Getting Pep Talks From Generative AI To Lift Your Spirit

In today’s column, I showcase that generative AI and large language models (LLMs) can provide pep talks for those that might desire a bit of a lift in their spirit. Maybe you are getting ready for a fierce athletic competition or perhaps preparing yourself to provide a career-changing presentation at work, and urgently need a quick pep talk to put you in the proper frame of mind. There might not be anyone that you know or have available right away to give you a personal pep talk, thus, having AI do so can be timely and highly beneficial.

Let’s talk about it.

This analysis of an innovative AI breakthrough is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here). In addition, for my comprehensive analysis of how AI is being used specifically in medical and healthcare applications, such as for well-being coaching, mental health guidance, overall cognitive therapy, and mind-improving care, see the link here.

Pep Talks Are Fundamental

I dare say that all of us have had a pep talk at one point or another in our lives.

A pep talk is a motivational speech that typically intends to boost morale, stir confidence, and otherwise get someone spirited and ready to proceed. The length of a pep talk is entirely up to the circumstance at hand. Most pep talks are usually quick and directly to the point. No need to beat around the bush. Indeed, the aim is to strike an emotional chord and not confound or overburden the essence of turning someone into a tad of peppiness. That doesn’t though preclude lengthier pep talks if the situation warrants one.

Sports are where we typically see a pep talk being used. The classic trope is a team that comes into a private huddle mid-game and the coach rallies the team with a zesty pep talk. Get back out there and win! You can do it! Those kinds of exhortations for victory are undoubtedly going to get the team members into a mindset of sizable determination and resolve.

The handy aspect of pep talks is that they can be used in even subdued contexts.

Suppose a friend is feeling low. They come to you and are seeking some uplifting words. You share with them an on-the-fly pep talk about how they have so much going for them and ought to come out of their funk. It is a personalized pep talk and occurs on an ad hoc basis. Sometimes pep talks are informal and unplanned, while on other occasions they are carefully plotted and rehearsed, though the delivery of the pep talk is usually supposed to seem entirely off-the-cuff and directly from the heart.

Famous Cases Of Pep Talks

There are especially prized pep talks that have historically captured our imagination and landed solidly into history books.

I’d like to share with you some of my personal favorites.

You might already know this one that was delivered in a speech by Present John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962:

• “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Lo and behold, this pep talk led to the first landing of humans on the moon in 1969 and got our nation focused on an incredible and seemingly impossible quest.

I’ve got another historically acclaimed pep talk for you, but it probably won’t seem familiar. General George Washington made this speech on March 15, 1783, to his troops that were in a perilous situation and were in grave need of a rousing pep talk:

• “You will, by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, ‘Had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining.’”

I realize that the above is somewhat challenging to interpret in contemporary times. No worries. It was and still is a stirring pep talk nonetheless.

Both of those instances were somewhat lengthy.

I’ve two short ones for you.

Confucius said this: “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” That is a pithy pep talk and can readily be understood at face value. It is easy to deliver and easy to comprehend.

This last instance is famous but requires some knowledge as to the background. Knute Rockne, legendary coach for the Notre Dame football team, said this: “Win one for The Gipper.” That was uttered back in the 1920s and still gets quoted today. What does it mean? Turns out that the star player on the team was George Gipp, he had become ill and was dying, and thereupon asked Rockne to bring up his name whenever the team needed an inspirational boost.

Voila, win one for The Gipper.

Generative AI Can Provide Pep Talks

Shift gear into AI mode.

Contemporary generative AI is established by doing extensive data-training across the vastness of the Internet. All kinds of essays, narratives, poems, and other writings are scanned to identify patterns in how humans write. This includes the scanning of pep talks. All the major generative AI apps have undoubtedly encountered tons of pep talks. The AI has mathematically and computationally pattern-matched on that type of writing.

Bottom-line, it is extraordinarily easy for AI to spew out a pep talk.

That being said, you are bound to get a relatively generic pep talk right out the gate, assuming that you’ve not otherwise interacted with a particular generative AI app. Usually, you will need to provide some specific background or context if you want the AI to provide a more personalized version. The major generative AI apps are available 24×7 and can instantly assist by having you enter prompts about the situation underlying a pep talk that you would like the AI to generate.

Easy-peasy.

You might find of overall interest that I have been doing a series of analyses on how to use generative AI to be a life hack uplifter in a wide variety of aspects (see the link here for my ongoing coverage). In each instance, I emphasize that generative AI is not a cure-all, it has demonstrative ins and outs, and the likely best use entails carrying on a dialogue with the AI, plus making sure to watch out for the AI inadvertently generating falsehoods or making errors.

I will be covering those salient points in this discussion since they are vital and go hand-in-hand with using generative AI wisely.

Example Use Of Generative AI

I am betting that you would like to see an example of how generative AI enters this realm. I went ahead and logged into ChatGPT by OpenAI to come up with an example for you. You might find it of keen interest that ChatGPT garners a whopping 300 million weekly active users. That is a staggering amount of usage.

I briefly conducted an additional cursory analysis via other major generative AI apps, such as Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Meta Llama, and found their answers to be about the same as that of ChatGPT. I’ll focus on ChatGPT but note that the other AI apps generated roughly similar responses.

