Unless you’re new here, it shouldn’t be a secret that we provide AI training. We’ve done hundreds of sessions at this point, and it’s interesting how many times we hear the same questions.
I’ll focus on questions that usually happen before a session when planning is still happening.
What is the best tool?
We use [enter tool name here], do you train on that?
We only have an hour, is that enough time?
Why would our leadership team need to be there?
To be clear, I don’t fault anyone for asking these types of questions. It has to be really challenging to separate the technical jargon from the marketing jargon and translate them into something that you care about (if you have the time).
In the spirit of “quick tips”, I will keep this post shorter than it could be. I will offer some, hopefully helpful, re-frames that might steer your future conversations around AI training.
There is no best tool
Consider starting with problems that you want to solve, processes that you hope to automate, etc.
Instead of starting with a tool
The design teams at the major AI companies did a great job of designing interfaces that look inviting enough for people to try. They also did a terrible job of showing the raw power and capabilities of these tools
Modern-day AI tools (chatbots, etc.) are not as straightforward as learning how to email or use a search engine. You will not “learn them” in an hour
Getting AI tools to be useful for your organization will require some level of culture change. This almost always has to involve your leadership (even if they have no intention of using the tools)
Using the tools may not be an advantage. Not using them is definitely a disadvantage
In case that seems like a contradiction, using the tools could put you on-par with your competition
A few years ago I would have said that learning, using, and integrating these tools was optional (I did say that actually…) I don’t believe that is true anymore. The big companies, richest of the rich people, and governments have all adopted these tools, and they seem to be all-in. This means that whether you like it or not, you will be (read: are) affected by these tools and it’s a matter of time before you have to learn them.
It doesn’t have to be with us (but it could be…)