Closing the AI Skill Gap Together

The majority of generative AI (GenAI, e.g. ChatGPT) predictions point towards massive gain in productivity. Studies range from articles positing up to a 40% increase in efficiency (1) to forward-looking analyses by consultancies like Gartner and McKinsey with statements like “30 percent of hours currently worked across the US economy could be automated” (2).

We stand on the doorstep to a fantastic opportunity, but also a great challenge to get everyone on board with the change.

I’ve stitched together a few recent pieces and thoughts on this important subject💡. All references are at the end.


😃 It’s for everyone

For companies to harvest the full potential of GenAI will require more than simply hiring for new skills, it's about re/upskilling your current workforce. Everyone must be onboard, bridging the knowledge gap between those proficient in GenAI and those who aren't will be of major importance. Not doing so could significantly set back your company.


👥 Consider two perspectives

🏢 The Business Perspective: Investing in reskilling shall be a long-term strategic play, make it a core strategic pillar that gets full support from all the leadership layers.

👩‍💼 The Employee Perspective: Reskilling supplies a pathway for career development and job security. But it’s also tough challenge to our egos and worldviews, imagine your top skill can now be automated and you are forced to re-skill - that’s not fun 😬.

Having a clear “why” is helpful to get employees onboard.

A recent HBR (3) article stresses how employees are more willing to engage in reskilling when they understand its value and when programs are designed from their perspective.


🏆 Give GenAI a positive vibe through your project managers

Successful practitioners seem to agree that it’s important with a few early successful pilots under the belt to inspire others. It makes sense to start up-skilling project managers and have them taking active roles in the GenAI journey. Project managers often have a wide exposure to different functions and can help to understanding where the chance of successful GenAI pilots is the greatest.

❓ What's the one skill you're looking to upgrade for the AI era? ❓

📖 References
1. Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality by Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Edward McFowland, Ethan R. Mollick, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Katherine Kellogg, Saran Rajendran, Lisa Krayer, François Candelon, Karim R. Lakhani :: SSRN
2. https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/generative-ai-and-the-future-of-work-in-america
3. https://hbr.org/2023/09/reskilling-in-the-age-of-ai

3 praktiska AI-tips för projektledare

Det är lätt att bli stressad av allt som skrivs om AI , “AI kommer 10x din produktivitet” och själv har man inte startat. Jag har samlat tips på hur ChatGPT (Bard, Bing Chat eller Claude fungerar också ) kan hjälpa dig som projektledare idag, förhoppningsvis kan det ge inspiration att komma igång.

Här är tre områden där jag har haft stor hjälp av AI, tar också med exempel på promptar som ett frö, men testa själv - är du osäker kan du alltid fråga ChatGPT om tips. Promptarna skrivna på engelska, som jag oftast skriver på, men svenska går också bra.

Lärande

Som projektledare, särskilt konsult, kastas man ofta in i nya områden, ena projektet kan handla om IT-infrastruktur och andra om app-utveckling, eller dataanalys. Oftast har man experter i teamet som driver utvecklingen men för kommunikationen är det viktigt att skaffa sig en basförståelse.

När man vill utforska nya ämnen är ChatGPT en utmärkt coach, man kan ställa samma fråga 10 gånger utan att känna sig dum. Om ChatGPT själv ska servera information fritt ur minnet, d.v.s. man bistår inte med en text, är det viktigt att vara uppmärksam på “hallucinationer”, d.v.s. ChatGPT levererar felaktiga svar med hög självsäkerhet, dubbelkolla alltid.

Exempel på promptar:

✏️. För generell förståelse: I want you to act as an introductory guide to the subject of Insert Subject Here. Provide me with a concise overview, main principles, and why it's relevant today.

✏️. För Praktiska tillämpningar: I want you to act as a practical expert in Insert Subject Here

✏️. För framtida perspektiv: I want you to act as a futurist for Insert Subject Here. Describe current trends, potential future developments, and how they might impact society or industry.

När väl diskussionen är i gång, ställ uppföljningsfrågor, be ChatGPT att förklara enklare, o.s.v.

Summera texter

För att fullt kunna fokusera under möten kan det ibland vara bra att inte behöva bara ta korta stödanteckningar eller inga alls. ChatGPT är utmärkt på att sammanfatta.

Dom flesta mötesverktyg kan spela in det som sägs och transkribera med mycket hög kvalitet. Utifrån transkriptionen kan sammanfattning enkelt göras för utskick.

ChatGPT tenderar att hallucinera mindre när man ber den sammanfatta ett givet material än när man ställer öppna frågor.

