AI: Use It or Lose It

Why AI Matters, Right Now

As someone who is a VP of Product & Innovation at my day job, I use a fair amount of my time making educated guesses about where things are headed in the world, and specifically when it comes to the future of work, education, tech, and digital products. So I’ve been advising CEO’s for years now to invest in learning about AI, especially when it comes to upskilling the adults who are responsible for teaching others how to be successful in their careers. Think: teachers, professors, learning & development specialists, workforce development managers, college and guidance counselors, etc. I even went out and got certified in IBM’s Watson language model back in 2021, way before ChatGPT was a twinkle in OpenAI’s eye. And I’ve been shouting about AI from the rooftops for a while now–even choosing AI-driven chatbots / assistants for career counseling as my doctoral dissertation topic–because I foresaw what a juggernaut it would be for the way we all learn and work…for good and for bad. And there’s a healthy mix of both in all sectors, but especially in education.

Now, sentiments like mine and other early adopters of AI are becoming more commonplace. Because working with AI (specifically LLMs or chatbots) is going to be the #1 skill to stay relevant at work, according to experts interviewed by CNBC (including Salesforce execs and others). I don’t think we should take that lightly or assume it to be hyperbole or the clickbait hype of marketers. I strongly urge everyone who works in the knowledge economy, and especially those responsible for others’ career success, to begin learning about AI. And the best way to do that is to dive right in.

One way to get your feet (fingers?) wet with AI beyond everyone’s main go-to (online courses) is to dive into a project or task that lets you play around with existing data sets or language models that have already been trained. DataCamp has a fantastic list of projects–from predicting stock market prices to programming a simple chatbot–that will allow you or other learners to learn hands-on without having to take a year of Python or stats first. You could do their projects as-is or just use them as inspiration on the types of learning you could create for others and/or complete for your own knowledge.

And the good news is, most of these AI tools are fairly accessible and intuitive to start learning with today. Many of them offer robust features for free for all users, or specifically for educators and students. As you begin to explore, you can ask yourself (whether you have more of an education or a work focus) meta-analytical questions as you learn-by-doing, to avoid unconscious consumption and be a part of the conversation shaping AI. Questions such as: Should AI be used in this case to augment or replace my work? What biases are at play in the answers? How might I want to use this tool? When should I not use this tool? Etc.

Practical Applications

One example of a simple way to get teachers, students, trainers, and others working with AI is to hold a “Prompt-O-Thon” as AI for Education did recently. Give learners the tools and a little time, with real-world implications, and witness what they can do, aided by AI.

I’ll continue to share examples of educators, trainers, and workforce leaders using and teaching AI in the weeks to come. But I encourage us all to be AI Apprentices and learn more as we work and evolve our own practices. What is one way you can try out AI in your own work and life this week?

News Roundup

Each week I devour the news for you, so you know which articles are worth reading/skimming: 

🎓 Learning in the News:

• Google adds Gemini to its Education Suite (TechCrunch)

  • Students 18 and up can use the tools for free to have the AI explain a process step by step; teachers can use it to plan lessons, etc.

• LearnLM is Google’s New Family of AI Models for Education (TechCrunch)

  • These models are built to tutor students on various topics using a conversational style more like speaking with a real human

  • Google has added asking questions, “why do I need to know this” examples, and “quiz me” abilities to YouTube educational videos! (*only on Android for now)

• 10 (more) AI terms EVERYONE should know (Microsoft)

• AI for Teachers: 33 Tools To Make Your Life Easier (We Are Teachers)

• Newark Public Schools Wants District-Wide Chatbot After Pilot Round (Chalkbeat)

  • Spoiler alert: They tested Khanmigo by Khan Academy

💼 Workforce RoundUp:

• The AI Denial Train Should STOP (Forbes)

• Upskilling & Reskilling for Talent Transformation in the Era of AI (IBM)

• Schools Hub Announces Release of AI-Powered Learning Solution Marketplace for Vocational Training (PR Newswire)

• Navigating the AI Era: Dept of Labor’s Guidance on FLSA and FMLA (Foley)

• Labor Union and Community College Partnerships Are Win-Win in the AI Era (New America)

📖 Term of the Week: 

🧠 Transformers / transformer models are advanced AI models that process text by examining entire sentences or paragraphs simultaneously. This approach helps them grasp the broader context and nuances, sort of like assembling a puzzle where each piece connects to form a complete, already designed picture. The AI can “see” the lid of the puzzle box and know what it looks like before examining each individual puzzle piece for final placement. This capability makes transformer models indispensable in modern AI applications like machine translation, chatbots, and content creation tools.

🤖 GenAI Tip of the Week:

Daily Practice: I promise you, if you are using AI on a daily basis you will be far better prepared for the future than those who simply dabble. Open a ChatGPT tab (or two), have Bing or Microsoft CoPilot open as a sidebar or desktop app. Have a tab set to Perplexity or another option of your choice. Then use these tools throughout the day. Compare your answers (to the same question) across tools. Before you start a new task or project, ask yourself if there is a piece of this task (or even the whole thing) that could be done better by using AI. Just a few (of dozens) of examples from my daily practice: 

1. Upload a long PDF and ask for a summary (tell it your audience / purpose first) with 3 relevant quotes and 2 statistics. [remind it not to fabricate anything, then double check]

2. Have it explain sophisticated concepts in simpler terms and create analogies for you

3. Ask it to analyze data you’ve already reviewed, to see if you are missing something

4. Use it as a thought-partner in outlining long-form writing, creating social posts, etc.