By Priya Shankar
ChatGPT is useful for some PM tasks. It's dangerous for others. Here's the difference.
What ChatGPT Is Good For
Writing first drafts. Brainstorming features. Summarizing customer feedback. Process documentation.
These are production tasks. ChatGPT speeds them up. You go from 3 hours to 30 minutes.
What ChatGPT Is Terrible For
Estimating code impact. Making strategic decisions. Understanding your market. Knowing what matters to customers.
ChatGPT doesn't have access to your codebase. It doesn't know your customers. It doesn't understand your constraints.
When you ask "how long will this feature take?" ChatGPT guesses. And you tell stakeholders the guess. The feature takes 4x longer. You look bad.
The Core Problem
ChatGPT hallucinates when it doesn't have information. It generates plausible-sounding answers that are completely wrong.
It sounds confident. That's the dangerous part.
Use it for drafting. Don't use it for decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Should PMs use ChatGPT?
Use it for specs and brainstorming. Don't use it for estimates or strategy. It's a writing tool, not a thinking tool.