Exempel på promptar:

✏️. I want you to act as a project manager. Review the meeting transcription, highlight the main discussions points, and organize decisions and tasks in a table with owners and timelines.

Självklart kan all text, t.ex. rapporter, e-mail kedjor, kontrakt, etc. summeras och dissekeras på liknande sätt.

Ett vanligt problem är att texten man vill ha sammanfattat är för lång, två lösningar

💡 Text splitter: Input files and long text into ChatGPT - Optimus Development (op-development.com)

💡Ladda upp hela filer: Om ChatGPT plus används kan hela filer enkelt laddas upp.

Förbättra skriven kommunikation

Ibland måste formuleringen bli rätt, du ska skicka ett viktigt mail till styrgruppen eller någon i teamet. Då kan ChatGPT hjälpa till med formuleringen och ge återkoppling på det du skrivit.

Du kan antingen använda en punktlista eller en draft på vad du vill ha sagt och följande promptar för att få återkoppling:

✏️. Du ska ge kritisk återkoppling per mail och vill veta hur mottagaren upplever svaret: I want you to act as the recipient of my email providing critical feedback. Evaluate the wording and expressions used, and share how it might be perceived. Help me identify areas that could be softened or clarified.

✏️. Du måste leverera jobbiga nyheter: I want you to act as the receiver of this email containing difficult news. Assess the language and structure, and explain how it might affect you emotionally. Suggest any changes to make it more compassionate.

✏️. Du vill säkerställa att Actions är tydliga: I want you to act as a team member receiving my email with action items. Evaluate how clear the instructions are, and suggest formatting or wording changes to ensure the required actions are unmistakable.

Mycket information! Välj nu ut ett exempel och en prompt och testa! Nyfiken vad väljer du?

AI: The Game Changer We Can't Ignore

I recently listened to podcast from Microsoft Worklab, with Ethan Mollick, a professor at The Wharton School who's is known for e.g. integrating AI into his curriculum since early 2023 and for his Substack "One Useful Thing" where he translate academic research into useful business insights.

A few key ideas that stood out:
1️⃣ AI is Transformative and Here to Stay: AI isn't just another tech trend. It's a general-purpose technology impacting every aspect of our lives, even if all AI development stopped today.
2️⃣ Working with AI: Imagine AI as a collaborator not as a google search box. It’s an entity that can help you refine drafts, suggest improvements, or lend a more formal tone to your language. The biggest AI use cases could well be in writing documents and conducting research, promising significant productivity gains. What does it mean for you and your organisation?
3️⃣ A Task-level Revolution: AI will not replace jobs - but tasks. Jobs are bundles of tasks, and AI is perfectly suited to take over some of these tasks. The shift isn't necessarily at the job level; it's more about changing how we handle tasks.
4️⃣ Work will change: Large corporations with lots of layers of middle management are built on the technologies and capabilities we have today. That will change since we have different capabilities now. Are you still going to do sprints as the way of organizing work? When AI can structure your work. We have to change how we work, which will be huge.

🚀 And a few ways to get the ball rolling!

1️⃣ Start Small and Encourage Experimentation: Begin with integrating AI into manageable tasks. This could be as simple as automating email responses or scheduling meetings. It's crucial to foster an environment that encourages experimentation with AI.
2️⃣ Time and Training: Understanding and effectively using AI requires time and training. A rough estimate is around 10 hours of hands-on experience before gaining real value from AI.
3️⃣ Inclusivity in Adoption: As we integrate AI into our organizations, it's crucial to ensure that adoption is inclusive and beneficial for all employees. This might mean providing additional support for those less tech-savvy or ensuring that AI tools are accessible to all.

💚 AI's future in our workplaces isn't just about the technology; it's about people, processes, and potential. What are your thoughts on this? and how do you plan to integrate AI into your workflow? I'd love to hear from you.

🥳 A final challange
Mollick suggests an interesting idea: motivate your most creative people to use AI for a week and reward the best automation idea. This challenge could inspire new ways to leverage AI within your organization. Do you think that would make sense in your organisation?

AI-bildgenerering😱 3-stegs guide för nybörjare🥳

Nyfiken på bildgenerering men inte testat än? Du behöver inte känna dig sen på bollen! En ny studie från The Verge visar att bara ca 20-30% använder AI för bildgenerering.

Sätt igång nu - tre nivåer, första räcker för att komma igång.

