a new direction and could it chart a course for me to make that kind of pivot?
This is a hypothetical use case; I hope Cornell remains my final pivot!
Text Prompt
Advise a healthcare grant writer with 10 years of increasingly successful proposals how to accomplish a career pivot into writing technical documentation in the software development industry.
The results were so-so: lots of encouragement but few specifics. The links provided at the bottom of the response were actually more helpful than the generated response itself. Truthfully, even prompts with additional details like the next example do not provide the kind of specifics you can get by actually reading books and following podcasts by professionals who have already accomplished a similar career pivot.
Using the book Build a Career in Data Science by Emily Robinson and Jacqueline Nolis, chart a course for a healthcare grant writer with 10 years of increasingly successful proposals to plan a career pivot into the role of data analyst, an entry-level position in the field of data science.
Follow-up Text Prompt: Salary Prediction
After my first prompt ran in Copilot/Bing, I asked for salary comparisons.
Thank you for that insight. Now can you predict salaries for the next three years for the experienced 10 year grant proposal writer versus an entry level technical documentation writer in the software industry?
Good Numbers for Generic Entry Level Tech Writer
Here is where Copilot excelled in detailed analysis, but the prompt needed refinement. Rather than rewrite that prompt, I separated the asks into individual salary predictions for the two roles and added a location of San Francisco, CA.
Better Numbers with More Specifics in Prompt
Can you predict only the salary progression for a 10 year experienced healthcare grant proposal writer living in San Francisco, CA?
This prompt yielded satisfactory results. Now for the newbie’s salary prediction.
Now predict three years salary for an entry level technical documentation writer in the software industry who brings 10 years of grant proposal expertise to their role. The jobs are based in San Francisco, CA.
These results were also a satisfactory. Having accomplished several career pivots in the past, my next step would be to contact colleagues who are writers or who hire writers for their teams and ask how generative AI tools are beginning to impact their own roles and that of their team members. Neither of the jobs are appealing to me, personally, but I might be tempted to look further into prompt engineering roles!
Image Prompt
Barb Bowman created a Firefly image that has interesting human-robotics aspects. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it was a great starting place. I only slightly edited the prompt.
digital art collage of abstract spring foliage, circuit boards, sheet music and red colored tulips. An distinctive woman with red lips and auburn hair is depicted in the style of digital airbrushing and fashion photography with double exposure techniques. The collage uses mixed media and oil painting styles on a white background with high detail, resolution, and sharp focus like a studio photo
Choosing the image I liked most, I then selected the Edit > Generate Similar option (hover in the top right corner of each generated image to reveal this option). The next image was even cooler, but I took it a step further, by downloading it and then uploading it back to Firefly as as a structure reference. If there is a better way to tell Firefly to use one of its own images as a structure or style reference, do let me know!
The following prompt did not produce overlapping front view and profile of the same woman’s face, but I liked this image so well that I added it to my favorites.
Using the attached structure image for reference, depict a woman facing the camera as well as her profile; include circuit boards, sheet music, and abstract spring foliage, depicted in the style of digital airbrushing and fashion photography with double exposure techniques. white background with high detail, resolution, and sharp focus like a studio photo.
