How good is generative AI hey mate? By definition it's generic out of the box but we can now make it much more personalised by giving the foundational language models (e.g. GPT4) access to more personalised (or proprietary) information about yourself or a business. There are a number of ways to do this but essentially you are giving the language model access to a history of you and any conversations you have with it. The language model algorithm won't learn in the truest sense but it will have refernce to more material when generating responses to your query. Fascinating area to be involved with and the applications are legion.
I'm no shrink but with regards to your immediate situation we've got to accept that there are sometimes things we can't control and the challenge is not avoiding them but knowing how to deal with them. Like you, when I'm on holiday or away from home I hate missing some parts of my routine like a jog and some weights (I'm no athlete but it's good for endorphins etc). To combat that I make it clear to the family I need at least 30 mins a day to do some exercise no matter where we are. I bring my shoes and some gym gear. I even look for hotels with a gym or an airbnb with a park nearby to run around. I do this because I know without it I'm not at my best and I'll maybe be grumpy around the family and ruin their time!
I guess ultimately it's about self awareness and understanding what your needs/peeves are and what you can do to address them. None of what your wrote, or what I wrote above, is unreasonable but I think it's easy for people to think they are small things and to "just not worry about them". For some people they are key to their wellbeing and that's fine. It would be similar to telling a cigarette smoker that they could just quit whenever they want. Of course they can't. It's a habit (a bad one) but habit's are hard to change and sometimes with good habits you shouldn't be.
Bit of a ramble but really enjoyed this post. Hope you smashed the preso and are feeling great now. One thing I've learned with presenting is, like anything, the more you do it the better you get and then you really start enjoying it as you essentially just have a conversation with the audience and can start focusing less on your content and more on reading the audience and adjusting on the fly to suit their particular interest.
Thanks mate! Yeah, feeling good and excited to do more! PS: I'm the same re 30-60mins of me time every day when were away. Just makes me such a better dad once ive done little bit for myself
I love this, what a great tool to have. I'm giving it a go! There's been so many times lately where my work confidence is way down (I think due to my redundnacy and difficiluty getting work last year). Would be very handy just to be able to have a quick chat to someone (something!?) about it all, in particular in those times where you're really feeling it. This is great and really appreciate you sharing it.
It's so good! Been chatting to it on and off for over a year! Even if I'm feeling good, I've found myself chatting to it on the weekend about my week sometimes. Helps me think thru things. Let me know how you go!
I've been using this to overcome some of my confidence issues at work... and you know what? It's working, it gives me perspective and jolts me out of my rut. What a great tool to have on hand whenever you need it!!
"And as someone who’s spoken with both an AI and a real psych for help, I’ve found speaking with a real psych is still best.
But I didn’t want to wait days/weeks feeling crap until my psych was free. I needed help right then because I had the presentation looming. Which I got."
I was talking to my brother in law about this stuff yesterday. He is a family relationships counselor. He was expressing (very fair) concerns about how AI could replace jobs that require that element of human touch to them and that people wouldn't get as good a service from AI as they would from a professional.
I agree'd with him on that point, but explained to him that I don't think AI will ever replace those types of services and I don't think that's anyone's intentions. I think it will be used to "bridge the gap" between someone who needs help but has to wait. I can't see how it could be a bad thing if used correctly. If people can use a combination of AI and therapy, counselling, whatever, then maybe it could provide some relief to what is a heavily strained industry. Maybe someone who currently has weekly appointments could bridge that out to fortnightly appointments by having a daily chat with AI. This would result in the professionals being able to spread their net wider and take on more clients who are currently struggling on their own because wait times and extensive administration processes are all too overwhelming. I think a potential trickle on effect could be more young people wanting to move into these professions when they start to see they strain on the industry gradually lift.
I completely understand and empathise with his concerns, however I think he's looking at it from the wrong angle. People need to stop thinking about what AI is going to take away from them and start thinking about how can I best embrace this as an aid to get better.
