You’ve heard about it, read about it, and seen it unfold before your eyes – the outstanding rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various sectors. AI is revolutionizing the world in every industry and every profession. In fact, according to Boston Consulting Group, AI usage by companies has jumped from 22% in 2015 to 50% in 2023. Yet, despite being surrounded by this buzzword, have you actually taken a moment to integrate AI into your life and work? If you find yourself still on the sidelines, it’s time to engage and actively participate in the AI technological revolution.
In this guide, we explore practical, actionable steps that you can take to understand AI better and implement it in your job effectively. Whether you are a total beginner or somewhat familiar with AI, this blog aims to help you make a first meaningful step towards AI discovery.
Just a Second, What is AI Exactly?
AI isn’t just a monolithic tech concept. It’s a collection of multiple technologies that enable machines to sense, comprehend, act, and learn. It extends beyond the robotics or automation that we often associate with “artificial intelligence.” Many scary terms explain what AI does, such as machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, cognitive computing, and more.
But understanding AI can be a lot simpler. Essentially it’s when a computer can perform a human task that is considered “intelligent”. If you would look at a person writing, calculating, speaking, drawing, analyzing, and you think – “hmm, this is an intelligent person”, or “that’s clever” – then you should look at any machine or computer doing the same and say: “this is artificial intelligence”.
Artificial Intelligence is not solely used in the tech industry. From healthcare, finance, and transportation, to marketing, entertainment, and education, the applications of AI are nearly limitless. AI can look at lots of data quickly and generate meaningful information, summaries, and insights. Generative AI is a subset of AI that creates new texts, images, sounds, and videos based on the analysis of existing data and information. This helps businesses guess future trends, understand customer needs, work faster, and make better decisions in almost all areas.
Implementing AI in Your Work – Your First Prompt
Integrating AI into your daily operations doesn’t have to be daunting or costly. It’s practical to start small, focusing on bothering questions and manageable tasks.
It all starts with a question or request, what is called in AI lingo a “prompt”. ChatGPT is one of the most celebrated tools that made AI spread rapidly last year. ChatGPT can feel like a simple chat bot where you ask questions and get answers. Its uniqueness is that it can do a lot of things – find data, analyze it, suggest paths of action, write poems, draw illustrations – it’s really omni-potent. As a result, if used wisely, ChatGPT can feel like your best employee, a talented advisor, or a good friend.
To begin, just sign up and ask a first question. The more context and information you give in your prompt, the better the answer would be. For example, you can say “I am a bookkeeper and am interested in reskilling to a career as a data analyst. What should I do?” ChatGPT would give you an elaborate answer detailing potential courses of action. You can continue the conversation, ask follow-up questions, ask the AI to consider certain factors, research training centers in your city or online, until you’ve got your challenge answered. You can always open a different chat for another topic, or go back to a previous chat where you left off.
This is what ChatGPT looks like:
Need Visuals? Suddenly, with AI, You’re an Artist!
Another remarkable AI innovation that can be integrated into your work is Dall-E, an AI image generation tool. Imagine you have an idea in your mind, maybe for a project or a presentation, and you need a specific image to illustrate it. Instead of spending hours searching online image libraries and purchasing licensable visuals, you can simply use Dall-E on Microsoft Bing and create everything you need for free.
Here’s how it works: You describe your desired image in words, as if you’re telling a friend what you’re imagining or briefing a graphic designer. For example, “a photo of a futuristic cityscape at sunset” or “a graph showing an upward trend with a background of renewable energy.” Dall-E uses your description prompt to create the image. It gives you options to choose from and you can try again with a corrected fine-tuned prompt or “remix” one of the suggestions until you get exactly what you need. And the best part? You can use all these images privately or commercially, without needing to pay royalties or even give credit to the “artist”.
Video Production for the Masses
If you’re already mind blown by what technology offers, just wait until you read about the next example – Veed. Imagine you want to introduce your company’s services in a video, but you’re not comfortable being on camera or have never produced a video before. Veed offers a creative solution that lets you put words into the mouths of AI avatars who would be glad to take center stage for you.
Using the Veed platform is quite straightforward. First, you choose an AI avatar – this could be a digital version of yourself or any character that suits your brand. Then, you write a script for what the avatar should say. It’s like preparing a speech or a presentation. Once your script is ready, Veed animates the avatar to speak your lines. The result? A professional-looking video where an AI avatar effectively communicates your message, in a perfect accent, in any language!
Here’s an example of a video we at Wawiwa made with Veed to present one of our programs:
How Wawiwa trains People to Use AI in their Tech Jobs
Wawiwa is a global tech education provider and has integrated AI into all its tech training programs, equipping students and graduates with AI-driven skills and tools relevant to their chosen tech roles.
From Data Analysis and UX/UI Design to Full-Stack Development, our programs are designed to equip students with all the competencies that employers demand, including AI literacy.
For those in Data Analysis, we focus on Large Language Models (LLMs). These are AI systems (like ChatGPT) that understand and generate human-like text by analyzing vast amounts of data. They can summarize information, answer questions, and even predict trends, making them invaluable for analyzing complex datasets.
In our UX/UI Design Program, students learn to use Midjourney, an AI tool that helps create stunning visuals and designs. Simply put, Midjourney transforms textual descriptions into compelling images, similar to Dall-E.
In our Full-Stack Developer program, students learn to utilize tools like GitHub Copilot – an AI-powered coding assistant. It helps write new code and understand existing code faster. It’s like having an expert coder sitting beside you, suggesting improvements and shortcuts as you work.
Through these tailored learning experiences, Wawiwa graduates acquire practical, hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI tools.
Conclusion
To wrap up, while we can’t cover every AI tool out there (because this blog would turn into an encyclopedia!), starting with tools like ChatGPT, Dall-E, and Veed is a great way to dip your toes into the AI world. If you take a few minutes to research, you will find thousands of useful AI tools for general purposes or your specific industry and job role. There are tools for making presentations, tools for summarizing Zoom calls, and tools for writing and checking code. Can’t find them on Google? Ask ChatGPT – it might have an answer for you! Remember, a positive and curious approach is all that is needed to harness the power of AI tools.
The journey into AI doesn’t require you to be a tech wizard. It starts with a simple step – your first prompt. Whether it’s improving productivity, enhancing creativity, or simply making tasks easier and more efficient, AI has something to offer everyone in any field.
The examples we’ve discussed are just the tip of the iceberg. The world of AI is brimming with tools and technologies that continue to evolve and transform the way we work. The key is to start small, experiment, and gradually integrate these tools into your daily routine. As you become more comfortable, you’ll find more and more ways to incorporate AI into your life.
Be a part of the AI revolution! Explore the possibilities, and who knows, you might find yourself having fun with AI. After all, who said the future of work couldn’t be exciting and a little bit magical?
