What is generative AI and can a small business owner use this?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, I was doing some research into the polarising nature of AI and that a lot of business owners feel like it doesn\u2019t even apply to them, that it\u2019s not something that they can use in their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can we talk a bit about what we mean by AI? Because we\u2019re not talking about these futuristic, sentient systems that have feelings and approximate human beings. We\u2019re talking about a different kind of AI. Do you want to break it down for me, please?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, of course. AI itself has been around for a really long time, so it\u2019s pretty much since 1950 actually. Every time you pick up your phone or use your computer or go to the cash machine or walk past the CCTV camera, we are using AI throughout everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s lots and lots of different types of it, but the bit we\u2019re all talking about now and the reason that everybody, every conference you go to, the reason that most people want to switch off when they hear AI, the reason that your LinkedIn feed is completely saturated, is generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is something that\u2019s completely new as of the end of 2022, and that is the ability to create something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So generative AI, generate something new, whether it\u2019s a piece of text, an image, a video, audio, music, or voice. There\u2019s so much you can create, and then you can analyse and summarise that information as well. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve never been able to do before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whenever I do a session I say, \u201cWho\u2019s new to AI?\u201d And I always get a chunk of the room saying, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve never used it before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then when I start to explain that your predictive texts, your email spam filters, everything, that\u2019s all AI already. It\u2019s generative AI that you\u2019re new to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd can generative AI, and for our listeners, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll probably be focusing on for most of this chat, can generative AI be used by any kind of business owner? Because obviously big corporations you can see the use case, but what about, as I said in my intro, man in van, driving around, drainage engineer, how can generative AI help him in his business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. I actually think the smaller businesses and one-man bands, or one-woman bands, have the greatest advantage here. And I am a one-woman band, I run this business by myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can integrate it into pretty much every part of your life. There are so many use cases both inside and outside of work, but even if we focus on inside work and your personal productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how you check your emails, how you manage your diary, how you have your meetings, if you have your meetings online, but if you don\u2019t, there\u2019s also AI for that too, if they\u2019re outside of that. How you prepare your proposals. Pretty much every business prepares proposals in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether it\u2019s off the back of a phone call, off the back of a meeting that you\u2019ve had, scribbled notes, there\u2019s just something for everything across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I always recommend people do start with that personal productivity piece because that\u2019s where you start to see the biggest results and you go, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve got an hour back then,\u201d or, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve got 2 hours back.\u201d Or, \u201cThat task used to take me 4 hours and now it\u2019s taken me 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the magic of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is actually just ending his 26-year career working in hospitality and starting a new business as a dog trainer. So very much not a digital business at all, but I\u2019ve taken it on as a project. I\u2019m working alongside him to make it as AI first as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose it\u2019s not bricks and mortar because he\u2019s out in the grass and the parks, grass and parks business shall we call it, but you can apply AI to so many parts of that. From coming up with his business name and slogan to just digging into who\u2019s his ideal customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll be doing leaflets, who should we be giving leaflets to? What benefits should we be pointing out to them? How is he going to handle his payments and transactions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so many things that I can help him with. I can\u2019t think of an actual business type that wouldn\u2019t benefit from AI right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing the stigma around using AI and where to start<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s so interesting. Because I\u2019m a journalist in my day job and there was lots of doom-mongering about how my profession would be dead in 10 years, but I thought what I\u2019m going to do is I\u2019m just going to get comfortable with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I signed up for ChatGPT account. I don\u2019t use it to do any writing, but I do things like when I finish a piece, I\u2019ll ask ChatGPT to write the same piece because it\u2019s a useful way of seeing what I\u2019ve missed. Or if I\u2019ve missed any glaring errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would never use it for facts or sources or data at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I also had to do a PR and marketing plan recently, and I just made ChatGPT do it because I\u2019m so bad at writing formal proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had to edit it quite a lot afterwards, but that was a real game-changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere are so many different things you can use it for. And actually one thing I want to mention, just as you said that, you said that with almost a bit of shame, \u201cOh, I cheated with AI,\u201d and actually