Level 1 - välj verktyg, tre alternativ:
👉 Har du ett microsoft-konto? Testa https://lnkd.in/djBvvAcw
👉 Är okej med att skapa ett nytt konto? Ett bra val är då: https://labs.openai.com/
👉 Vill du testa direkt utan att behöva logga in? Pang på: Free AI image generator: https://www.craiyon.com/

Kom igång med verktygen

I samtliga verktyg möts du av en textruta där du ska beskriva vad du vill ha genererat (prompt) och en knapp för att skapa. Enkelt att komma igång men kan vara utmanande att få precis det resultat man vill ha. Lite åt Othello-hållet: “a minute to learn, a lifetime to master”. Testa och se, du kanske är en naturbegåvning!


👇 Level up 👇


Level 2 - Hur får man det man vill ha (prompting)?
Hur ska man beskriva vad man vill ha? S.k. prompting har växt och blivit ett yrke, kanske kortlivat, men det visar att det finns utmaningar kopplat till detta. Misströsta inte, det går att komma långt med enkla riktlinjer:

1️⃣ Var specifik:
✅ "En sköldpadda som sitter på en solig fönsterbräda bredvid en kaktus i en kruka."
❌ "En sköldpadda."

2️⃣ Använd konkreta termer:
✅ "En solig strand med lugna vågor, palmer och ett randigt rött och vitt parasoll."
❌ "En lycklig plats."

3️⃣ Iterera:
✅ Om "ett slott på en kulle" inte ger det önskade resultatet kan du prova "ett stenigt slott på en grön kulle under en klarblå himmel."
❌ Upprepa gång på gång "ett slott" utan att göra ändringar, även om det inte ger det önskade resultatet.


👇 Level up 👇


#ai Level 🚀 Inspireras av dom bästa
Det finns många platser där man kan klicka på en bild och se vilken prompt som använts för att generera den. Testa att surfa till https://prompthero.com/ och antingen inspireras av bilderna som visas upp eller sök efter det du vill skapa, eller titta direkt i bings bildgenerering.

När du hittat en bild i en stil du gillar, modifiera prompten för att passa det du vill ha, klistra in i bildgenereringsverktyget. Experimentera!

Min lärdom från detta är att bra prompter är väldigt detaljerade, experter skriver en novell.

Nyfiken på att se vad du skapar - lycka till 🙌

Refining Your AI Conversation Skills

 🥳 It's easy to draw the conclusion that large language models such as ChatGPT give pretty bad output and are not very useful. But just like learning a new language, becoming proficient in AI speak "prompt engineering", requires practice and play to undertand the correlation between input (prompt) and output (answer).

I've been researching the current understanding of how to make effective prompts. Here is a summary guide to give you a flying start:

1️⃣ Be Specific - Be clear about the desired context, outcome, length, format, style, etc.
👍Write a short, inspiring poem about project management in the style of Emily Dickinson.
👎 Write a poem about project management.

2️⃣ Use Concrete Descriptions - Keep prompts concise and to the point.
👍 Write a short story about a cat's adventure in a city.
👎 Write a story about a cat.

3️⃣ Specify What to Do, Avoid What Not to Do - It's better to instruct the model on what it should do instead of what it shouldn't.
👍 The AI should recommend a TV series from IMDB without asking users for their interests or personal information.
👎 This is an AI agent that recommends TV series to a customer. Do not ask about customer interests. Do not ask for personal information.

4️⃣ Start with Instructions and Use Separators - Place instructions at the start of the prompt, use separators like ### or """.
👍Summarize the following text: """Input text here"""
👎 Input text, summarize the text.

5️⃣ Articulate Desired Output with Examples - Guide the model by providing example outputs.
👍Translate the following English phrases into French: 'Hello, how are you?' = 'Bonjour, comment ça va?' ; Now translate: 'I am learning French.'
👎 Translate 'I am learning French' into French.

6️⃣ Use an Iterative Prompting Strategy - Start by providing a task without prior examples (zero-shot)

Input: "Translate the following English sentence into French: 'I love learning new languages.'" Output: ?

If it doesn't give the desired results, try giving a few examples (one-shot or few-shot):

Example 1: Input: "Tell a joke in the following format: 'Why don't [group] [do something]?' 'Because [punchline]!'" Output: "Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!"

Example 2: Input: "Tell a joke in the same format." Output: "Why don't we tell secrets on a farm? Because the potatoes have eyes, the corn has ears, and the beans stalk."

Now, perform the task: Input: "Tell a joke in the same format."

👍 Experiment with various prompt engineering strategies.
👎 Give up after the first attempt.


📌 Try starting with guidelines 1-3 in mind when crafting your prompts.

📌 Give yourself a task such as getting the AI to compile a list of books to read during the summer, then experiment, experiment, and experiment until you get the results you want.