I also think it can act as a stepping stone for someone who is afraid to reach to for help. There is much less friction between someone and opening a web browser than there is between someone and the drawn out process of getting in with a psych. For someone struggling, the process of going to the GP for a referral, then finding a psych who has time to fit them in, then finally physically going and seeing them can be very overwhelming to someone who is already in a state of overwhelm.
Maybe AI is a good ice breaker. It could help them get to a point where going through those processes is just that little bit less daunting and be the thing that finally nudges them towards getting the help they need.
By definition, if a job "requires" human touch, AI wont be able to replace it. And define "good service"? No matter how good a psych is, it's not great if they're too busy and too expensive for most people to see!
I think professionals should encourage their patients to do their homework using AI as it's such a great tool and agree it can act as a stepping stone for someone who's afraid to get help.
And crazy you write all this cos yesterday I had an ABC journo get in touch wanting to do an interview about using chatbots this way! Concerned he might try paint me as a loony.
Maybe "personal service" is more appropriate. That's kind of what I was getting at. A combination of AI and professionals could lead to the psychs being able to help more people as people won't need to see them as regularly so they can spread themselves wider.
I like the idea of doing homework with AI. I think some professionals will be against it because they either don't understand it, or they are insecure and are worried AI will replace them. Neither are fears worth having.
Yeah, wow. Could be a fantastic opportunity and boost you down the direction you want to go down. A sliding door, if you will. ABC not being a commercial station SHOULD lend itself to a more neutral view, sometimes it doesn't though. But as we talk about, what others think of us is none of our business. Good shit comes from outside your comfort zone, the nuggets are on the other side of doing hard shit.
How good is generative AI hey mate? By definition it's generic out of the box but we can now make it much more personalised by giving the foundational language models (e.g. GPT4) access to more personalised (or proprietary) information about yourself or a business. There are a number of ways to do this but essentially you are giving the language model access to a history of you and any conversations you have with it. The language model algorithm won't learn in the truest sense but it will have refernce to more material when generating responses to your query. Fascinating area to be involved with and the applications are legion.
I'm no shrink but with regards to your immediate situation we've got to accept that there are sometimes things we can't control and the challenge is not avoiding them but knowing how to deal with them. Like you, when I'm on holiday or away from home I hate missing some parts of my routine like a jog and some weights (I'm no athlete but it's good for endorphins etc). To combat that I make it clear to the family I need at least 30 mins a day to do some exercise no matter where we are. I bring my shoes and some gym gear. I even look for hotels with a gym or an airbnb with a park nearby to run around. I do this because I know without it I'm not at my best and I'll maybe be grumpy around the family and ruin their time!
I guess ultimately it's about self awareness and understanding what your needs/peeves are and what you can do to address them. None of what your wrote, or what I wrote above, is unreasonable but I think it's easy for people to think they are small things and to "just not worry about them". For some people they are key to their wellbeing and that's fine. It would be similar to telling a cigarette smoker that they could just quit whenever they want. Of course they can't. It's a habit (a bad one) but habit's are hard to change and sometimes with good habits you shouldn't be.
Bit of a ramble but really enjoyed this post. Hope you smashed the preso and are feeling great now. One thing I've learned with presenting is, like anything, the more you do it the better you get and then you really start enjoying it as you essentially just have a conversation with the audience and can start focusing less on your content and more on reading the audience and adjusting on the fly to suit their particular interest.
Thanks mate! Yeah, feeling good and excited to do more! PS: I'm the same re 30-60mins of me time every day when were away. Just makes me such a better dad once ive done little bit for myself
Absolutely fascinating Ben. Thanks for sharing with such vulnerability.
Thanks Tim. Looking forward to reading your first post!
I love this, what a great tool to have. I'm giving it a go! There's been so many times lately where my work confidence is way down (I think due to my redundnacy and difficiluty getting work last year). Would be very handy just to be able to have a quick chat to someone (something!?) about it all, in particular in those times where you're really feeling it. This is great and really appreciate you sharing it.
