Last November over 80 technical communicators, information architects, and documentation aficionados broadened their horizon at GrowWithFlow, Flow’s highly irregular but equally appreciated technical communication conference. Here is one of the highlights: An overview of AI in technical documentation.
AI can do anything…
AI is transforming the world of technical documentation in revolutionary ways. The rapid developments are challenging us all to rethink how we approach creating, managing, and enhancing our documentation.
From automating repetitive tasks to providing real-time language support, enhancing consistency, and even predicting user needs, AI-powered tools are reshaping what’s possible.
… but does it do what you need?
With so many new AI tools popping up all over the market, it becomes hard to keep track of which ones actually have added value. So we tested a variety of AI implementations and presented our findings at the AI for technical docs talk.
Whether you’re an information architect, end user, or technical writer, here are some ways that AI can benefit you in your day-to-day tasks:
Streamline repetitive tasks: OpenAI Chat GPT to generate automation scripts
Enhance user experience:
Answer user questions with Chatbots
Summarize webpages with Fluidtopics AI
Explain code with Zoomin
Empower technical writers:
Summarize a text or offer style suggestions with Microsoft Copilot
Restructure a text or validate DITA rules with Oxygen XML AI Positron
For each of these tools, we also discussed the best practices and common pitfalls. After all, you want to protect your intellectual property while still getting the most out of AI’s potential.
One rule of thumb, no matter how you’re using AI, is to always verify the answer it gives you. Whether you have asked it to write a first draft, develop some code or restructure a text, always test it thoroughly.
Want to go in depth?
If you’re curious how AI tools can work for your content, let us know and we’ll figure it out together.