Artificial Intelligence

AI will replace those who don’t learn how to use AI.
Image by DALL·E & kimbits

It shouldn’t be a total surprise that Artificial Intelligence (AI) caught my eye. It’s oh, so shiny.

The spark came from my day-job, where we support employees on their digital learning journey. Everyone was abuzz about the AI tools hitting the mainstream. Our task? Determine the skills and knowledge needed to interact with and harness AI. Especially for those without a tech background.

My AI journey started in January 2023.  What started as curiosity, became excitement, then quickly evolved into fear AI could take over my job.  Obliterating the many decades I’ve spent honing my skills.  It was then I had three surprising realizations: fear can happen to anyone, the speed of change is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and there are zero barriers to entry.  Only after deciding to make friends with it, was I able to see it not as a threat, but as a partner.

Now an enthusiastic advocate, I use AI tools daily and share my learning journey with anyone willing to listen.  A little show and tell goes a long way in turning uncertainty and fear into fascination.  I’m not an AI guru.  I don’t know all the ins and outs of the platforms I play on, but I know enough to be dangerous. I’ve played with many, many tools but I regularly come back to, and willingly pay for, my favourites – Midjourney (text to image) and Chatgpt (text to text, image, coding and more).

There is a down side to this enthusiasm.  I regularly go down the AI rabbit hole. Spending an obscene amount of my personal time playing in this world.  On a daily basis, new products are launched and your tools upgraded.  There is no AI instruction manual.  You have to learn by just jumping in and doing.  Searching out and creating your learning path as you go.  Once you learn how to talk to these tools, you’ll find you can talk to them all.  It regularly surprises me how small the learning curve is.

I’m starting to see myself becoming an non-technical AI guinea pig.  To lead by example.  I’ve defined some ways I believe I can support my team and develop tools to help in my role.

  • Self-experimentation: personally learn about & test new AI tools, document my journey.
  • Feedback and refinement: collect observations of learning needs, offer insights to curriculum developers.
  • Advocacy and change management: promote benefits & possible uses, advocate for wider adoption, and be a champion of change.
  • Collaborative learning: encourage others to experiment and share experiences, build communities to support.
  • Role modeling: demonstrate a willingness to adopt new technologies and methodologies to promote a culture of continuous learning and adaptability, and build trust in AI innovations.

To make AI relatable and accessible, my approach is simple: explore, apply, demystify, and inspire.  And of course, always with a dash of storytelling, a pinch of humour, and peppered with practical insights.

I hope my journey can serve as a roadmap for others.  Showing the AI world is not just for the technically inclined.  Rather it’s for anyone willing to engage with it.  Embracing technological shifts can lead to exciting new career chapters. Even for those in human-centered professions.

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