The other day saw me attend a meeting at the Elementary Technology offices in Leeds, meeting with a number of EdTech legends (and me!) to plan an artifical intelligence (AI) conference event due to occur in October. The planning event was a brilliant opportunity to discuss all things AI and education with some excellent and varied discussions occurring across two days.
In thinking about my personal use of AI it became clear to me that my own use is still short of what is possible, where there is such potential for me to make greater use of generative AI solutions in a way that will improve my productivity, my creativity and also hopefully my wellbeing through gains in efficiency.
As I sat on the train on the way home typing this I considered how I might make better use of AI. Now I could use it to help me write this post, however this post is very much a personal reflection, where AI cant really help although I may be able to use AI to help adjust and improve the post following initially drafting it. I could also use it to create some interesting images with me in different locations or situations, which although fun to do, is unlikely to enhance my work day significantly. So, what can AI help me with and how may I create situations where it is easier or more convenient for me to make use of AI?
In drafting emails, policies, reports or other documents I suspect generative AI can certainly help. Also in relation to the creation of presentations there is potential for the use of Generative AI, with Darren White demonstrating the impressive functionality in Canva in relation to creating both content and design within a presentation. I suspect I may use this in preparing for some of the talks I am due to give in the year ahead.
The key though to achieving the benefits is in making it easier for me to use AI solutions at the point I need them. My solution to this is to look to include ChatGPT and Bard along with some other AI tools within my “normal day” collection in MS Edge so that they are instantly opened when I begin my work day, ready to use as and when needed. I also need to spend a bit of time investigating AI powered plug-ins which can put the functionality right in the browser ready to access.
The potential for AI is significant and the two days of discussion were definitely useful. I now look forward to the actual conference event on the 3rd of October and to sharing thoughts and ideas with a variety of colleagues in UK schools/colleges and beyond.
Technology and Learning