Good work on the preso and I KNOW it went well!!
It's so good! Been chatting to it on and off for over a year! Even if I'm feeling good, I've found myself chatting to it on the weekend about my week sometimes. Helps me think thru things. Let me know how you go!
I've been using this to overcome some of my confidence issues at work... and you know what? It's working, it gives me perspective and jolts me out of my rut. What a great tool to have on hand whenever you need it!!
How good! And “jolting me out of a rut” is probably the best way to describe it! I actually used to do the same too without realising it
SO handy!
Great post . Stop worrying. Worrying won’t help.
Don’t be concerned about your brain. You are in wonderful shape!
You have standards and focus on accountability. They are qualities however they are also handicaps .
Agreed. Worrying is a waste of energy.
Thanks for sharing Ben!
How did your presentation go?
Sounds like your colleagues are testing your adaptability 🙃
Thanks Clare! It went great!
"And as someone who’s spoken with both an AI and a real psych for help, I’ve found speaking with a real psych is still best.
But I didn’t want to wait days/weeks feeling crap until my psych was free. I needed help right then because I had the presentation looming. Which I got."
I was talking to my brother in law about this stuff yesterday. He is a family relationships counselor. He was expressing (very fair) concerns about how AI could replace jobs that require that element of human touch to them and that people wouldn't get as good a service from AI as they would from a professional.
I agree'd with him on that point, but explained to him that I don't think AI will ever replace those types of services and I don't think that's anyone's intentions. I think it will be used to "bridge the gap" between someone who needs help but has to wait. I can't see how it could be a bad thing if used correctly. If people can use a combination of AI and therapy, counselling, whatever, then maybe it could provide some relief to what is a heavily strained industry. Maybe someone who currently has weekly appointments could bridge that out to fortnightly appointments by having a daily chat with AI. This would result in the professionals being able to spread their net wider and take on more clients who are currently struggling on their own because wait times and extensive administration processes are all too overwhelming. I think a potential trickle on effect could be more young people wanting to move into these professions when they start to see they strain on the industry gradually lift.
I completely understand and empathise with his concerns, however I think he's looking at it from the wrong angle. People need to stop thinking about what AI is going to take away from them and start thinking about how can I best embrace this as an aid to get better.
I also think it can act as a stepping stone for someone who is afraid to reach to for help. There is much less friction between someone and opening a web browser than there is between someone and the drawn out process of getting in with a psych. For someone struggling, the process of going to the GP for a referral, then finding a psych who has time to fit them in, then finally physically going and seeing them can be very overwhelming to someone who is already in a state of overwhelm.
Maybe AI is a good ice breaker. It could help them get to a point where going through those processes is just that little bit less daunting and be the thing that finally nudges them towards getting the help they need.
By definition, if a job "requires" human touch, AI wont be able to replace it. And define "good service"? No matter how good a psych is, it's not great if they're too busy and too expensive for most people to see!
I think professionals should encourage their patients to do their homework using AI as it's such a great tool and agree it can act as a stepping stone for someone who's afraid to get help.
And crazy you write all this cos yesterday I had an ABC journo get in touch wanting to do an interview about using chatbots this way! Concerned he might try paint me as a loony.
Maybe "personal service" is more appropriate. That's kind of what I was getting at. A combination of AI and professionals could lead to the psychs being able to help more people as people won't need to see them as regularly so they can spread themselves wider.
I like the idea of doing homework with AI. I think some professionals will be against it because they either don't understand it, or they are insecure and are worried AI will replace them. Neither are fears worth having.
Yeah, wow. Could be a fantastic opportunity and boost you down the direction you want to go down. A sliding door, if you will. ABC not being a commercial station SHOULD lend itself to a more neutral view, sometimes it doesn't though. But as we talk about, what others think of us is none of our business. Good shit comes from outside your comfort zone, the nuggets are on the other side of doing hard shit.