Previously on the AI Academy Diaries…
I introduced myself as a content marketer who uses AI every day but had never actually learned it from the ground up, so I enrolled in Solvaa’s AI Academy to see what happens when you stop paddling around in the shallow end and actually learn how the whole thing works.
In AI Academy Diaries #1: Confessions of a Content Marketer Learning AI, I tackled the foundations, embraced JOMO (the Joy of Missing Out), and started replacing that nagging feeling of being behind with something much more useful: confidence.
If you missed the first instalment, you can catch up here before continuing.
After the first stage of my Solvaa AI Academy journey, I started to feel like I was getting to grips with things a little better, especially when it came to my mindset towards AI.
I’m learning that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and that we need to figure out what actually works for us rather than constantly feeling like we’re falling behind…despite what the “I make £10,000 a minute” AI guru on LinkedIn says in his “ULTIMATE AI Blueprint: Automate Your Entire Life, Make Thousands While You Sleep and Become an AI Expert with These 7 Simple Prompts”.
“Usually £997. Yours today for £49.99.” – Thanks, but no thanks, AI Guru.
Once I’d stopped worrying quite so much about keeping up with AI, I could start concentrating on something far more useful: actually understanding it.
In this edition of the AI Academy Diaries, we’re going a little further behind the curtain as I tackle some of the myths surrounding AI, take a closer look at the algorithms running our digital lives, and explore what it really means to work alongside the machine.
Ready to dip your toe in? The AI Academy waters are lovely and warm!
We’ve Been Talking About AI for Years… But What Actually Is It?
In a world full of buzzwords, acronyms and terminology that seems to multiply by the day, we’ve somehow created a culture where people are too afraid to ask what something actually means in case everyone else already knows.
- AGI. LLMs. Machine Learning. Deep Learning. Generative AI. Deep Space Nine.
I’ll be honest, after enough acronyms, they all start to sound equally relevant.
Sometimes we need someone to put their hand up and say, “Sorry, but what does that actually mean?”
Solvaa’s AI Foundations Learning Journey takes you right back to the beginning, untangling some of the terminology we’ve all become suspiciously good at nodding along to and answering the questions we’re often too scared to ask.
“What’s the difference between AI and Generative AI?”
“Where does ChatGPT fit into it all?”
And if AI has actually been around for decades…
“Why does it suddenly feel like it appeared overnight and started turning up everywhere?”
You’ll be pleased to know that thanks to Solvaa, I know the answers to all of these questions now, and it’s all surprisingly simple. Or, at least, that’s how Solvaa’s lovely AI Foundations Educator Nicky makes it seem.
Her calm, thoughtful presence throughout the course is invaluable in a world that has become very good at making AI feel scary, complicated or like the enemy. There’s no hype, no panic and no expectation that you should already know everything.
Nicky just has a knack for making AI… make sense.
It’s incredibly refreshing and inclusive, and without a doubt one of my favourite parts of the course so far. It walks that difficult line between being genuinely accessible and still highly educational really, really well. Nothing feels dumbed down, but equally, you’re never left wondering whether everyone else secretly understands something you don’t.
Turns out, you can make AI accessible without making it basic. Who knew?
Right, Let’s Bust Some AI Myths 🔨
Busta Rhymes, Buster Keaton, Bust a Myth.
You know some of the biggest myths around AI? AI thinks like a person. AI will replace everyone. AI is completely objective and unbiased. AI is really cool and handsome.
Wait, who wrote that last one?
Oh no.
Busting those myths was one of the most interesting parts of this month’s Learning Journey. And they weren’t simply denied, dismissed and swept under the rug.
Solvaa goes into detail about why they’re myths, where those misconceptions come from and, importantly, what’s actually happening instead.
I’ll admit, it made me feel considerably better about some of the things that occasionally keep me awake at night, such as wondering whether I should retrain as a plumber before the marketing robots get all up in my grill.
Because the big thing I’m starting to understand is that this isn’t really about me versus the machine.
They need me. And I’m better with them.
AI can write.
But would it have brought Busta Rhymes, Buster Keaton, a threatened career in plumbing and the phrase “all up in my grill” into an article about AI education?
Exactly.
Myth BUSTED.
How Does the Algorithm Impact AI?
As someone who works in social media, algorithms and I are already very well acquainted. I’ve spent years trying to understand what they want, adapting to their changes and occasionally wondering what I’ve done to personally offend them.
But understanding algorithms through the lens of AI opened up a much bigger conversation about what’s actually happening behind the technology we use every day.
What I learned is that algorithms are fundamental to AI. They help systems process information, spot patterns and use those patterns to make predictions or produce outputs. Basically, if I wanted to understand what was going on under AI’s bonnet, I needed to get better acquainted with algorithms outside of Instagram.
And this is where Solvaa’s educational material does something I’m really starting to appreciate. It takes something that sounds technical and slightly intimidating and puts it into a much more human context. It breaks the big scary thing into smaller pieces, explains what’s actually happening and suddenly the mystery starts to disappear.
Do you remember Breaking the Magician’s Code? It’s like that. You’d watch some magician make a woman disappear while thinking “WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!” and then the mysterious masked magician would come along and show you the trapdoor, the mirrors and the poor woman folded into a box somewhere.
And suddenly there was no magic. No mystery. You just knew how it worked.
That’s what this training keeps doing to AI for me and I am loving it.
Man vs Machine? Man ❤️’s Machine
My final Learning Journey for this month was Working With The Machine, and this one felt particularly relevant to how I actually use AI day-to-day.
The lesson does a great job of explaining the new habits we need to adopt, how our work is changing now we’ve essentially got a paperclip assistant on super serum at our side at all times, and how we actually need to talk to AI if we want to get the most out of it.
Because now we all have a little genius sitting in the palm of our hand, but if the only instruction we give it is “write a caption about my event”, we can’t exactly be outraged when it comes back with:
“🚨✨ BIG NEWS! ✨🚨 We’re SO excited to announce our AMAZING upcoming event! 🎉🙌 Get ready for an unforgettable experience packed with inspiration 💡, connection 🤝 and incredible opportunities 🚀! You WON’T want to miss this! 💯✨🎊🚀🚀🚀”
Here’s what we need to remember: AI hasn’t done a bad job here. We gave it nothing.
No personality, no context, no creativity. None of the experiences, opinions, humour, instincts or weird little connections that make our work unmistakably ours.
AI can take some of the generic stuff off our plates, and that leaves us with more time for the special bit.
The human bit.
Our creativity, our judgement, our empathy. Our ability to read a room, make someone laugh, tell a story, understand what someone really means.
AI doesn’t have to dilute those things. Used well, it can put a microscope on them. Less time doing the generic stuff, more time doing the things that make our work ours.
And that’s probably my biggest takeaway from this month’s Learning Journey. Maybe we’ve been thinking about Man vs Machine all wrong.
Understanding the machine doesn’t make the human less important.
Quite the opposite – it might just give us more time to be human.
Next Time on the AI Academy Diaries…
Next month, things are getting a little more philosophical as I dive into AI ethics, keeping humans in the loop, critical thinking with AI and more.
Basically, now that I’ve made friends with the machine, it’s time to start asking whether I should trust it.
What could possibly go wrong? 👀
Get In Touch if you’d like to find out more about Solvaa AI Academy and how we help teams embrace AI.
Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education
UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.
We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.
Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).
A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.
Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.
Related Posts