What is your experience using ChatGPT? Do you get the output you want? What do you use it for? Give examples of your best prompts?

🔍 Explore AI without Spreading Your Corporate Secrets

😱 Ever felt the icy chill of dread realizing your confidential data might be at risk while experimenting with AI? Recently, we read about Apple banning their employees from using ChatGPT due to concerns that confidential information could be leaked. It makes perfect sense and Apple is not alone.

💡 Yet, we know that generative AI models are going to play an important role for us, and the best way to stay ahead of the curve is to experiment with it. NOW.

⌛ Until the big IT providers, Google and Microsoft, roll out AI in all enterprise IT environments, there are a few ways to run pilot AI projects. Yes, we heard the announcement that Microsoft is releasing it natively in Windows 11 during the summer, but enterprises are seldom on the latest Windows release.

🚀 There are several solutions 😄

Feel save while exploring letting AI loose on your confidential documents…

🛡️ Stay super safe by running GPT locally, i.e., on a computer that is not connected to the internet. What? This sounds super nerdy, but it is not. With very limited computer skills, I managed to install privateGPT on my computer and ask questions on documents that I provided. How cool isn't that!!! It's extremely safe but the answers were not on par with say, ChatGPT-4. See https://lnkd.in/dGrpw2cd

🔒 Use the encrypted service CapeChat. It automatically encrypts your documents and censors any sensitive data, allowing your information to stay private and secure. This sounds like an opportunity to be safe and get state-of-the-art AI results. See https://lnkd.in/dpFVDhcY Do you like it?

💻 Microsoft also provide a method for deploying ChatGPT based models, which I haven't tried yet, see https://lnkd.in/dS4TknJV. Have you tried it? Does it do the magic for you?

If you are happy using publicly available information and not your own confidential data…

🖥️ Set up specific computers without access to company logins (i.e., no access to company data), use mobile internet access, and have clear instructions on what you are allowed to do and not do. Your company will likely have some publicly available information that can be used in AI experiments. This is not the safest method but quite easy to set-up.

❓What is your approach to leverage the recent developments within AI? Is it OK to use ChatGPT within your company? Is it not? Are you eager to start now? Or wait until Google/Microsoft rolls out the solution for you? 🥳

How will AI change the way you work?

May is my month for exploring Microsoft, and it has led me to Microsoft Worklab. It's a fantastic resource that combines science with ideas about the future of work, with a particular focus on AI in recent content. It's a user-friendly site for us non-techies and leaders. Check it out. 

I've reviewed the site through my AI lens and found three inspiring podcasts where Marcus Wohlsen, John Maeda, and Erik Brynjolfsson are interviewed. I highly recommend listening to the episodes to stimulate new thoughts. 
  
Topics discussed:
  
1. Understanding AI for Leaders, Leadership Strategy for AI Adoption and Integration 
2. Getting Started with AI in the Workplace 
3. Ethical Considerations and Data Privacy for AI Implementation 
4. AI Applications and Future Opportunities 
  
My key takeaways
  
AI for Leaders 
🧙 There's a profound transformation on the horizon that will affect all of us. 
  
🧙 The gap between what technology can do and what our organizations are using it for is growing. We need to close that gap by speeding up our adaptation.
  
😱 What should I do? 
  
🧙 Use the AI tools yourself to see what they're capable of and be comfortable with everyone in your organization using and exploring them. 
  
🧙 You need to rebuild the processes and organizations from the ground up, leveraging the capabilities of the new AI tools, not just using them to supercharge the current processes. The biggest benefits come from doing new things that we haven't done before. [Personal remark: to frame it in Henry Ford's way, it is about building cars and not faster horses.] This requires a lot more creativity than simply asking - how can a machine replace a person? 
  
 
AI Applications and Future Opportunities
  
🥳 Freedom to choose, 
AI could give us the possibility of doing more of what we like and less of what we don't like. You need to ask yourself: what do you want to keep doing? 
  
🥳 More specificity, 
using ChatGPT today leads us into a somewhat generic discussion since it is trained on public information. Soon tools like Microsoft Copilot will be informed by the specific data that is unique to you and unique to your organization, giving much more specific answers. 
  
🥳 Remove blockers, 
you won't start with a blank page. AI can easily create the first draft. It can also assist in brainstorming sessions by expanding on your ideas. 
  
🥳 Enabler, 
AI will empower you to do things you haven't done before or do it better. Take DALL-E, which helps us create better art as one example. 
  
❓Have you started working on AI strategies? Are you considering how to educate your current staff? What do you want to do more or less of? 
  
💡Go ahead and explore Microsoft Worklab to challenge your thinking on leaders.