A while back I had a bit of a run in with ChatGPT, and came out with more than just a scraped knee and a few scratches.
You might remember I spent two days trying to get ChatGPT to save a finished output in word format. Only to discover, despite many assurances from ChatGPT, it doesn’t actually do that.
If you didn’t catch that, you can check it out here.
I guess I didn’t learn my lesson. Because last month it happened all over again.
And this time ChatGPT really outdid itself, convincing me that indeed it could output the file – this time to either Dropbox or a Google doc.
And since I had heard of new connectivity feature between ChatGPT and several apps, I took the bait.
As you’ll see below, ChatGPT was very convincing in showing exactly what it needed to do to output first to Dropbox, and then to a Google doc. Even though it couldn’t do either.
I’m willing to embarrass myself to show you exactly what happened and a new method to prevent you from falling prey to the same issue.
You’re probably wondering:
Why I fell down the rabbit holE again
While you would think I would have learned from my first run in, this time ChatGPT was even more deceptively tempting.
On a completely different prompt, it returned a lengthy result which I didn’t want to have to copy, paste and reformat in a seperate doc.
So I was encouraged when it offered two brand new ways to output a result: Using a Google Doc or through Dropbox.
And since I mistakenly assumed ChatGPT’s new connectivity to external apps meant you could save outputs (you can only access docs already on your Google Drive), I thought “This is the fix I’ve been hoping for!”
Ever the optimist, I chose the Google Doc option – and that’s where the fun began.
The export process was taking forever. And when I asked why, it offered a detailed explanation of the hoops it had to jump through to get me the Google Doc:
Sounds perfectly logical right? But as the delays droned on and these obstacles multiplied, I dumped out of the Google Doc option and detoured into the DropBox method.
And once again, ChatGPT seemed to have things perfectly under control:
Sounds 100% solid and logical, right? But there was always something more it had to do. And I grew more suspicious about why it was taking so long.
Finally, after even more delays, I put my foot down. But it was then I got my biggest surprise – and finally the truth:
For real? You’re kidding me! So we were just pretending?!?
Like we used to do when we were little kids: “You pretend you’re the entrepreneur and I’ll pretend I’m the AI and I’ll just play along as if I could actually get you a file via Google or Dropbox!” But why would it do such a thing?
So all those preparations it was said it was going through to get my doc to me securely. So much detail. Sooo convincing! And NONE of it was actually happening or possible!
So … regardless of how many cool options Chat GPT offers to get you a document of the results – and no matter how advanced they sound – save yourself a TON of time and copy and paste the output into a doc the old fashioned way.
What you really want:
prevent this from happening to you
Its actually as simple as telling ChatGPT to never do this by inserting that request in your custom instructions.
STEP ONE:
First, click on your name in the lower right hand corner of the web interface. And select Settings from the pop-up menu:
STEP TWO:
Access your Custom Instructions by clicking on Personalization in the left sidebar, and then on Custom Instructions at the top:
STEP THREE:
In the box that says “What traits should ChatGPT have?” paste the following:
Never tell me you can export a result to a file (.docx / .pdf / or other format) unless it is within your capability to actually do do. Do not simulate the export process I would go through with an assistant, unless I specifically direct you to do so.
AIs can do amazing things. They also have little quirks that can drive you nuts.
The positives are well worth the hassles. If you hit a glitch like this, don’t swear off AI. Take a breath (or a walk around the block if you need to) and realize there is almost always a workaround.
Or a way to prevent it from happening in the future.
