How to Get Knowledge Out of People's Heads Using AI

How do you capture expert knowledge?

The documentation process can be long and tedious, which is why many businesses push off their knowledge management projects. 

Unfortunately, when they do that it only heightens the challenge of transferring knowledge, leading to mistakes and frustrated employees and supervisors.

But, what if there was a way to capture expert knowledge faster?

With AI, there is a faster way.

In this post, you'll learn how you can use ChatGPT and ScreenSteps AI to capture company knowledge faster, including the process for leveraging AI in your documentation process.

How to create SOPs with ChatGPT?

Before we dive into ScreenSteps-specific AI features, let's quickly share how ChatGPT can help.  

ChatGPT can streamline SOP documentation by transcribing audio recordings, summarizing long bodies of text, and structuring information into easy-to-follow procedures.

Here are the two main ways businesses can leverage AI to create SOPs with speed and accuracy.

1. Create a transcript of audio recordings

Many businesses rely on meetings, training sessions, and expert interviews to discuss processes. Instead of manually writing down every step, you can record these conversations and use ChatGPT to transcribe and organize them into a structured SOP.

Here's how that would work:

• Step 1: Record a subject matter expert (SME) explaining a process.
• Step 2: Upload the audio for transcription using AI tools.

ChatGPT then refines the transcription. It removes any unnecessary conversation and structures the outline into clear steps, decision points, and best practices.

2. Summarize complex information into SOPs

Chances are, you have a lot of documentation in your business. You may have policies, regulatory guidelines, legacy manuals, or even a bunch of emails where you've written out operational instructions.

ChatGPT can summarize long-form content into clear procedural steps. You can use ChatGPT by inputting a lengthy process description (i.e. upload a document or copy and paste the text).

Then ChatGPT extracts key actions, rules, and conditions. It creates a bulleted summary with clear step-by-step instructions.

How ScreenSteps AI features help you document SOPs faster

While ChatGPT provides a great starting point for capturing knowledge, ScreenSteps AI takes it a step further by tailoring AI-generated content specifically for knowledge transfer.

Watch this 2.5-minute video to see how the ScreenSteps AI tools help you capture knowledge in a fraction of the time. Then keep reading for three ways that the ScreenSteps AI features help you capture knowledge faster.

1. Summarize from a transcription

The ScreenSteps AI features can summarize a body of text. All you have to do is copy and paste a Word Doc, PDF, email instructions, or some other form of copy into the AI Article Summarizer tool. 

The AI takes complex procedures and turns them into easy-to-follow outlines. It pulls critical points for a procedure.

2. Create an outline from an audio recording

Rest your typing fingers. The Audio AI Article Generator allows you to record yourself speaking through a procedure or upload a audio file. It takes that recording and creates a followable and scannable outline.

Here's how it works:

1. Create a new article
2. Open the AI tool
3. Select the recording message
4. Start talking

And don't worry — no one will ever hear your recording. That means you can ramble and say, "Oh, I missed a step here; add this in." ScreenSteps AI takes that unorganized thought process and delivers a clear consecutive outline. 

3. Separate and optimize according to use case 

The ScreenSteps AI tool is unique because it is built to help you create both actionable and foundational knowledge. 

Actionable and foundational knowledge are used differently, so they require different formatting when captured.

• Actionable knowledge: This is operational and procedural knowledge, so the how-to guides and step-by-step processes. They are typically captured as workflows and decision trees.
• Foundational knowledge: It is background or contextual information, so it's often presented as a standard article.

With ScreenSteps' AI, you can separate actionable and foundational knowledge, allowing you to transfer knowledge faster and train employees more efficiently.

4-step process for using AI to capture knowledge 

The role of AI in capturing knowledge is NOT to do everything for you. It is to simplify and speed up the process. 

Use AI to think through a process, organize your thoughts, and get you started.

Here is a four-step process to follow when using AI to capture your SMEs knowledge.

And while a four-step process might sound long, we promise it isn't. AI handles the bulk of the mental load.

1. Identify the questions

Before you create guides, you need to know what knowledge you need to collect. That means you need to plan what questions to ask your SMEs.

Identify the inputs (aka the questions people ask, the tasks they need help to handle, etc.).

2. Capture the knowledge

Once you know what knowledge you need to capture, it's time to document your procedures. This is where the AI tools come in.

Use AI tools to create outlines, write SOPs, and separate actionable and foundational knowledge. (See AI tools above.)

If your content creator isn't your SME, then you can approach gathering knowledge in two ways:

1. Set up your articles with questions and SMEs respond by typing in the articles
2. Schedule an 1-hour Zoom meetings with SME (record the meeting)

💡 If you are implementing the ScreenSteps Knowledge Ops Platform, you can hire our team of experts to help you capture knowledge and keep you on track for launch. Schedule time to talk to a ScreenSteps expert to see how we can help. 

3. Approve the content

AI doesn't have the final say on what your procedures look like. AI makes mistakes. After all, it is only as good as the information you feed it.

Have an SME review the digital guides. The easiest way to do that is to walk through the procedure and make sure you aren't missing any steps. 

4. Optimize for performance

Once the process is approved, it's time to optimize the digital guides for the end-users. 

Optimization could mean adding screenshots to make it easier for your end-users to know where to click.

In many cases, the bulleted outline AI delivers is sufficient for a procedure. 

However, with more complex procedures, it may make sense to turn that outline into a decision tree. This will help the end-user better navigate the different variables in a procedure.

Don't risk losing expert knowledge

Documenting all of your company's knowledge can be a daunting task. Luckily, with AI, it makes the process more manageable.

With ScreenSteps AI features, you can capture expert knowledge faster and format your digital guides in a way that is user-friendly.

See how the ScreenSteps Knowledge Ops Platform can simplify and centralize all your company knowledge in one place. 

Schedule a demo with a ScreenSteps rep to learn how AI and a Knowledge Ops Platform can help save you time and make knowledge more accessible.