The Lightwave 

Practical Insights for Skeptics & Users Alike…in (Roughly) Two Minutes or Less

"Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important" - Bill Gates

Here’s a quick week from last week:

Issue 1: The Lightwave newsletter aims to demystify AI for busy professionals through concise, jargon-free explanations delivered in two-minute reads.

Issue 2: AI is not magical or all-knowing, but rather a narrow, data-dependent tool good at processing information and recognizing patterns without true understanding or consciousness.

Issue 3: Many workers distrust AI due to fears of job loss and data misuse, necessitating honest discussions and proactive measures to address these concerns before implementation.

Issue 4: To overcome barriers to AI adoption, organizations should start conversations, be transparent about AI decision-making, involve team members, prioritize data privacy, demonstrate AI's supportive role, and establish clear guidelines.

The best way to learn generative AI’s power and potential is to dive in and explore the tools directly. But how can organizations do this in a safe, controlled way in a sandbox-like environment. Important note: Do not use real, sensitive data here.

Here’s an easy, basic use case. To keep these early experiments insultated from real organizational data, I like to make up a company or a concept and go from there.

For today, I am going to use ChatGPT-4, which is free for all users.

Let’s start with this hypothetical: I have decided to launch a business focused on customized reusable water bottles.

1. Go to to OpenAI’s website and click “Try on ChatGPT Plus”

2. In the text window, I will type in a basic prompt like:

   

Here’s what ChatGPT responded to me with (Note: for the sake of space, I’ve only included 3/5 responses):

The above, of course, is very basic and uses little of ChatGPT’s potential. It will also be boring for anyone who is already familiar with GPT…this might be a place to empower these potential “Power Users” to help with the basics of training and discussion.

That said, the above can be an easy way to kick things off and experiment with the user interface, etc. Users can ask follow up questions, such as: Provide a two sentence sales pitch that emphasizes the eco-impact of our reusable water bottle; Help me brainstorm a list of potential company names; Who are my top competitors in this space?

In the next issue, we’ll take a step back and look at models like ChatGPT-4o to learn the fundamentals of how they work and where they can go wrong.

For more, visit www.NorthLightAI.com