it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like if you were to do a Google search, it\u2019s a tool like anything else. A tool like the internet is for us, a tool like mobile phones are for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you calling someone, you\u2019re not cheating because you\u2019re not going round to see them face-to-face. I think that\u2019s one of the main stigmas we need to remove is that there is a shame because you think, \u201cWell, that was too easy. Amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picking up the phone is too easy compared to going round. Putting something in the dishwasher is too easy compared to washing it yourself. It\u2019s just a progression of technology and I think that\u2019s something we need to get around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But most people start with Chat GPT. I call them dabblers. And that is honestly the vast majority of people that I work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often work with rooms of 100 people and probably 95% of them will be dabblers, which means that they\u2019ve tried a couple of things, usually ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They might have written an email, and they ask it to be rephrased in some way. So it\u2019s stuff like, \u201cMake this a little bit more friendly or more formal”, or “Give me some ideas for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where most people start because you open it and there are no instructions, so you have to feel your way and work out how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s a whole world of AI tools out there. So Chat GPT is called an LLM, I hate technical language, hence my business name AI for Non-Techies, but it\u2019s a Large Language Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, it\u2019s an AI chatbot, and there are a few of them. There\u2019s Gemini, which is by Google. There\u2019s Claude, which is by Anthropic. There\u2019s Copilot by Microsoft, and there\u2019s ChatGPT by OpenAI. They\u2019re your big four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They all have different purposes and different strengths and weaknesses, and they\u2019re the best place to start because they\u2019re multipurpose tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So start with those chatbots because they can do so much. Of course you can create content, but you can simulate difficult conversations, you can analyse information, you can build plans, you can get expert advice, you can summarise information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just endless, and it\u2019s usually \u00a320 a month, there\u2019s always free versions when you first start, but that \u00a320 a month is the best \u00a320 I spend all month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, a little note when you\u2019re saying about using ChatGPT to write or not to write in your case, ChatGPT\u2019s strength isn\u2019t in writing, it\u2019s more analysis and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claude is the one for writers. It\u2019s much more human sounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you start off with the LLMs and then you\u2019d move forward into more specific tools that are designed for a specific purpose. And there\u2019s a whole other group as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got your LLMs, you\u2019ve got your tools for a specific purpose. You have sales ones, marketing ones, finance ones, all sorts. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them out there at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to work out which tasks to use AI for<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFor our listeners, they shouldn\u2019t just be seeking out AI tools, like looking up so-and-so with AI because that might not add that much value, but they should be thinking about \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, maybe tell me the process. Do you look at your work day and think about the things that are manual tasks that maybe aren\u2019t generating a lot of value for the business, but are taking a lot of time, and then look for a tool or figure out a way to use AI to cut that down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the process to follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, that\u2019s definitely the right way to do it. I always like to advise people to start with your business goals or your own goals, what are you hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then where are your blockers, exactly like you were saying. You don\u2019t need to necessarily think at that stage what\u2019s time-consuming, but AI is brilliant at time-sapping, repetitive admin-type tasks, but it\u2019s also good at others so I wouldn\u2019t factor that in at that early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are your goals? What\u2019s stopping you from achieving those goals? And you\u2019ll find that lots comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I tend to use the impact effort matrix, it\u2019s a really simple matrix, just Google it, or Perplexity if you\u2019re into your AI, that\u2019s the new Google but we won\u2019t get into that. It hasn\u2019t got quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, the effort impact matrix, or impact effort matrix, helps you set out which of your blockers are quick wins, and which are strategic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the other 2 sections, it\u2019s in 4 quadrants, the other 2 sections aren\u2019t really to bother with because it\u2019s if they\u2019re high effort and low impact, there\u2019s not really much point in doing that. And if they\u2019re low effort, low impact, again, not much point doing that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So then you\u2019ve got your list of quick wins and strategic plans and then you need to look at and see if AI is the answer, because AI is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of people are trying to plaster and patch problems with AI where it doesn\u2019t fit. It is incredible at some types of tasks, but it\u2019s absolutely horrendous at others. And that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t tools in those horrendous areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think people need to start to educate themselves on what it\u2019s actually good at. And like I say, a great place to start is those repetitive admin tasks. If you\u2019re doing something every morning and you\u2019re doing something on repeat, it\u2019s a great case for automation, it\u2019s also a great case for AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people often get those two things confused. They\u2019re two separate things, AI and automation. They work beautifully together, but that requires quite advanced knowledge of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to avoid using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I was doing some research into the polarising nature of AI and that a lot of business owners feel like it doesn\u2019t even apply to them, that it\u2019s not something that they can use in their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can we talk a bit about what we mean by AI? Because we\u2019re not talking about these futuristic, sentient systems that have feelings and approximate human beings. We\u2019re talking about a different kind of AI. Do you want to break it down for me, please?