Ellis Pratt

Talk:

At a time where technology evolves at breakneck speed, maintaining up-to-date API documentation has become a challenge for content managers and developers. This talk looks at into a new solution to this perennial problem: the use of Generative AI, specifically OpenAI's GPTs, to automate the update process of technical documentation.

We begin by exploring the necessity of keeping documentation in sync with rapid product iterations. Drawing on a real-world query from the Write the Docs forum, we illustrate the common struggles faced by teams managing extensive and frequently updated documentation.

Our journey takes us through a series of innovative implementations and proofs of concept. We demonstrate how GPTs can be customized and integrated with tools like GitHub and GitLab to intelligently analyze code commits and changelogs. By comparing these to existing documentation, the AI identifies areas needing updates, significantly reducing manual review efforts.

Highlights of the talk include:

• A practical example using a London travel guide, where a GPT integrated with a weather API dynamically updates content based on weather changes.
• A walkthrough of a GitLab experiment with the 'Mailman' project, showcasing real-time documentation updates.
• An analysis of the GitHub based proof-of-concept with the 'Joplin' project, illustrating the AI’s proficiency in suggesting accurate documentation revisions based on recent commits.

This presentation not only showcases the practical applications and successes of GPTs in automating documentation updates, but also discusses the challenges and limitations encountered. Attendees will leave with an understanding of how Generative AI can be a game-changer in the realm of API documentation, offering new dimensions of efficiency and accuracy.

Speaker:

Ellis is a Director at Cherryleaf, a technical writing, onboarding, UX, and API documentation writing services company based in the UK. Cherryleaf also provides a range of e-learning and remote live training courses on technical communication.

He's a former a Council Member of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators.

You can hear him on the Cherryleaf Podcast. It's a podcast on becoming a better technical and business communicator.