080: The GPT energy is fantastic
Another fabulous guest stopped by MCAD, and as always: AI+Creativity links
I already have so many more ideas for GPTs.
I’m going to see if I can train one on my own blog writing since 2008. I’m also going to spin one up as a pre-Generatively Better AI workshop experience. I’m curious if I can query my audience and/or guide their expectations. And then I want to see how a GPT might create music.
Lots of dumb GPT ideas will appear, to be sure, but also so many useful ones especially when you think about processes—onboarding, instruction, analysis, training—which would benefit from a guided conversation. What about a GPT designed specifically for a parent, or coworker, or prospect—any scenario when the flow of conversation is already known. “Let me GPT that for you.”
And why not just try? The investment in building a GPT is ridiculously low.
But here’s the challenge, at least as I’ve experienced it so far—and it’s very much akin to developing any kind of idea: Who’s It For? And What’s It For? Those timeless Seth Godin questions are as apt as ever when building a GPT. While the building part was simple, I spent 3x the time just imagining what the audience experience would be, then tuning the inputs accordingly.
And then there’s the whole cultural adoption piece. As fast as GenAI is weaving itself into the fabric of the everyday, I suspect generally understood usage of GPTs is years away. The concept is genius, but it lives within user experience and interface design, which are only barely understood.
Anyway, I’m reminded of the early days of Flash, and the Internet. Then the early days of the App Store. The creativity and entrepreneurial energy are surging and that’s just wonderful.
Clearly more to come.
“Confidence and high energy goes a long way”
The generosity of our guest speakers in the Leading Creative Projects class at MCAD has been so wonderful. Earlier this week the fabulous Cathy Paper (LinkedIn), business coach, and co-founder of Networking 4 Referrals, shared her entrepreneurial journey and wisdom on pitching. While the entrepreneur and their idea benefit from being buttoned up, from honed insights, so much of an entrepreneur’s success comes from a belief in self. Of course, we’ve all seen the messianic complex go off the rails. But in a healthy scenario, an entrepreneur conveys a balance of credible and personable gifts. And they’re not afraid. Full stop.
That energy and conviction are a two-way street for idea people of all forms and at all stages of a career. You literally would not be an ideas person, an entrepreneur, without a willingness to embrace risks many will not. But you also have to see that in your self, and find a way to believe it, too.
AI+Creativity Update
✏️ Rishad Robaccowala and Josh Bernoff, both writers of many words, have a potent conversation (Spotify) around the future of the Author in the Age of AI. In short, “the best writers today use AI as an input to power, expand and challenge themselves in ways that improve their writing and expand their thinking. AI expands the palette and opens new horizons rather than eliminate and shrink the future.”
🎨 The 26th annual MCAD Art Sale begins this evening, and extends through Saturday. Over 6,000 pieces made by current students and alumni will cover every hallway floor to ceiling; and if you want something, just take it down and go pay for it. I have two lovely India ink drawings hanging nearby from a Sale several years ago. And 80% of the proceeds for each piece go directly to the artist. I’ll be walking around tomorrow night.
🤖 Netflix just released Pluto, its latest anime, which wrestles with the human/AI continuum. Eight one-hour episodes expand on a near future detective drama where humans and robots question who’s real.
🎄It’s back. UK retailer John Lewis just released its annual Christmas advert. Nothing about AI, except for maybe a giant, insatiable plant metaphor.