Generative AI and Grants: What you need to know

When was the last time you used ChatGPT? Generative AI is rapidly becoming a key part of daily life - and the more it’s used, the more it learns. And as machines become more and more intelligent, the more humans have to evolve and adapt to keep up.

More broadly, we also begin to question what generative AI means for our professional futures - and this is particularly true when you’re a professional writer.

So I decided to dig into this a little more and put generative AI to the test in my world - grant writing. In this blog, I share the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1: It gets confused

We all know that the more detailed your prompts, the more tailored the answer you receive from generative AI. But AI can get confused. For example, recently I asked it to compare a ‘dummy’ response I had written to the assessment criteria of a particular charitable trust, with the aim of assessing how likely my application might be to be funded. All good in theory. However, in making it’s recommendations known, ChatGPT considered ALL FOUR of the funder’s grant programmes - not just the one I was interested in. And all of those programmes had slightly different requirements. Cue - a very confused ChatGPT, and a response that didn’t really answer my question!

2: It gets things wrong

If you do choose to use generative AI, like ChatGPT, make sure you check what it creates for factual accuracy, as it can get things plain wrong. Here are a couple of examples:

1) When I asked it to write something about me, it blended facts about me with facts about a completely different Anna Verghese, creating a new, and entirely fictitious, person!

2) Despite a clear prompt, it managed to entirely transform the name of one of my clients into something entirely different!

3: It does strange things

One of the key aspects of a strong grant application is to write for every specific funder (no copy and pasting previous applications here!). That means when they want facts and figures, that needs to be your focus. When they want plenty of lived experience, you give it to them.

Now, this one funder clearly wanted long-form, flowing text with an authentic, person-centred tone of voice - which is exactly how I wrote the grant application in question. But when I asked Chat GPT to check my work - for reasons unknown, it turned my text into bullet points!

4: You lose your voice

A big part of what makes everyone who they are is your unique voice, and quite simply, a machine cannot replicate that. I’m a huge advocate of the importance of using that authentic voice in grant applications. When we fail to write using our authentic voice, we rid ourselves of a vital opportunity to showcase who we really are. To really explain what makes us tick and what makes us different from our competitors.

For me, this is not a risk worth taking when it comes to grant applications. By all means use generative AI to help you draft if you want, but always edit to reinject what makes you, you!

5: You leave yourself unprotected

Never, EVER, give ChatGPT confidential or personal information. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, if you do, you might find yourself breaching contractual confidentiality obligations by sharing data with a third party. Secondly, when you share something with AI, it learns. In simple terms, this means that it could use the information you give it in a response to someone else. So next time you’re about to put that draft into ChatGPT, think about the content that you’re sharing before you dive in.

Conclusion

There’s definitely a place for generative AI to support grant writing. For example, it can help you to identify funders and structure your ideas and thoughts. But in my view, you should absolutely handle with care. Generative AI cannot replace human thought or the human voice. It absolutely isn’t infallible, and using it does not guarantee, or even guarantee to increase, your chance of success.

So next time you open up ChatGPT, think for a minute about what you’re telling it and why, and whether or not doing so is the right thing to do. Take the time to review and revise what it tells you in return, and use its suggestions wisely.

And if you would rather a human supports you with your next grant application - get in touch. I’d love to help.