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, of course. AI itself has been around for a really long time, so it\u2019s pretty much since 1950 actually. Every time you pick up your phone or use your computer or go to the cash machine or walk past the CCTV camera, we are using AI throughout everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s lots and lots of different types of it, but the bit we\u2019re all talking about now and the reason that everybody, every conference you go to, the reason that most people want to switch off when they hear AI, the reason that your LinkedIn feed is completely saturated, is generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is something that\u2019s completely new as of the end of 2022, and that is the ability to create something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So generative AI, generate something new, whether it\u2019s a piece of text, an image, a video, audio, music, or voice. There\u2019s so much you can create, and then you can analyse and summarise that information as well. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve never been able to do before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whenever I do a session I say, \u201cWho\u2019s new to AI?\u201d And I always get a chunk of the room saying, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve never used it before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then when I start to explain that your predictive texts, your email spam filters, everything, that\u2019s all AI already. It\u2019s generative AI that you\u2019re new to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd can generative AI, and for our listeners, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll probably be focusing on for most of this chat, can generative AI be used by any kind of business owner? Because obviously big corporations you can see the use case, but what about, as I said in my intro, man in van, driving around, drainage engineer, how can generative AI help him in his business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. I actually think the smaller businesses and one-man bands, or one-woman bands, have the greatest advantage here. And I am a one-woman band, I run this business by myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can integrate it into pretty much every part of your life. There are so many use cases both inside and outside of work, but even if we focus on inside work and your personal productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how you check your emails, how you manage your diary, how you have your meetings, if you have your meetings online, but if you don\u2019t, there\u2019s also AI for that too, if they\u2019re outside of that. How you prepare your proposals. Pretty much every business prepares proposals in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether it\u2019s off the back of a phone call, off the back of a meeting that you\u2019ve had, scribbled notes, there\u2019s just something for everything across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I always recommend people do start with that personal productivity piece because that\u2019s where you start to see the biggest results and you go, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve got an hour back then,\u201d or, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve got 2 hours back.\u201d Or, \u201cThat task used to take me 4 hours and now it\u2019s taken me 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the magic of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is actually just ending his 26-year career working in hospitality and starting a new business as a dog trainer. So very much not a digital business at all, but I\u2019ve taken it on as a project. I\u2019m working alongside him to make it as AI first as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose it\u2019s not bricks and mortar because he\u2019s out in the grass and the parks, grass and parks business shall we call it, but you can apply AI to so many parts of that. From coming up with his business name and slogan to just digging into who\u2019s his ideal customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll be doing leaflets, who should we be giving leaflets to? What benefits should we be pointing out to them? How is he going to handle his payments and transactions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so many things that I can help him with. I can\u2019t think of an actual business type that wouldn\u2019t benefit from AI right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing the stigma around using AI and where to start<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s so interesting. Because I\u2019m a journalist in my day job and there was lots of doom-mongering about how my profession would be dead in 10 years, but I thought what I\u2019m going to do is I\u2019m just going to get comfortable with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I signed up for ChatGPT account. I don\u2019t use it to do any writing, but I do things like when I finish a piece, I\u2019ll ask ChatGPT to write the same piece because it\u2019s a useful way of seeing what I\u2019ve missed. Or if I\u2019ve missed any glaring errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would never use it for facts or sources or data at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I also had to do a PR and marketing plan recently, and I just made ChatGPT do it because I\u2019m so bad at writing formal proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had to edit it quite a lot