Kickstarting 2024: Playing, experimenting and learning the AI way
Happy New Year! How’s 2024 treating you?
My new year started with a game of Mario Kart on the Nintendo like it was 1995. Santa got me a pair of new roller-skates like it was 1991. Was 2024 all going a bit retro? Wait. I then found myself playing around with AI-generated videos like it was…2024. Resolutions? Nothing is going to get in the way of more ‘play’ and experimenting this year (be it online or offline!). It’s week 2 and I remain optimistic.
Play can actually pretty serious business. Take emerging technologies like generative AI. How might we gain more practical knowledge and confidence in this new technology? This was a theme discussed at the brilliant VONNE Conference at the end of last year, featuring a nice mix of training, case studies and bigger picture sessions on AI. Carol Botten, CEO of VONNE (Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East), was very matter of fact in her answer: “You just have to give it a go, see how it might help and get a feel for it”. Carol is unfazed by change. She embraces it fearlessly, shaking it by the horns and looking for action. It’s refreshing. No faffing!
At CAST, we’ve been giving AI a good shake too. Before Altman (Open AI Founder) and co further disrupt things, I thought I’d share three key points from my talk given at the VONNE conference, capturing examples of how we’ve been navigating the AI landscape at CAST:
- Build a shared understanding
It might sound obvious, but what are we really talking about? Twelve months ago, most us were just starting to make sense of AI. We ran AI 101 masterclasses, organised AI meetups with our Digital Leads Network, internal Brunch & Learn sessions with expert speakers, and engaged in webinars with trusted partners like Torchbox, Datakind, and Careful Industries. It was good, but we got overwhelmed. So we slowed down the discovery phase, letting things simmer a bit. Do we now have a better shared understanding of what we’re talking about? I believe so, but go easy!
2. Play and experiment (responsibly)
Last summer we set up a collaborative playground — the AI Tech Jam. An intentional space for experimenting with AI tools, exploring the benefits and risks in our work. Using an AI-dedicated Slack channel and a Miro board, our team engaged in show & tells, sharing insights on AI tools usage. Common scenarios emerged, such as data synthesis, note-taking, transcribing, and image generation. Lots of potential for efficiencies! (4-day week anyone?) The potential for efficiencies in grant-making also caught our attention, leading to the formation of an external AI peer group for grant-makers. Next we’re being more intentional about which experiments we’re running and how to measure success and failure rates. Stay tuned for more on this!
If you’re keen to start exploring with your team, here’s a Tech Jam Miro board template. Go jam!
3. Find out how others are using it and what support they need
The pace of AI change is breathtaking. Senior leaders from partner organisations are asking us whether, for example, they can use AI tools to safely transcribe minutes — or whether the use of AI is going to be harmful for their service users. We’re working with them to understand the answers based on our ongoing research and experiments in the field. It’s not all ‘play’ — there are well-documented risks and lack of trust. We need a better understanding of how our sector is using AI and what support people need to navigate this change.
To address this, we’ve launched an AI survey. It takes 10 minutes to complete, and all responses are completely anonymous. We’d love it if you could share it, and completing it would be even better!
Our learning journey is in its early stages, but engaging through play and experimentation has been beneficial. On a more personal level, experimenting has given me a sense of agency and new knowledge on what AI means for our lives and future. With that has come more confidence when talking about it and applying it to my daily work. I hope it will help us be more useful for our beneficiaries in the longer-term. And who knows, maybe it will even help influence and ensure that AI is used to do good stuff, mainly good stuff!
—
Finally, here are some useful resources that I’ve found particularly helpful along the way (and not too overwhelming!):
The bigger picture:
- Benedict Evans AI talk — AI and everything else (27-mins)
- Mustafa Suleyman & Yuval Noah Harari Debate- AI and our future (46-min watch)
Guidelines:
- Guidance on Generative AI for local authorities (by LOTI)
- Guidance to civil servants on use of generative AI
Training:
- An Introduction to AI And LLMs for Nonprofits — Webinar (by Torchbox)
(I’ve taken part in a number of Torchbox’s workshops on AI. They’re very good, clear and informative. Their next one is coming up on 1st February, take a look.) - 100DaysOfAI — Bite-size training (by Max Hainings)
(A simple and fun format to spend 30–60mins a day learning about AI practically. Sign up and you’ll receive an email each day with a new task.)
The CIVIC AI Observatory’s newsletter and Whatsapp group is also good if you want to access lots of useful links on all things AI.
How’s your AI learning journey going? And what are you finding helpful? We’d love to hear how you’re experimenting with this new emerging tech so we learn from each other. Get in touch at david.scurr@wearecast.org.uk.
_
PS: I rushed to write this blog and tried the following AI tools to help get it done:
- Canva Magic Studio (AI Suite) — I used Magic Switch to convert my slide-deck into a simple blog to get the ball rolling (saved a bit of time).
- Chat GPT — I turned to GPT to improve my draft. The results were disappointing, so I ignored it and spent time improving it myself. NotionAI is better for content design and improving style and language in my experience but I’d run out of free AI responses at the time of writing!
