I recently recorded a couple of episodes of the Speaking of Reliability podcast with Fred. In one, we talk about AI and the concerns and promise that it holds. Look for it to air in October!
Just afterwards, I learned about and tried Google's notebook.lm. You upload files to it, it analyzes the files, then it can generate various summaries from it.
One of the summaries available is a two-person, 10-minute "podcast" episode. So, I uploaded content that I've created for Quality During Design and asked it to analyze and summarize it with the podcast feature.
Wow! The virtual podcasters were funny, informative, and like...well, people. They even brought in proverbs that I have never used, like "measure once, cut twice".
From the consumer side: What a fun way to learn information! Are there 5 articles you've been meaning to read and not getting to? Upload them and turn them into a podcast to listen to on a commute. Want highlights from multiple competitors' annual reports? Ask the AI to summarize it for you.
From a creator side: It's a helpful tool to identify gaps in messaging and clarity. I will not use notebook.lm to create for me, but I will use it to help ensure what I'm communicating is on-target. It's a refreshingly different and fast way to get that feedback.
Just today, I read an article published by HBR, "AI Can (Mostly) Outperform Human CEOs". In it, it concludes "The CEOs who thrive will be those who master this synergy [with AI], leveraging AI not as a rival but as a partner in decision-making."
My advice (that I gave in the Speaking of Reliability Podcast, also) is to start trying AI. Try the different platforms. Practice prompting. Talk with others about it. Listen to podcasts by people that are using it. :)
Being cynical about AI is fine, sometimes needed.
Using AI as a complicated way to do something simple is just unnecessary. You don't need to start simple and build from there. Using AI is not at all like when we learned how to code.
Engaging with AI platforms and getting more familiar with them is smart.
*I did not use AI to write this newsletter. I did use AI to generate options for a subject line, then used those results to help me craft it just right.