ChatGPT can be a useful assistant for IT support agents when used for its strengths and with an awareness of its weaknesses. Its applications range from drafting text compositions to creating summaries and writing or debugging code, although other uses are also possible.

Some IT companies integrate ChatGPT into their workflows or use it in another tab. However, there are specialized AI-powered help desk tools and features you can use (such as our Magic AI) to make your work more efficient and improve the customer experience. Being aware of the range of solutions available will help you optimize your use of dedicated AI tools including both Magic AI and ChatGPT for IT support.

1. Find Solutions to Technical Issues

Customer support teams can use ChatGPT to quickly find solutions to technical problems. This AI tool was created using machine learning, meaning that it has been fed great quantities of data including user manuals, forum threads, and other text-based resources that explain "fixes" for everything from a jammed printer to altered keyboard shortcuts.

To find solutions using ChatGPT, enter a command such as “Give me a list of causes and solutions for [XYZ problem].” The tool will then provide a list of causes and solutions you can suggest to the customer.

The following is an example of the suggestions ChatGPT returned for a slow internet connection.

This list is quite comprehensive and includes suggestions agents might not think of right away. In this way, ChatGPT can broaden agents’ “libraries” of ideas more efficiently than browsing several articles about each problem on the net.

Taking It Further with Magic AI

Our Magic AI solution not only suggests solutions to problems but also helps customers receive comprehensive human support faster by automatically categorizing and prioritizing support tickets (or “threads”). IT support agents receive a to-the-minute list of tasks according to the urgency of each task and the agent's areas of expertise. The result is far more efficient customer service, faster solutions, and increased customer satisfaction.

2. Drafting Text Compositions

IT teams frequently need to compose text documents or responses, and this is an area in which ChatGPT can save your team time. This generative AI tool uses natural language processing to come up with human-like responses to questions and commands, which—when used judiciously—can save support teams a significant amount of time drafting the same responses themselves.

You can use ChatGPT for:

• Knowledge management: Ask ChatGPT to draft answers to common questions for your knowledge base. This includes things like how-to articles and troubleshooting guides. You can then review the draft answers and make any necessary changes or updates. 
  • Important note: ChatGPT 3.5 was trained on content up to September 2021. The paid version of ChatGPT 4 has been able to search the web for up-to-date information since June 22, 2023. You may need to update some information if you use the free version of ChatGPT to draft articles for your knowledge base.

Here is an example response that ChatGPT returned for the request: “Please draft a knowledge base article about setting up QuickBooks Online for a new user.”

• Internal documents: You can ask ChatGPT to create a template for the internal documents and policies your business needs. You can then add the information that is unique to your business. For example, ChatGPT can create templates for:
  • Standard operating procedures
  • Codes of conduct
  • Codes of ethics
  • Disaster recovery plans
  • Other internal policies

Here is an example code of conduct that ChatGPT returned for the request: “Please draft a code of conduct for my fictional managed services provider "Tech Pros Inc."

• Emails: You can use ChatGPT to provide templates for specific kinds of emails to give you ideas, save time drafting the email yourself, or assist an agent who is an English language learner. For example, you could ask ChatGPT to draft an email template for the following scenarios:
  • Respond to an end-user issue
  • Close a support ticket
  • Request feedback 
  • Invite someone to a meeting
  • Respond to a request for change
  • Write a request for leave
  • Notify clients of an outage
  • Write an apology email
  • Explain a simple how-to that isn't in your knowledge base

The following is an example response for the prompt: “Please create an email template requesting feedback for the technical support service provided.”

• Chat support responses: ChatGPT can be used to draft a response before replying to a customer in a chat thread. This is different from using a chatbot for IT support because the support agent is personally in control of their replies and is merely using the tool to help them express themselves more effectively.

The following example is a response to the prompt: “Please provide a template for responding to a customer's IT problem in a new support chat thread.”

Taking It Further with Magic AI

Magic AI can be used in similar ways to those described above with the advantage that agents don't need to leave the platform or flick between tabs to access these functions. A further benefit is that the responses are contextualized as it relates to the specific request itself, so the output is more directly useful than generic docs. 

In addition to drafting documents and responses, Magic AI automatically creates summaries of chat threads so that agents know exactly what has been discussed and what has been done before taking over a support thread, without needing to read through the entire conversation. In the future, Magic will be able to reference the MSP's specific documentation for each issue and/or client. 

3. Write, Document, Troubleshoot, and Debug Code

ChatGPT has been trained in code as well as natural language processing. You can use ChatGPT to write, document, troubleshoot, and debug code. ChatGPT can read and analyze existing code in most coding languages, create summaries of what a block of code does, and suggest fixes and improvements.

The following code was produced by ChatGPT in response to the prompt: “Please write a section of code that I can use to add a new paying member to a WordPress website,” The code was preceded by an introduction and followed by an explanation.

Taking It Further with Magic AI

Magic AI can create a PowerShell script, which facilitates cross-platform task automation. PowerShell includes a command-line shell, scripting language, and configuration management framework. It accepts and returns .NET objects rather than being limited to text like ChatGPT. The ability to create PowerShell scripts makes Magic AI a very versatile and powerful tool for IT support companies to have.

4. Analyze and Scrub Data

A final use for ChatGPT in IT is to automate repetitive tasks like analyzing vast amounts of data or going through large quantities of data and removing or "masking" sensitive information such as names, addresses, credit card numbers, and so on with generic equivalents like "User 1" and “Credit card 1.”

Taking It Further with Magic AI

Magic AI from Thread not only processes data on request but works constantly behind the scenes to automate every aspect of agent workflows that doesn't require human input. In addition to auto-categorizing and auto-prioritizing tasks and auto-summarizing chat conversations with clients, Magic AI also creates automatic time entries—saving agents an average of 30-60 minutes per day in time entries alone!

Cautions

When using any AI tool for IT support, it's essential to have a human review the results before sending any generative content the tool produces to a customer. Generative AI tools process and create text based on large quantities of human-generated text with which they've been trained. They can't independently determine the truthfulness or morality of the content they produce, and may not always give accurate responses. 

AI tools also can't make value-based decisions (as opposed to rule-based decisions). Your human agents will need to be trained both to verify the information provided by AI tools and to make the kinds of judgments and decisions that AI tools can’t make, based on your company’s code of ethics, values, and policies.

Human Agents + AI Support = High-Quality, Efficient Service

ChatGPT has a few functions that are useful for IT support agents, such as finding solutions, drafting text compositions, writing code, and processing large amounts of data. While these functions are useful—and some IT teams use ChatGPT for these reasons—specialized AI help desk tools like Magic AI go beyond the input-response interface of ChatGPT to automate and streamline the entire team's workflow behind the scenes.

The best way to offer customers top-notch support with the help of artificial intelligence is to use an all-in-one AI-powered service collaboration platform that harnesses automation as an integral part of its design. This frees up your human agents to spend more time doing what they do best: creating service magic for your customers.