AI has been hot for a while, and many people are discussing it, but few have applied it at the enterprise level; AI seems to have become a chat tool, let alone being applied to the FMCG industry. Because New Distribution is in the content industry, I personally use AI more frequently, so I'd like to share some of my recent experiences and feelings with you.

First, it's best to install some AI tools on your phone, such as Doubao, Wenxin Yiyan, Tongyi, Kimi, Yuanbao, and for advanced users, if you have the ability to climb the ladder, you can install ChatGPT, Gemini, integrated versions like Poe, and Perplexity, so you can use them anytime. Personally, I like ChatGPT the most. The advantage of having them on your phone is that you can ask AI questions anytime; it's like an all-knowing knowledge base that can greatly expand your knowledge and refine your ideas. Let me share some of my feelings about using AI during this period: In the articles I've written in the last six months, AI has been deeply involved in the content. Overall, I feel: AI is a very powerful and effective productivity tool that can help us solve many problems in information collection, data analysis, content processing, and copywriting. You can think of it as an all-knowing and highly efficient work assistant. It can quickly handle tasks that are not technically demanding but time-consuming, such as information retrieval, data analysis, and work reports. However, note that this assistant doesn't understand your specific tasks or your field deeply; it can only help with basic work. I define AI as a fresh graduate working as your assistant. So, based on this positioning, our communication with AI cannot be the same as communicating with a mature person. First, you need to know what you want and be able to describe it clearly. You need to communicate in a way it can understand; the key is the Prompt. So, what is a Prompt? I threw this question to GPT-4o, and here's how it answered:

1. What is a Prompt? • A Prompt is the instruction or hint you give to AI, telling it what you want. • Think of a Prompt as a letter you write to AI, telling it what kind of response you want.

2. Why are Prompts important? • AI generates responses by understanding your Prompt. If the Prompt is clear, AI can better understand your needs and give you an accurate answer.

3. How to write a good Prompt? • Clear and specific: Use simple, clear language to describe the question or content you want. • Detailed: The more specific the description, the better AI can understand your intent. For example, don't just say "write an article," but say "write an article about the importance of environmental protection, around 300 words, suitable for middle school students." • Provide context: Give necessary background information. For instance, if you want AI to write an email, tell it the purpose and the recipient.

4. Example explanation Suppose you want AI to write an article about environmental protection; you could write a Prompt like this: • Bad Prompt: Write an article. • Good Prompt: Write an article about the importance of environmental protection, around 300 words, suitable for middle school students. • Too short: A Prompt that is too short lacks information, like "help me write a story." • Too complex: A Prompt that is too complex might confuse AI, like "write a long scientific research article about the multifaceted impacts of climate change on different regions."

5. Tips • If the first attempt doesn't yield satisfactory results, don't be discouraged. Modify the Prompt, add more details, until you get the desired result. For routine work, you can standardize the Prompt and even create a dedicated model; I made a dedicated writing model for New Distribution.

I use GPT-4o, Gemini, and Claude-3 interchangeably. Honestly, they each have strengths and weaknesses. GPT-4o is still the most powerful, Gemini is the most friendly for Chinese interaction, and Claude-3 excels at interpreting data and paper reports. Domestically, Kimi has the strongest reading comprehension, Doubao is the most user-friendly, and for FMCG applications, frankly, all domestic large models have accuracy issues.

In summary, I think AI can help our work in the following areas:

1. Online Q&A: Let AI answer your questions, especially for knowledge blind spots or temporary information needs. You can ask AI directly; it's best to use Poe to cross-verify information accuracy. If timeliness is required, domestic large models are faster.

2. Help with reading books, articles, interpreting papers and industry reports, summarizing and aggregating content viewpoints, and rapid learning. In WeChat, Kimi reads articles very fast, Doubao responds most quickly, and GPT has the highest accuracy. Especially in interpreting industry reports—we interpret over a dozen industry reports daily—GPT can quickly summarize and extract information, which is very efficient. Sometimes, when you don't have time to read a book but feel it's important, you can ask AI; if it's newly published, convert it to PDF and let it summarize, which is also convenient.

3. Writing reports, creating PPTs, processing large amounts of data, becoming a work assistant. This should be the most practical tool for FMCG professionals. You throw the materials to AI, and it can quickly analyze, summarize, and list frameworks and content. It's also great at converting meeting recordings to text and organizing meeting documents.