afterwards, but that was a real game-changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere are so many different things you can use it for. And actually one thing I want to mention, just as you said that, you said that with almost a bit of shame, \u201cOh, I cheated with AI,\u201d and actually it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like if you were to do a Google search, it\u2019s a tool like anything else. A tool like the internet is for us, a tool like mobile phones are for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you calling someone, you\u2019re not cheating because you\u2019re not going round to see them face-to-face. I think that\u2019s one of the main stigmas we need to remove is that there is a shame because you think, \u201cWell, that was too easy. Amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picking up the phone is too easy compared to going round. Putting something in the dishwasher is too easy compared to washing it yourself. It\u2019s just a progression of technology and I think that\u2019s something we need to get around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But most people start with Chat GPT. I call them dabblers. And that is honestly the vast majority of people that I work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often work with rooms of 100 people and probably 95% of them will be dabblers, which means that they\u2019ve tried a couple of things, usually ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They might have written an email, and they ask it to be rephrased in some way. So it\u2019s stuff like, \u201cMake this a little bit more friendly or more formal”, or “Give me some ideas for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where most people start because you open it and there are no instructions, so you have to feel your way and work out how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s a whole world of AI tools out there. So Chat GPT is called an LLM, I hate technical language, hence my business name AI for Non-Techies, but it\u2019s a Large Language Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, it\u2019s an AI chatbot, and there are a few of them. There\u2019s Gemini, which is by Google. There\u2019s Claude, which is by Anthropic. There\u2019s Copilot by Microsoft, and there\u2019s ChatGPT by OpenAI. They\u2019re your big four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They all have different purposes and different strengths and weaknesses, and they\u2019re the best place to start because they\u2019re multipurpose tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So start with those chatbots because they can do so much. Of course you can create content, but you can simulate difficult conversations, you can analyse information, you can build plans, you can get expert advice, you can summarise information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just endless, and it\u2019s usually \u00a320 a month, there\u2019s always free versions when you first start, but that \u00a320 a month is the best \u00a320 I spend all month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, a little note when you\u2019re saying about using ChatGPT to write or not to write in your case, ChatGPT\u2019s strength isn\u2019t in writing, it\u2019s more analysis and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claude is the one for writers. It\u2019s much more human sounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you start off with the LLMs and then you\u2019d move forward into more specific tools that are designed for a specific purpose. And there\u2019s a whole other group as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got your LLMs, you\u2019ve got your tools for a specific purpose. You have sales ones, marketing ones, finance ones, all sorts. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them out there at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to work out which tasks to use AI for<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFor our listeners, they shouldn\u2019t just be seeking out AI tools, like looking up so-and-so with AI because that might not add that much value, but they should be thinking about \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, maybe tell me the process. Do you look at your work day and think about the things that are manual tasks that maybe aren\u2019t generating a lot of value for the business, but are taking a lot of time, and then look for a tool or figure out a way to use AI to cut that down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the process to follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, that\u2019s definitely the right way to do it. I always like to advise people to start with your business goals or your own goals, what are you hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then where are your blockers, exactly like you were saying. You don\u2019t need to necessarily think at that stage what\u2019s time-consuming, but AI is brilliant at time-sapping, repetitive admin-type tasks, but it\u2019s also good at others so I wouldn\u2019t factor that in at that early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are your goals? What\u2019s stopping you from achieving those goals? And you\u2019ll find that lots comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I tend to use the impact effort matrix, it\u2019s a really simple matrix, just Google it, or Perplexity if you\u2019re into your AI, that\u2019s the new Google but we won\u2019t get into that. It hasn\u2019t got quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, the effort impact matrix, or impact effort matrix, helps you set out which of your blockers are quick wins, and which are strategic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the other 2 sections, it\u2019s in 4 quadrants, the other 2 sections aren\u2019t really to bother with because it\u2019s if they\u2019re high effort and low impact, there\u2019s not really much point in doing that. And if they\u2019re low effort, low impact, again, not much point doing that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So then you\u2019ve got your list of quick wins and strategic plans and then you need to look at and see if AI is the answer, because AI is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of people are trying to plaster and patch problems with AI where it doesn\u2019t fit. It is incredible at some types of tasks, but it\u2019s absolutely horrendous at others. And that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t