MA-AI/Google online training: Week 01
No-cost AI Training for every MA resident!!!
Here at RainyDay Magazine, we are no strangers to technology, and while we have the right technical background, the tools and capabilities of AI are changing so fast that we sometimes feel we are falling behind!
Fortunately, Massachusetts’ AI Hub has a collaboration with Google, where they offer a FREE training program on Coursera, and courses are available to ANY MA RESIDENT interested in getting up to speed in the field of AI. The courses are completely online, so it is something that can be done at the pace and in the space that is right for the individual.
Day 01: Intro to AI
We started our first module today, and found it to be very, very good. BTW, we are starting from the perspective of a complete beginner, with NO AI knowledge assumed.
We are looking forward to seeing what and how much we can learn, and how we can apply it in things we do in our daily lives.
We passed with a grade of 100, which is, as we all know, the lowest grade any Chinese student will accept. LOL.
The four modules for the “Intro to AI” were interesting, informative, and not difficult to digest. Things were divided into small, easily understandable, and connected pieces.
The interactive AI coaching was particularly effective, encouraging, and helpful. When our answers could have been more clearly stated, the AI coach:
1) asked probing questions that elicited more info; and
2) suggested a way to think about things; all without “giving” away the answers….exactly the way a VERY patient teacher would.
We were able to complete it in two sessions and successfully passed the quiz at the end.
Now what?
We’ve set a rather leisurely pace of two days per week for this AI learning effort. It’s not all that ambitious, but we are busy people!!!
Day 03: Start Writing Prompts like a Pro
The next module up is “Prompting Essentials,” which teaches you learning how to tell the AI exactly what you want. Hmmm, asking for things? We should be good at that, LOL.
To get the most out of GenAI, knowing HOW to ask the AI to do something is as important as knowing WHAT to ask!!! We spent an hour (they claim it would take 15 minutes, LOL) going through the first exercise of learning how to write “prompts.”
We’ve included some details. The complete transcript of the training session, for those who wanted to know what it is like talking to an AI “coach,” is available here as a .pdf.
We found the experience surprisingly engaging, very useful, and the feedback quite informative.
Day 04: Start Writing Prompts like a Pro, cont.
Completed two more activities of the “Prompting like a Pro” module.
We are finding the coached practice sessions to be really valuable in understanding how to create better prompts in order to get the desired outputs from the GenAI/LLMs. It occurred to us while doing the exercises that the current state of GenAI is doing the following:
- Training everyone to be “managers” instead of “worker bees.”
- Teaching those “managers” to be better at asking what they really want, offering better examples of the goals, and setting the boundary conditions for achieving those goals.
For good or bad, this is skewing the future for those who are “thinkers” rather than “doers.” While humans are still required today to actually physically DO many things, much of the repetitive DOING of things in the future may be relegated to robots.
There is repeated emphasis on “check the output of the GenAI/LLMs” in the training sessions. So the one BIG question that was raised for me coming out of these Prompt Training sessions is…If you are NOT A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT, how can you trust the results even if you DO check the output?
This led to the realization that, in its current state of maturity, GenAI will enhance the capabilities, effectiveness, and output of EXPERTS. However, you cannot replace those experts with interns…at least not in the near future.
Day 05: Start Writing Prompts like a Pro
What does one do when one’s cat wants to go outside at 5 AM? Well, you let it, then stay up and finish the “Start Writing Prompts like a Pro” course on the Massachusetts AI Hub.
Why? Because AI “coaches” are always available to explore, explain, and encourage. These “coaches” are helpful for things that are new, unclear, and especially if really complex.
FirstThoughts
We’ve completed our AI goals for the week. One of the reasons for the progress is that Coursera does a REALLY good job in tracking our progress and providing positive reinforcement, providing us with shots of dopamine at just the right time.
The courses are engaging, broken down into small “bite-sized” chunks, and well presented. We are trying not to get sucked into doing more, even if they are fascinating. We’ll have more to say about this in the update once we’ve completed the course.
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