4. Writing Python code to batch-process repetitive and time-consuming tasks automatically. Note that you don't need to understand code; you just tell AI you're a coding novice and want to write a Python script but don't know how, and it will guide you step by step. I'm a coding novice; following GPT's step-by-step guidance, I quickly set up a Python environment, then had GPT write code based on my requirements. In less than an hour, I hand-coded a Tetris game on my computer. Of course, it's not just games; any program you want to write, as long as it's not too complex, GPT can basically implement it, like batch file conversion, etc., quickly and well.

5. Using Coze workflows to automate your business processes. Coze is powerful; although it requires some coding foundation, many basic tasks, plugins, applications, and workflows are already built and can be used directly. I recommend managers research and apply it in their enterprises.

6. For advanced users, use open-source large models and the Ollama framework for local deployment to build your own data and knowledge base for content retrieval and work assistance. I tried building a database; for sensitive data that isn't convenient to feed to AI, enterprises or senior leaders can deploy a large model on their own computers for easy retrieval. I tried building a local large model with AnythingLLM, and the feedback was quite good.

Above, I've covered the methods I can think of for AI to improve individual efficiency. Now let me talk about how individuals can cultivate the fundamentals of using AI skills:

First, maintain curiosity, dare to think, ask, and explore; good questions are more important than answers. Ask about anything you think of or see; AI is truly all-knowing and can greatly expand our information and capability boundaries. Don't be afraid to ask wrong questions or think it's sacred; you can ask anytime, and not just ask, but follow up. For example, ask for its opinion on something, or for recommended books, then further question those books. Recently, regarding the Nongfu Spring PR incident, I had GPT analyze the mechanisms behind the public's mindless behavior using viewpoints from four books: "The Crowd," "The Laws of Imitation," "The Monkey's Trick," and "Emotion." GPT wrote thousands of words, too much to include here. Then I asked GPT to provide valuable crisis PR handling suggestions based on viewpoints from "Weak Communication" by a professor at Xiamen University, but it was clear that GPT's ability to understand Chinese books was much weaker than English ones. Still, it gave some good points. After that, I had GPT recommend ten books on crisis PR and quickly summarize the three most important issues and five key points in crisis PR. Combining the previously mentioned books ("The Crowd," "The Laws of Imitation," "The Monkey's Trick," "Emotion," "Weak Communication") and the ten recommended books, we can distill the three most important issues and five key points in corporate public opinion crisis PR:

The Three Most Important Issues

1. Emotion Management and Public Opinion Guidance: In crisis PR, managing and defusing negative public emotions, avoiding panic and misunderstanding, is a key issue. Correctly guiding public opinion and establishing a positive emotional feedback loop is crucial for restoring corporate reputation.

2. Control and Utilization of Information Dissemination: Effectively controlling information dissemination during a crisis, preventing the spread of false or harmful information, while using weak-tie networks and other communication mechanisms to quickly convey the company's stance and information, is another core issue.

3. Long-term Reputation Management: Crisis PR is not only about short-term public opinion response but also about how to maintain and rebuild the company's long-term reputation after the crisis, ensuring the restoration of corporate image and brand value.

Five Key Points to Focus On

1. Transparency and Rapid Response: Providing transparent, accurate, and timely information during a crisis is crucial for building public trust. Rapid response helps reduce uncertainty and speculation, stabilizing emotions.

2. Strategic Use of Social Media and Digital Platforms: In the digital age, social media and other digital platforms are key battlegrounds for crisis communication and PR response. Developing effective social media strategies, monitoring online public opinion, and actively engaging in dialogue are must-focus points.

3. Leadership and Internal Communication: During a crisis, strong leadership and clear internal communication mechanisms ensure information consistency and team cohesion. Leaders' behavior and decisions directly affect the effectiveness of crisis response.

4. Emotional Resonance and Public Participation: Building emotional resonance with the public, understanding and responding to their concerns, can effectively reduce negative emotions. Through public participation and feedback mechanisms, companies can better adjust strategies and restore trust.

5. Long-term Crisis Management Plan and Reputation Recovery Strategy: Crisis PR should not be limited to emergency response but also include developing long-term crisis management plans and reputation recovery strategies. This includes regular risk assessments, preventive measures, crisis drills, and continuous brand building and positive image shaping.

By considering these issues and points, companies can respond to public opinion crises more comprehensively and effectively, not only protecting and restoring brand reputation but also strengthening competitiveness and market position through crisis management. For a media professional, this is basically enough material to write a professional article on Nongfu Spring's crisis PR handling. But I felt it wasn't enough, so I had GPT outline it. From seeing the public account article to accumulating materials, it took about half an hour.