tools in those horrendous areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think people need to start to educate themselves on what it\u2019s actually good at. And like I say, a great place to start is those repetitive admin tasks. If you\u2019re doing something every morning and you\u2019re doing something on repeat, it\u2019s a great case for automation, it\u2019s also a great case for AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people often get those two things confused. They\u2019re two separate things, AI and automation. They work beautifully together, but that requires quite advanced knowledge of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to avoid using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And can generative AI, and for our listeners, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll probably be focusing on for most of this chat, can generative AI be used by any kind of business owner? Because obviously big corporations you can see the use case, but what about, as I said in my intro, man in van, driving around, drainage engineer, how can generative AI help him in his business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. I actually think the smaller businesses and one-man bands, or one-woman bands, have the greatest advantage here. And I am a one-woman band, I run this business by myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can integrate it into pretty much every part of your life. There are so many use cases both inside and outside of work, but even if we focus on inside work and your personal productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how you check your emails, how you manage your diary, how you have your meetings, if you have your meetings online, but if you don\u2019t, there\u2019s also AI for that too, if they\u2019re outside of that. How you prepare your proposals. Pretty much every business prepares proposals in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether it\u2019s off the back of a phone call, off the back of a meeting that you\u2019ve had, scribbled notes, there\u2019s just something for everything across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I always recommend people do start with that personal productivity piece because that\u2019s where you start to see the biggest results and you go, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve got an hour back then,\u201d or, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve got 2 hours back.\u201d Or, \u201cThat task used to take me 4 hours and now it\u2019s taken me 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the magic of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is actually just ending his 26-year career working in hospitality and starting a new business as a dog trainer. So very much not a digital business at all, but I\u2019ve taken it on as a project. I\u2019m working alongside him to make it as AI first as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose it\u2019s not bricks and mortar because he\u2019s out in the grass and the parks, grass and parks business shall we call it, but you can apply AI to so many parts of that. From coming up with his business name and slogan to just digging into who\u2019s his ideal customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll be doing leaflets, who should we be giving leaflets to? What benefits should we be pointing out to them? How is he going to handle his payments and transactions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s so many things that I can help him with. I can\u2019t think of an actual business type that wouldn\u2019t benefit from AI right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing the stigma around using AI and where to start<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s so interesting. Because I\u2019m a journalist in my day job and there was lots of doom-mongering about how my profession would be dead in 10 years, but I thought what I\u2019m going to do is I\u2019m just going to get comfortable with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I signed up for ChatGPT account. I don\u2019t use it to do any writing, but I do things like when I finish a piece, I\u2019ll ask ChatGPT to write the same piece because it\u2019s a useful way of seeing what I\u2019ve missed. Or if I\u2019ve missed any glaring errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would never use it for facts or sources or data at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I also had to do a PR and marketing plan recently, and I just made ChatGPT do it because I\u2019m so bad at writing formal proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had to edit it quite a lot afterwards, but that was a real game-changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere are so many different things you can use it for. And actually one thing I want to mention, just as you said that, you said that with almost a bit of shame, \u201cOh, I cheated with AI,\u201d and actually it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like if you were to do a Google search, it\u2019s a tool like anything else. A tool like the internet is for us, a tool like mobile phones are for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you calling someone, you\u2019re not cheating because you\u2019re not going round to see them face-to-face. I think that\u2019s one of the main stigmas we need to remove is that there is a shame because you think, \u201cWell, that was too easy. Amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picking up the phone is too easy compared to going round. Putting something in the dishwasher is too easy compared to washing it yourself. It\u2019s just a progression of technology and I think that\u2019s something we need to get around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But most people start with Chat GPT. I call them dabblers. And that is honestly the vast majority of people that I work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often work with rooms of 100 people and probably 95% of them will be dabblers, which means that they\u2019ve tried a couple of things, usually ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They might have written an email, and they ask it to be rephrased in some way. So it\u2019s stuff like, \u201cMake this a little bit more friendly or more formal”, or “Give me some ideas for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where most people start because you open it and there are no instructions, so you have