Communicating in an AI World

I believe AI represents a fundamental crossroads in how we communicate our ideas, our experiences and our values. But it is important to note that AI means very different things to different people. Today, I want to explore a few ideas or approaches that help AI to shape the world.

Learning

I write this newsletter with only the aid of Grammarly in terms of AI. I don’t rely on AI for ideation, outline, or content but only to ensure I have spelt things correctly and used the language well.

This is a choice. I choose to do this because it forces me to wrestle with an idea in my mind, to create an idea’s structure and argument. It allows me to go on tangents, which I later edit out, but those tangents have their own inherent value.

When I wrestle with an idea like this, it becomes my own. I can talk about it and argue for and against things because I have gone through this process. Ideas evolve through discourse, and writing in this way is like a conversation between you and me. My ideas evolve because I need to present them in the best way for you to receive them.

I am not saying this is the way AI should be used. I am simply explaining why I refrain from using it for my newsletter and some of my own creative projects.

Using AI

All this is not to say that I never use AI in writing. I should probably use it more, but I do use it extensively in other writing that I do. In the Instructional Design contract work that I do, I will often turn to AI to help with specific problems.

For the past year, most of the work I have done has been focused on Assessment writing for qualifications. AI is fantastic for increasing the level of a question, which may be too simple for the level of the student. Basically, I can input a question and ask AI to give me a couple of ways to level this up using Bloom’s Taxonomy.

When creating immersive scenarios for assessments, AI is invaluable in generating the content of documents to flesh out the world I am creating. I will often have AI create quotes, invoices, reports and other elements that can be given to students as part of the problem they need to solve. Those things used to take a great deal of time to create.

I will also use AI to create outlines of information or steps for processes. This creates a more cohesive framework within which to work as I write.

All of these uses of AI tools make me multiple times more productive than I once was.

The Economies of Content

But here is what has me thinking a lot more about my approach to 2024 and beyond. As AI becomes universally adopted, we will be deluged with content. With information. Anything we could possibly want to know will be written in a post or blog somewhere, and increasingly, we will turn to AI to give us a customised explanation of what we are looking for.

This increase in the supply of information will impact the value of any information that you might currently be selling. Information is rapidly becoming a commodity. This trend has been with us for some time, but it is about to rise exponentially.

I have come to the conclusion:

This is counter-intuitive, so let me explain.

Right now, information still has some value. But the majority of information is a commodity. Valuable information is specific information for specific problems and specific people. While this still has some value, you must leverage it for yourself and your future business.

I believe the best way to leverage this information for most businesses is to increase your email list or following. Sharing the best information you have for free is the best way to do this. Realise that in as little as six months’ time, this will no longer be a viable way to build your list or following as information becomes a complete commodity.

The Future of Information Marketing

This post is not supposed to be a proclamation of doom but rather a call to arms to prepare for what is to come. Information Marketing is not disappearing. It is transforming. Self-paced learning, courses and seminars will also need to transform as we move forward.

The value of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) learning is dropping, and will continue to fall. By comparison, the value of Done-With-You (DWY) and Done-For-You (DFY) will remain strong for the next couple of years at least.

I will be offering all of my courses and information to the market for little or nothing in the coming months. Instead, I will be focusing on implementation workshops and clinics to provide value to my clients.

Implementation Workshops (DWY) - These are small, intimate workshops (in person or virtual) where we work on one small aspect or element of the overall solution that the client is trying to achieve. In my case, this may be creating an outline or audience journey for their talk. Or it may be to create or strengthen their opening or hook. Or it may be to strengthen their call to action (CTA).

The point is that at the end of the workshop the attendees have something done, ready to implement. They are not just taught something that they have to go away and implement, but they have done the work during the workshop and have something to show for it.

Clinics (DWY) - This is another small, intimate workshop where the attendees will bring a specific element they want to improve, and we all work on those things together. In my case, the obvious thing is performance on stage.

All of the things that are listed in the Implementation workshop above could also be the focus of a clinic. The difference is that a clinic deals with something that is already created to improve it. An Implementation Workshop focuses on creating something new.

The high-touch nature of these formats will stand out against the deluge of information that will be peddled over the coming months. I believe that many people will be overwhelmed by the quantity of conflicting information that they are exposed to and will welcome some more direct guidance.

Impact on Talks & Articles

So, what does this mean for your Talks, Posts and Articles over the coming year?

Leverage your very best ideas to build a following, an email list, and a community.

Use public speaking opportunities, videos, articles, interviews and blog posts to give away your best stuff. Invite people to be part of your community and then offer to help them implement the information you have already given them for free.

Snippets is a section where I take some interesting text I have come across in the previous week and comment on it.

The other week Lee Richter shared something on LinkedIn that stuck with me:

It means the same thing, but this simple change in language gives a huge change in the level of respect, appreciation and value that you are showing the other person.

It makes me wonder what other opportunities there are to make similar small changes in habitual language patterns that might result in more meaningful, inspiring or relationship-building conversations.

If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section where I dive into a famous (or not so famous) quote and explore how this can apply to the Compelling Communicator.

Have you ever returned to a place you experienced as a child and marvelled at how big it all was in your memory but how small it all is now?

We tend to believe that we are unchanging because we generally change gradually over time. One day, we catch ourselves in the mirror and realise that we are a bit heavier than we thought we were, or our hair more grey, or perhaps even a bit happier than we thought we were.

Often, it isn’t until we spend time talking to an old friend we have lost track of that we realise how much we have changed. -Or how much they have changed.

One of the valuable aspects of keeping a journal is as a measure of the evolution of our own self-concept. Who we believe we are at any given time. It is impossible for us to keep this in mind as we grow and evolve, but it is good to reflect on it from time to time.

The question we should be asking ourselves:

Are we changing in the direction we want to go?

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

I am reaching out to a variety of people who have communities that they serve to see if there are opportunities to run some implementation workshops or clinics for those communities on a revenue-share basis. These would be customised for the community, with or without the involvement of the community leader.

What I am reading:

I have been doing a lot of recreational reading at night because it is so hot that I am finding it harder to fall asleep. I have been working my way through the John Milton series of books by Mark Dawson.

What I am watching:

Enjoying The Righteous Gemstones, I started again from the beginning and finished season one.