Title: "The Fuse: When Corporate Public Opinion Crisis Meets Emotional Flashpoint"

Outline:

### Introduction

  • Briefly describe the universality and severity of corporate public opinion crises
  • Introduce the theme: How companies manage public emotions during public opinion crises to avoid emotional flashpoints triggering larger crises

### The Complexity of Corporate Public Opinion Crises

  • Outline different types of public opinion crises companies may face (e.g., product failures, ethical controversies)
  • Discuss the speed and breadth of information dissemination in the social media era and its impact on crisis escalation

### The Power of Emotion

  • Analyze the mechanisms and impact of emotion propagation in groups as mentioned in books like "Emotion"
  • Discuss how emotional flashpoints can intensify public reactions in a short time, exacerbating public opinion crises

### From "The Crowd" to "Weak Communication": The Art of Public Opinion Guidance

  • Explore the susceptibility of crowd psychology and emotion from "The Crowd"
  • Draw on the role of weak-tie networks in information dissemination as proposed in "Weak Communication," and how to use this mechanism for effective communication in crisis PR

### Key Strategies: Emotion Management and Public Opinion Guidance in Crisis

  • Transparency and rapid response: Build trust, reduce uncertainty
  • Active use of social media: Monitor public opinion, respond quickly, build positive dialogue
  • Strengthen leadership and internal communication: Ensure information consistency, enhance team execution
  • Emotional resonance and public participation: Understand and respond to public emotions, build empathetic connections

### Long-term Perspective: Reputation Recovery and Brand Rebuilding

  • Learn from the crisis: Evaluate the effectiveness of crisis handling, summarize lessons
  • Reputation recovery strategies: Long-term communication plans, positive brand image reshaping
  • Continuous risk management and prevention: Establish effective crisis early warning and response mechanisms

### Conclusion

  • Emphasize the core position of emotion management and public opinion guidance in public opinion crisis PR
  • Summarize how to combine theory and practice to provide effective strategies and solutions for companies facing public opinion crises

This outline integrates the theories and viewpoints of the mentioned books, aiming to help you write a comprehensive and in-depth article on strategies for managing public emotions and guiding public opinion during public opinion crises.

Of course, New Distribution is not a media outlet covering this content; otherwise, a draft could be written in less than an hour. I did this to test GPT's rapid summarization and drafting capabilities, not to write that article, but to show you how to apply GPT to transform information into usable content.

One: Train yourself to write good prompts; this is the core of your AI efficiency. For routine tasks, you can standardize with small models, but for everyday questions, your ability to ask is the most critical. The general framework includes role, skills, task, and limitations. That means you tell AI what role it plays, what skills it has, what task to handle, and where the boundaries are. Of course, writing prompts requires training; there are many resources online, and many standardized prompts, especially on Coze, which can auto-generate prompts for you.

Two: Master some basic abilities. Here, I think Liang Jiangjun's summary of three abilities for mastering AI in his public account is excellent:

  • Access: Whoever can access higher AI permissions and use greater computing power can quickly widen the class gap with others. Note, it's a class gap. In the future, whoever has access has human rights.
  • Your Professionalism:
    • Ability in relevant fields
    • Comprehensive quality
    • Cognitive models
    • Knowledge breadth
    • AI usage and control ability
    • Asking questions
    • Judging problems
  • Your Imagination: Whoever can be more creative with AI.

I deeply agree with these three abilities. At the same time, I asked GPT-3.5, "What abilities are needed to use AI well?" GPT's answer was:

1. Systematic Thinking Ability: Helps you understand the whole picture, identify key points and causal relationships, and ask more targeted and in-depth questions.

2. Logical Thinking Ability: Helps you analyze and organize information, form clear thinking, and ask reasonable and accurate questions.

3. Communication Ability: Helps you communicate and share with others, understand problems from their perspective, avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary disputes.

4. Innovative Thinking Ability: Helps you think of new questions, find new angles and solutions, and discover new value points.

5. Critical Thinking Ability: Helps you examine problems, challenge existing viewpoints and assumptions, and ask more meaningful and creative questions.

6. Language Expression Ability: Helps you express your questions clearly and accurately, so others can better understand you.

7. Analytical Ability: Helps you break down problems, find components, and form more specific and actionable questions.

In short, asking questions requires comprehensive use of multiple ability models, continuous learning and practice, and improving methods and skills through reflection and feedback. It seems the challenge to humans is indeed significant.