to feel your way and work out how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s a whole world of AI tools out there. So Chat GPT is called an LLM, I hate technical language, hence my business name AI for Non-Techies, but it\u2019s a Large Language Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, it\u2019s an AI chatbot, and there are a few of them. There\u2019s Gemini, which is by Google. There\u2019s Claude, which is by Anthropic. There\u2019s Copilot by Microsoft, and there\u2019s ChatGPT by OpenAI. They\u2019re your big four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They all have different purposes and different strengths and weaknesses, and they\u2019re the best place to start because they\u2019re multipurpose tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So start with those chatbots because they can do so much. Of course you can create content, but you can simulate difficult conversations, you can analyse information, you can build plans, you can get expert advice, you can summarise information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just endless, and it\u2019s usually \u00a320 a month, there\u2019s always free versions when you first start, but that \u00a320 a month is the best \u00a320 I spend all month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, a little note when you\u2019re saying about using ChatGPT to write or not to write in your case, ChatGPT\u2019s strength isn\u2019t in writing, it\u2019s more analysis and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claude is the one for writers. It\u2019s much more human sounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you start off with the LLMs and then you\u2019d move forward into more specific tools that are designed for a specific purpose. And there\u2019s a whole other group as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got your LLMs, you\u2019ve got your tools for a specific purpose. You have sales ones, marketing ones, finance ones, all sorts. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them out there at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to work out which tasks to use AI for<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFor our listeners, they shouldn\u2019t just be seeking out AI tools, like looking up so-and-so with AI because that might not add that much value, but they should be thinking about \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, maybe tell me the process. Do you look at your work day and think about the things that are manual tasks that maybe aren\u2019t generating a lot of value for the business, but are taking a lot of time, and then look for a tool or figure out a way to use AI to cut that down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the process to follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, that\u2019s definitely the right way to do it. I always like to advise people to start with your business goals or your own goals, what are you hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then where are your blockers, exactly like you were saying. You don\u2019t need to necessarily think at that stage what\u2019s time-consuming, but AI is brilliant at time-sapping, repetitive admin-type tasks, but it\u2019s also good at others so I wouldn\u2019t factor that in at that early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are your goals? What\u2019s stopping you from achieving those goals? And you\u2019ll find that lots comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I tend to use the impact effort matrix, it\u2019s a really simple matrix, just Google it, or Perplexity if you\u2019re into your AI, that\u2019s the new Google but we won\u2019t get into that. It hasn\u2019t got quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, the effort impact matrix, or impact effort matrix, helps you set out which of your blockers are quick wins, and which are strategic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the other 2 sections, it\u2019s in 4 quadrants, the other 2 sections aren\u2019t really to bother with because it\u2019s if they\u2019re high effort and low impact, there\u2019s not really much point in doing that. And if they\u2019re low effort, low impact, again, not much point doing that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So then you\u2019ve got your list of quick wins and strategic plans and then you need to look at and see if AI is the answer, because AI is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of people are trying to plaster and patch problems with AI where it doesn\u2019t fit. It is incredible at some types of tasks, but it\u2019s absolutely horrendous at others. And that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t tools in those horrendous areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think people need to start to educate themselves on what it\u2019s actually good at. And like I say, a great place to start is those repetitive admin tasks. If you\u2019re doing something every morning and you\u2019re doing something on repeat, it\u2019s a great case for automation, it\u2019s also a great case for AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people often get those two things confused. They\u2019re two separate things, AI and automation. They work beautifully together, but that requires quite advanced knowledge of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to avoid using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s so interesting. Because I\u2019m a journalist in my day job and there was lots of doom-mongering about how my profession would be dead in 10 years, but I thought what I\u2019m going to do is I\u2019m just going to get comfortable with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I signed up for ChatGPT account. I don\u2019t use it to do any writing, but I do things like when I finish a piece, I\u2019ll ask ChatGPT to write the same piece because it\u2019s a useful way of seeing what I\u2019ve missed. Or if I\u2019ve missed any glaring errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would never use it for facts or sources or data at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I also had to do a PR and marketing plan recently, and I just made ChatGPT do it because I\u2019m so bad at writing formal proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had to edit it quite a lot afterwards, but that was a real game-changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere are so many different things you can use it for. And actually one