On this week’s episode of Trending in Education, we have a discussion with Nicolle Merrill regarding conversation design, AI literacy, and preparing for the impacts of artificial intelligence in the workplace.
Nicolle is the founder of The Boring AI Company, where she educates organizations about AI. She also has practical experience in designing conversational AI, having worked on chatbots and voice assistants before the emergence of chatGPT and other advanced language models.
We delve into how Nicolle has adapted her career as these new AI capabilities have come to light. She mentions that the hype surrounding “prompt engineering” as a lucrative new career doesn’t align with reality. Prompt engineering is a crucial skill, but it is not a standalone job that pays hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
A major focus of our conversation is on AI literacy and the necessary skills to work with AI. Nicolle presents a framework for understanding how AI functions, its applications, and its impact. Critical thinking and communication skills are essential. We must become comfortable asking “basic” questions, being open to vulnerability, and engaging with technologists to enhance our literacy.
Nicolle explains how she is developing chatbots to support this learning process, creating “AI helpers” that workshop participants can interact with to grasp AI concepts in an accessible manner. We discuss the importance of adopting a maker’s mindset when utilizing these tools while also being mindful of potential risks such as misinformation.
If you are interested in learning more, you can visit Nicolle’s website, SoBoringAI.com, for AI literacy courses and resources. The future of work is already here, and we all need to enhance our AI skills.
Subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you listen to podcasts. For more insightful discussions on emerging trends in the realm of education, visit us at TrendinginEd.com.
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