Three: Sometimes AI also makes things up, saying irrelevant things, especially domestic AI; you must have basic critical thinking and judgment in your profession. So, I recommend cross-questioning on multiple platforms; in this regard, Poe can really help you solve many problems.

About the Impact of AIGC on Our Generation

NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang said: The "iPhone moment" for the AI industry has arrived! In my view, it's his iPhone moment; for most people, it's more like the tragic beginning for farmers during the British Industrial Revolution. The evolution of human civilization: Primitive civilization → Agricultural civilization → Industrial civilization → Information civilization → AI civilization. The speed of social development and change is faster each time. For a middle-aged driver who lost his job and drives for ride-hailing, L4 autonomous driving will soon take away even his chance to sell his time. In such a situation, how can he learn a new skill to face the upcoming AI era? This is a very difficult thing and a challenge our generation must face. The machinery of industrial civilization replaced handicraft workshops; the AI of AI civilization replaces white-collar workers in offices. The logic behind it is that anything with general skills and standardization can be replaced. The British Industrial Revolution took two generations to fully adapt to the new production methods. The fate of the first replaced generation was actually very tragic. I don't know what challenges white-collar workers will face next. They were forced to change careers, sell land, and crowd into slums. Then the real proletariat emerged.

This time might be even harsher than the Industrial Revolution: a few get rich, most become destitute. In the industrial era, you could still go to factories. In this era, we might truly become useless people.

But for the future, I am actually very optimistic. From a big-picture perspective, individuals are dependent. In agricultural civilization, people depended on land as the means of production; in the industrial era, people depended on companies to create value; in the information age, we depend on internet platforms; in the AI civilization stage, people's productivity will definitely come from AI. Do you see the logic above? For individuals, as civilization progresses, the means of production they can master are actually increasing. Whether it's information or energy, they are becoming more abundant, and the possibility of one person becoming a super individual is also increasing. New media, e-commerce, and internet celebrities are super individuals rising on platforms; similarly, I believe in the AI era, more super individuals will rise. The core is how you use AI well.

How to make AI your assistant rather than your career opponent? AI indeed provides precise and complete information, making the information and knowledge we want readily available. In the past, work based on knowledge organization, inductive analysis, and statistics can all be replaced by AI. In other words, low-skill work has been completely replaced by AI. This is not alarmist; it's just a matter of the last one to two years. Starting this year, fresh graduates may find it harder to find jobs because their cognition and educational experience lack any AI-related experience, while AI can do better than them. Our biggest challenge today is to learn to make AI our most capable assistant, not our opponent.

How to become an assistant rather than an opponent?

It's simple: hand over what we can do and AI can also do to AI; what we need to do is learn to control AI, just like learning to drive a car. We must abandon our previous cognitive systems, reset to zero, and learn new skill models to adapt to the AI era. Our past ability to acquire and filter knowledge must be upgraded to the ability to discover and solve problems. Humans are responsible for accurately asking questions; AI is responsible for collecting, summarizing, and predicting information, then handing it back to humans to make correct judgments and decisions based on the presented knowledge and information. How to judge? For example, the ability to gain insights from limited information has become extremely important today. AI is responsible for observation; humans are responsible for insight.

How to build insight ability?

Learn to distinguish between signals and noise in the information AI provides.

Distinguish between factual judgments and value judgments.

Have framework thinking; you must know the boundaries of the problem.

Know how to ask AI questions; the efficiency of communication with AI determines your work efficiency. You must have critical thinking, be able to build a global framework for the topic, and know how beliefs, positions, and emotions affect your decisions. Maintain curiosity and continuously ask why about the world. You must admit your objective ignorance and be open to different viewpoints. Relearn new survival experiences. Honestly, the emergence of AI is quite cruel. Yuval Harari said that in the future, most people will become a valueless group, and only a few can transform from Homo sapiens to Homo deus. The question is, which kind of person do you want to be?

From August 20-22, 2024, the "2024 6th China FMCG Conference" with the theme "Crossing the Shrinkage Era," along with the "3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference" and the "3rd China FMCG Distributor Conference," will be grandly held in Shanghai.

At the conference site, a closed-door pre-meeting on "How AI Helps FMCG Enterprises" will be held simultaneously. New Distribution will invite industry experts to deeply analyze how AI assists individuals and enterprises.

Gain insights into AI development trends, learn the best time for AI-assisted marketing, and find AI's support for the FMCG industry. You must not miss it!

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