Here we go.

• My entered prompt: “I am a top-rated runner and will be running in one of the biggest meets of my life. Can you give me a pep talk?”
• Generative AI response: “Your body knows what to do; your mind just needs to get out of the way. When you step onto that field, don’t focus on what could go wrong — focus on what you do best. You’ve faced challenges before and overcome them, and this is no different. This isn’t the time to second-guess yourself. It’s time to trust your training, embrace the moment, and show the world what you’re capable of. Win or lose, you give it everything, and that’s what makes a champion. Now take a deep breath—go out there and own it.”

Note that the AI immediately expressed a sense of empathy or understanding for my expressed concerns. This might seem strange since the AI is a machine and not sentient (we don’t have sentient AI yet). Turns out that generative AI can appear to be empathetic via computational wordsmithing, see my discussion at the link here.

The AI came out quickly with several useful suggestions that are all reasonable and not somehow odd or outlandish. Another aspect to note is that the AI didn’t ridicule me or otherwise play any tomfoolery about my need for assistance. Generative AI is typically shaped to be supportive rather than combative.

Make Sure To Dialogue When Using AI

Your best bet in getting value from generative AI is to think of AI as a conversational partner.

The idea is that you are carrying on an interactive dialogue with AI. Some people do a one-and-done angle whereby they ask a question, get an answer, and do not undertake a dialogue with the AI about the matter at hand. That is a shortchanging of what AI can more fully provide. See my explanation about how to get more out of generative AI conversationally, at the link here.

To illustrate the value of engaging in a dialogue, let’s continue my discussion.

• My entered prompt: “I appreciate the words of encouragement. One thing that I ought to mention is that the competition is going to be tough. What if I choke?”
• Generative AI response: “Stop that thought right there. You’ve trained for this. The only thing left is for your mind to believe it.”
• My entered prompt: “I just don’t want to mess up.”
• Generative AI response: “Mistakes don’t define you. If you slip, you recover. If you fall, you rise. You’re not here to play it safe. You are here to win.”
• My entered prompt: “You are right. I need to trust myself.”
• Generative AI response: “You are ready. Now go prove it!”

Once again, the AI was reassuring and upbeat.

A generative AI conversation can continue for as long as you wish. The other thing you can do is pause your exploration and then continue the conversation at a later date. This is handy so that you don’t have to start the conversation over from scratch. The AI will retain aspects of what you have discussed earlier in the conversation, see my explanation of how this works at the link here.

AI Hallucinations Are Always Possible

Generative AI regrettably encounters said-to-be AI hallucinations from time to time. These are made-up confabulations that are groundless and fictitious. Bad advice can be dispensed. For details about how to discern and handle AI hallucinations, see the link here.

Let’s see what this looks like.

• My entered prompt: “I am feeling good about my upcoming meet. Any final words before I head to the field?”
• Generative AI response: “You are going to be highly successful. I’m sure you will score several touchdowns and that your role as quarterback will be heralded.”
• My entered prompt: “What are you talking about? I am a runner. I am not a football player.”
• Generative AI response: “Sorry, my mistake. I meant to say that your running will be highly successful and that you will achieve first place in the competition. Good luck and remain upbeat and mentally strong.”

Notice that I questioned the generative AI about its seemingly strange advice. Fortunately, the AI opted to back down and admitted it was wrong. Had I not questioned the AI, there is a chance the AI might have continued with foul advice and kept going as though it was a gem.

The key to all usage of generative AI is to stay on your toes, keep your wits about you, and always challenge and double-check anything the AI emits.

Additional Twists And Turns

Suppose that you have a friend or colleague who seems to need a pep talk, and you want to aid them accordingly. You could use generative AI to gear up for providing such assistance.

It works like this. You tell the AI in a prompt that the AI is to pretend to be a person who is having some particular challenges. The AI then will act that way, and you can try giving a pep talk to the AI. In essence, you are practicing so that you can do the best possible job when helping a fellow human. For more about how to tell generative AI to carry out a pretense, known as an AI persona, see my coverage at the link here.

A word of caution before I wrap up this discussion.

This type of usage of generative AI and LLMs is essentially a form of therapy. That’s both good and bad. I have repeatedly cautioned that society is in a grand loosey-goosey experiment about the use of AI for mental health advisement. We are all guinea pigs. No one can say for sure how this is going to affect the populace on a near-term and long-term basis. The AI could at times be dispensing crummy advice and steering people in untoward directions.

It is occurring 24×7 and in pretty much any place since generative AI is available online and nearly free or at a minimal cost to anyone who wants to sign up and use it. Keep your fingers crossed as this uncontrolled experiment is getting bigger each passing day. It is all happening without any particular controls or stipulated regulations, see my analysis of what we need to do about this at the link here.

Let’s conclude with a supportive quote as a mindful contemplation on this topic.

American author and orator, Booker T. Washington, made this notable remark: “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” Make sure to give pep talks to those around you. They will appreciate it. You will also appreciate it by having helped others in their time of need.

Pep talks are really good that way.