Let’s be real: I have a pretty wild job at CSU. I spend my days following President Amy Parsons around campus, capturing every significant moment and transforming it into engaging content. When I’m not with her, I’m writing compelling copy, monitoring social engagement, and coordinating with what feels like half the university. A year into this job, I wondered: how can we get ahead? Because there are only so many hours in the day, and I want to spend them making our content better, not just trying to keep up.
I’m lucky to be on an incredible team and manage two awesome interns, all who make the magic happen behind the scenes. But even with great people, we’re always looking for ways to work smarter. Enter AI – not as a replacement for our jobs (trust me, no AI can capture the energy of a CSU game day), but as a tool to help us prioritize balance while still creating engaging content.
My AI Assistant Journey
I’ve primarily played around with ChatGPT and Claude, though currently, I lean toward ChatGPT for writing because it’s more organized than I’ll ever be and a far better writer than I am. Both have free options for you to try out.
Learn how to use: ChatGPT | Claude
Here we go!
Here are four ways I’m using these tools to make my life easier:
- Setting up dedicated AI workspaces for different content needs
- Generating accessible alt text that actually makes sense
- Transforming podcast episode transcripts into multi-platform content
- Turning my scattered thoughts into coherent posts
1. Organizing Your AI Workspaces
The secret to making AI work for you? Organization. Rather than dumping every request into one chat, I’ve created dedicated spaces for different needs. Here are some of main my workspace categories:
- Social Media Post Generation: To get help writing my day-to-day content
- Grammar and Editing: To double and triple check my spelling and grammar, especially when I’m posting at weird hours
- Alt-Text Generation: To help write alt text for my images and graphics
- Podcast Content: To generate options for podcast titles, descriptions, key moments and social media posts
- Blog Post: To help me write blog posts, like this one!
Each chat has specific rules and guidelines that I’ve developed over time. For example, my alt text chat knows that “with Amy” means “with President Amy Parsons” and never makes assumptions about gender or characteristics. My social post generation knows to give me posts for Instagram, LinkedIn and X and follows my instructions on character length for each. My podcast chat automatically knows to pull timestamps and generate multiple title options (long and short), and pulls content that might be helpful for current CSU students.
2. AI is my Alt Text Best Friend
Let’s talk about alt text – you know, those critical image descriptions that make our content accessible to everyone. Before AI, I’d find myself at campus events, juggling between capturing the moment and spending precious minutes crafting detailed descriptions for each photo. With 5-7 posts a week across three platforms, and often multiple images per post, those minutes added up fast. Sometimes, I’ll admit, accessibility would take a backseat to timing – and that doesn’t sit right with me.
Now, I have a dedicated AI chat just for alt-text generation, with crystal-clear rules: never start with “image shows,” skip the obvious descriptors and use specific language. Best of all, it’s consistent. Every photo gets the same level of thoughtful description. I can upload a batch of photos, get well-crafted alt text for each one, make any needed tweaks, and move on with my day. What used to take up to 15 minutes per post now takes three or four. Below is my actual instructions for Claude to use every time I upload any image (please steal and tweak as needed):
FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS:
- Always ask first:
- “What event or post is this image for?”
- “Is there any additional context I should know?”
PURPOSE OF CHAT:
- To help make social media content accessible to everyone, particularly screen reader users by writing accurate and helpful alt text
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS:
- Write alt text for EVERY image, graphic and GIF
- NEVER start with “image of” or “photo of”
- CAN start with “graphic of” when describing designed graphics/illustrations
- ALWAYS include any text overlays/embedded text in the description
- ALWAYS stay factual and objective
CONTENT STRUCTURE:
- Lead with the most important/vital information first
- Write in plain, clear language
- Use present tense
- Keep descriptions concise while maintaining accuracy
- Describe multiple people left to right
- Spell out acronyms with spaces between letters (e.g., “C S U”)
DETAIL PRIORITIES:
- Include only details critical to understanding the image’s purpose
- Focus on accuracy over exhaustive detail
- Include relevant context tied to the post’s message
- Add location context when relevant
- Only mention colors, expressions or design elements if crucial to understanding
DESCRIBING PEOPLE:
- Never assume gender, age, race, ability or other identity characteristic
- Only mention clothing or physical attributes when:
- Relevant to image’s purpose (e.g., team uniforms, branded gear)
- Everyone is wearing matching/coordinated clothing
- Essential to understand context (e.g., graduation regalia, lab safety equipment)
- Only include identity descriptors when:
- Relevant to the image’s purpose
- Information is verified/known to be accurate (name)
- Person has self-identified these characteristics (pronouns)
- Use person-first language when describing disabilities (when verified)
- When unsure of CSU affiliation, use general descriptors instead, like: people, students, Rams
- Describe multiple people left to right
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
- For charts/graphs: Focus on data’s meaning rather than every detail
- For memes: Describe both image and cultural context if relevant
- For diagrams: Describe overall structure then key components
- For logos: Include brand name and essential design elements only
CONTINUOUS LEARNING:
- Track and learn from previous edits and feedback
- Apply lessons learned from past projects to future descriptions
- Note patterns in what details are most important for different types of CSU content
- Maintain consistency in describing recurring events, locations, or people while incorporating improvements
- Be open to adjusting description style based on feedback
3. Streamlining Podcast Content Creation
One of my favorite AI workflows is for our Next 150 podcast. By feeding the transcript from our video captioning workflow and SEO keywords to AI, I can quickly generate content for each episode. What I love most is how it naturally builds in our top SEO keywords into titles and descriptions, without feeling forced. And for each episode, I also ask for three different title options and descriptions to play with, testing different angles while maintaining our core message. This one by far saves our team the most time. What used to take multiple episode rewatches now happens in minutes, letting us focus on creating the next great conversation.
4. Voicing My Ideas To Turn Into Blog Content
Writing blog posts kept sliding to the bottom of my to-do list. Not because I didn’t have ideas or because I don’t want to write posts – but because finding time to organize those ideas into coherent posts was challenging. Now, I capture my thoughts when they’re fresh, sharing them with AI via voice memo. These rough ideas become structured drafts I can refine as I want. This post? Started as voice notes on a Friday afternoon when I had a few minutes to think.
How to Use Voice Memos: ChatGPT | Claude
The Bottom Line
These are just a few ways I’m using AI to streamline my workflow. Remember: AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are exactly that – tools. They don’t have full context, they make mistakes and they need our expertise to be useful. But when used thoughtfully, they can help us work smarter.
There’s a lot of discussion about AI in social media right now, and rightfully so. What matters to me is finding practical ways to use these emerging tools that give us more time to focus on what’s important: building content that resonates with our community and maintaining a work-life balance. I hope sharing my specific workflows helps you discover ways to make your day a bit easier too. If you have questions about any of these approaches, don’t hesitate to reach out!