When asking questions in AI Chat Apps, it can be helpful to ask the AI to adopt a specific perspective. In this article I show an example of this by asking AI to explain FX Options.

Background

When we ask ChatGPT or any AI Chat App a question, it’s response adopts a standard perspective and detail of response. What if we wanted more detail? Well we could ask for this.

However, a better way is to prompt the AI to adopt a perspective before responding. It sounds odd, but works well in practice.

Let’s try this with ChatGPT using GPT-4o, its default model.

I will use FX Options, a common Financial Derivative product, as my question.

Explain FX Options

Let’s start by simply entering the following:

Explain FX Options

This responds with:

Nice and clear.

Changing Perspective

What if we changed perspective and asked the same question.

Using the perspective of a Professor of Finance teaching Graduate Masters Students on a Quantitative Finance course, explain FX Options

Now we get the following.

Much more detailed and partial differential equations!

Just what we would expect on a quantitative finance course.

ChatGPT has significantly changed it’s response based on the perspective asked.

Multiple Perspectives in a Scenario

What if we now introduce two distinct perspectives and ask ChatGPT to role play a conversation between them.

Using the perspective of a Derivatives Sales person at an Investment Bank and the perspective of a Corporate Treasurer not experienced with using FX Options, imagine how the conversation would go with the Sales person pitching the use of FX Options to the Corporate Treasurer, who questions why he should use instead of FX Forwards, have up to 8 back and forths in the conversation, before ending with sensible next steps.

A common scenario of a Financial Sales person explaining a complex product to a user, in this case specific to FX Options and a Corporate Treasurer.

I have copied the response below:

Salesperson:
“Good morning, John. I understand you have some large euro payments coming up later this year. You currently hedge with FX forwards, but have you considered using FX options instead? They could offer you more flexibility if the market moves in your favor.”

Treasurer:
“Thanks, Sarah. I’m familiar with FX forwards, but not really options. Why would I use an option when a forward locks in my rate already and costs nothing upfront?”

Salesperson:
“That’s a great question. A forward contract is a firm commitment — you must exchange at the agreed rate, even if the market moves better for you. An FX option gives you the right, but not the obligation, to transact. So if the spot rate improves, you can simply let the option expire and benefit from better market conditions — you’re not locked in.”

Treasurer:
“Okay, I can see that flexibility is nice, but options aren’t free, right? I’d have to pay a premium upfront?”

Salesperson:
“Correct — there’s a premium, similar to an insurance policy. But think about it this way: you’re paying for the opportunity to participate if the market moves in your favor, instead of being stuck with a rate you no longer want. We can also structure solutions like zero-cost collars if you want protection without paying a large premium.”

Treasurer:
“Zero-cost collars? That sounds complicated. I really need something simple to explain to my CFO — we don’t want to speculate, just to manage risk.”

Salesperson:
“Absolutely. A collar simply combines a call and a put option to create a band — you’re protected within a range. We can customize it so there’s no premium outlay, and it’s purely risk management, not speculation. I can put together a very simple one-page explainer you could show your CFO.”

Treasurer:
“Alright, that’s interesting. But isn’t it better to just stick to forwards unless we have a strong market view? We’re a pretty conservative company.”

Salesperson:
“I completely understand. And honestly, many companies like yours use a mix: forwards for basic coverage, and options for more strategic, flexible hedges — especially for uncertain exposures or longer-dated payments. Options can enhance your overall hedging policy without abandoning your conservative approach.”

Treasurer:
“Hmm, that makes sense. Why don’t you send me a comparison showing a real example — maybe one using forwards versus an option strategy based on our euro exposure in September? That would help me present it internally.”

Salesperson:
“Of course. I’ll put together a simple case study showing both the cost and the potential outcomes in different market scenarios. We could also schedule a brief workshop for your team next week if you’d like, just to demystify FX options a bit further.”

What do you think?

I like it and sounds pretty realistic to me.

Useful for a new sales person practicing a pitch to a prospect?

I think so.

Following On

At the end of the conversation above, ChatGPT offered these next steps.

I responded with “Yes” to the draft of a simple comparison sheet the sales person would send.

This came back and looked good, but at the bottom ChatGPT asked if I would like a clean one-page PDF for maximum impact.

So I responded yes to that and show this below (as a screen shot of the text).

Which I could then copy into a document and save as PDF.

Having added my company logo and contact details.

I also took up CHATGPT on it’s offer to create a visual to insert into the PDF.

Nice.

Very helpful in creating follow up marketing materials.

And once I customise the document to my firm’s template, style guide and anything specific I wish to change, I would have my follow up.

What’s not to like.

Let’s end todays blog there.

Learnings

Consider using perspective with AI Chat Apps.

It may be helpful in many instances.

Multiple perspectives and scenarios are also interesting.

For self learning with real-world role play.

Difficult prospective customer or annoying sales person, anyone?

One can tailor these ad infinitum.

To improve and model real scenarios.

Try it out for one of your work interactions.

It should be interesting.