AI can help you prepare interview questions and save hours of your time

By Sunil Saxena

The best reporters and bloggers are those who go fully prepared for an interview. In the pre-Internet era reporters would sit in the newspaper library and pore over all interviews given by the subject(s) as well as reports published about them.

They would then frame a possible list of questions to ask the subject(s).

Life became easier in the Internet era. Reporters and bloggers began using Google to locate all related reports. They could do it at any point of the day or night and frame their interview questions.

However, there was still a lot of manual work to do. Each report had to be browsed individually, and questions framed.

The question that arises is: Can AI eliminate this step and frame the interview questions directly? If yes, then nothing can be better for reporters and bloggers. They would save hours of hard work and labour.

I decided to check this possibility by posing a query to ChatGPT 4.0.

# My Experiment with AI

The subject I chose related to the recently concluded Maha Kumbh. The mega religious event had seen hundreds of street vendors and small traders do a roaring business.

Their business collapsed once the crowds left. A blogger / reporter wanting to do a story on them needed to frame a list of questions before meeting them.

The right questions would elicit the information that could help the reporter / blogger build a great feature story. The wrong questions would end up generating generalised information, making the final story weak.

Much depended upon the prompt. Here is the prompt that I used, and the response of ChatGPT 4.o:

# Prompt: Please suggest a list of thoughtful and detailed questions to ask street vendors and small traders who did a roaring business during the Maha Kumbh but after the Kumbh are left with no needy customers. The questions should capture personal stories, economic challenges, and future plans of vendors and traders who thrived during the Kumbh Mela but now face uncertainty. The answers to the questions will be used to write a detailed and descriptive feature on the subject.

# Response of ChatGPT 4.o

ChatGPT drew up an elaborate set of interview questions. These were grouped under five heads. In all, the AI engine drew up a list of 21 questions.

Here are the questions that ChatGPT 4.o suggested:

1. Personal Background & Business History

• Can you tell me a bit about yourself — where are you from, and how long have you been in this business?
• Have you participated in previous Kumbh Melas? If yes, how has your experience changed over the years?

2. Business During Kumbh Mela

• What did you sell during the Kumbh Mela? (Religious items, food, clothes, souvenirs, etc.)
• How much did your sales increase during the peak days of the Kumbh? Can you share a rough daily earning comparison before, during, and after the event?
• Did you have to take loans or make large investments to stock up for Kumbh? If so, how are you managing the repayment now?
• What kind of customers did you attract? (Locals, pilgrims from other states, foreigners, etc.)
• What was the best-selling item at your stall, and why do you think it was so popular?

3. Post-Kumbh Struggles & Challenges

• Now that Kumbh is over, what has changed for your business? How much have your daily sales dropped?
• What happens to the unsold stock? Are you able to sell it elsewhere, or is it a loss?
• How do you manage rent or daily expenses when the crowd disappears?
• Are you planning to stay in Prayagraj or move to another city for work?
• Have you faced any issues from the authorities regarding stall removal or relocation post-Kumbh?

4. Future Plans & Adaptation

• How do you sustain yourself financially in the months after Kumbh?
• Do you follow a religious tourism circuit, moving to other pilgrimage sites or fairs like Haridwar, Varanasi, Puri Rath Yatra, or Pushkar Mela?
• Are you considering changing your business model or products based on post-Kumbh demand?
• Do you receive any government or NGO support for small traders affected by the end of Kumbh?
• If you could request one thing from the authorities to help traders like you, what would it be?

5. Emotional & Human Stories

• What was the most memorable experience you had during Kumbh — any interaction with a special customer, a sadhu, or a foreigner?
• Did the earnings from Kumbh help you achieve any personal or family goals (e.g., paying school fees, medical expenses, home repairs)?
• If you had to describe Kumbh in one word, what would it be, and why?
• What does Kumbh Mela mean to you — not just as a business opportunity but as a cultural and spiritual event?

# My Take: There is little doubt that AI was able to come up with a set of interview questions that can become a roadmap for the reporter / blogger.

Even more significant was the way that AI paced the questions. You will notice that:

· Section 1had questions about the vendor’s background and past experiences.

· Section 2 sought to build a narrative around the vendor’s experiences in the Maha Kumbh.

· Section 3 focussed on the operational part and suggested a set of six questions on post-Kumbh struggles and challenges.

· Section 4 had questions on the future plans of the vendors.

· Section 5 focussed on the human and emotional stories — questions that would give the story a human face.

Clearly, AI has moved beyond the search engine era. It is an invaluable tool for any reporter / blogger. They can turn to it to frame the first set of questions. New questions can be added, and irrelevant questions can be removed.