AI in Noblesville
IU Kokomo and the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce join up for a community discussion of AI.
O Muse of Neglected Logins and Dusty Drafts,
Descend from the Cloud where half-written posts nap—
Inspire me now, though I’ve ghosted my feed
Longer than a podcast in its third season bleed.
Forgive my silence, cliché and profound,
Like every blogger reborn on Substack’s battleground—
“It's been a while,” I type, as if no one knew,
Then blame life, or vibes, or a mild case of flu.
Yes, it has been a minute since I’ve posted an update. Because…life.
My girlfriend Lauren and her daughter Audrey moved in a few weeks ago, then my folks came up to Indy for what was a surprise book launch party for Misinformation Studies and Higher Education in the Postdigital Era (my book—available now at Amazon.com, Powell’s Books, and wherever books are sold); turns out my brother and his fiancee came up, too, which was totally unexpected, and my online summer courses began on Monday. Meanwhile, the Republican politicians who are running Indiana into the ground have renewed their attacks on higher education and social welfare services, cutting jobs around the state and taking over Indiana University so they can destroy that, too. Needless to say, dusting off my resume has become a sad, daily ritual.
Now Braun thinks he’s going to run for president, which shows you just how delusional and, frankly, stupid this guy really is. Someone on Reddit said he looks like an AI-generated, live action Homer Simpson in a blue shirt, and now I just can’t unsee it. (Republican politicians seem to love the rolled up sleeves/blue shirt cosplay combo, especially when they’re campaigning.) As Indy Star Opinion Editor James Briggs put it, "Mike Braun is a sad man in a blue shirt who can't appreciate his success because he's always looking for his next job.”
Oh, and last week I appeared on an AI panel at Bier Brewery in Noblesville, Indiana. The event, which was a partnership between IU Kokomo and the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce, was fancifully called “From the Taproom to the Tech Boom: What AI Means for Hoosiers” (and yes, I used AI to help me come up with that engaging title—sue me). Joined by two colleagues from IU Kokomo—physicist Patrick Motl and economist Alan Krabbenhoft—the panel presentation consisted of a brief overview of the how, what, and why of AI, especially as it relates to small businesses and fears of automation, followed by a lively Q&A. I think we had between fifty and sixty people come out for this event, including some colleagues from IU and several friends from Indy Runners & Walkers, who I think mostly wanted to see if I could do more than mix Gatorade and put out orange cones.
My own portion dealt mainly with the basics of prompt engineering and getting the best results from your “conversations” with AI. This is how I instruct people to think of their interactions with the machine; don’t treat it as an alien thing. Treat it as a thought partner. Talk to it. Provide it with examples of what you are looking for. Give it a rich rhetorical context that it can use in formulating its responses. I introduced participants to the CORE acronym, which stands for Context, Output, Role, and Example. Always give AI all four of these elements in your prompts.
If you’re interested in learning more and accessing our slide decks from the presentation (each of us three panelists had our own slide decks), you can access the PowerPoint presentations here:
Patrick Motl, “Unicorns Have Horns!”
Paul Cook, “GenAI Unveiled: Exploring the Present and Future Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Workplace Writing”
Alan Krabbenhoft, “AI Use by Small Businesses”
Next week: five days on the beach in Florida—Manasota Key, to be precise. Lauren and I are taking Audrey and a friend to the beach for a few days. Should be a good time. I think we are also planning a day trip up to St. Pete to see the Ringling Brothers Circus museum and the Salvador Dali museum.
One more professional note: I am slated to give a talk on AI to the Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis at the Columbia Club on Monument Circle in downtown Indy. The talk is scheduled for Thursday, August 21 from 12 to 1:00pm ET. If you’re part of organization that would like to schedule a talk on AI—cultural implications, prompt engineering, the future of work and automation, plagiarism and intellectual property issues, mis- and disinformation, or the economic impact of AI—please reach out to my team. We’d love to come to talk to your organization about AI.