thing I want to mention, just as you said that, you said that with almost a bit of shame, \u201cOh, I cheated with AI,\u201d and actually it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like if you were to do a Google search, it\u2019s a tool like anything else. A tool like the internet is for us, a tool like mobile phones are for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you calling someone, you\u2019re not cheating because you\u2019re not going round to see them face-to-face. I think that\u2019s one of the main stigmas we need to remove is that there is a shame because you think, \u201cWell, that was too easy. Amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picking up the phone is too easy compared to going round. Putting something in the dishwasher is too easy compared to washing it yourself. It\u2019s just a progression of technology and I think that\u2019s something we need to get around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But most people start with Chat GPT. I call them dabblers. And that is honestly the vast majority of people that I work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often work with rooms of 100 people and probably 95% of them will be dabblers, which means that they\u2019ve tried a couple of things, usually ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They might have written an email, and they ask it to be rephrased in some way. So it\u2019s stuff like, \u201cMake this a little bit more friendly or more formal”, or “Give me some ideas for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where most people start because you open it and there are no instructions, so you have to feel your way and work out how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s a whole world of AI tools out there. So Chat GPT is called an LLM, I hate technical language, hence my business name AI for Non-Techies, but it\u2019s a Large Language Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, it\u2019s an AI chatbot, and there are a few of them. There\u2019s Gemini, which is by Google. There\u2019s Claude, which is by Anthropic. There\u2019s Copilot by Microsoft, and there\u2019s ChatGPT by OpenAI. They\u2019re your big four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They all have different purposes and different strengths and weaknesses, and they\u2019re the best place to start because they\u2019re multipurpose tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So start with those chatbots because they can do so much. Of course you can create content, but you can simulate difficult conversations, you can analyse information, you can build plans, you can get expert advice, you can summarise information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just endless, and it\u2019s usually \u00a320 a month, there\u2019s always free versions when you first start, but that \u00a320 a month is the best \u00a320 I spend all month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, a little note when you\u2019re saying about using ChatGPT to write or not to write in your case, ChatGPT\u2019s strength isn\u2019t in writing, it\u2019s more analysis and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claude is the one for writers. It\u2019s much more human sounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you start off with the LLMs and then you\u2019d move forward into more specific tools that are designed for a specific purpose. And there\u2019s a whole other group as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got your LLMs, you\u2019ve got your tools for a specific purpose. You have sales ones, marketing ones, finance ones, all sorts. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them out there at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to work out which tasks to use AI for<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFor our listeners, they shouldn\u2019t just be seeking out AI tools, like looking up so-and-so with AI because that might not add that much value, but they should be thinking about \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, maybe tell me the process. Do you look at your work day and think about the things that are manual tasks that maybe aren\u2019t generating a lot of value for the business, but are taking a lot of time, and then look for a tool or figure out a way to use AI to cut that down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the process to follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, that\u2019s definitely the right way to do it. I always like to advise people to start with your business goals or your own goals, what are you hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then where are your blockers, exactly like you were saying. You don\u2019t need to necessarily think at that stage what\u2019s time-consuming, but AI is brilliant at time-sapping, repetitive admin-type tasks, but it\u2019s also good at others so I wouldn\u2019t factor that in at that early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are your goals? What\u2019s stopping you from achieving those goals? And you\u2019ll find that lots comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I tend to use the impact effort matrix, it\u2019s a really simple matrix, just Google it, or Perplexity if you\u2019re into your AI, that\u2019s the new Google but we won\u2019t get into that. It hasn\u2019t got quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, the effort impact matrix, or impact effort matrix, helps you set out which of your blockers are quick wins, and which are strategic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the other 2 sections, it\u2019s in 4 quadrants, the other 2 sections aren\u2019t really to bother with because it\u2019s if they\u2019re high effort and low impact, there\u2019s not really much point in doing that. And if they\u2019re low effort, low impact, again, not much point doing that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So then you\u2019ve got your list of quick wins and strategic plans and then you need to look at and see if AI is the answer, because AI is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of people are trying to plaster and patch problems with AI where it doesn\u2019t fit. It is incredible at some types of tasks, but it\u2019s absolutely horrendous at others. And that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t tools in those horrendous areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think people need to start to educate themselves on what it\u2019s actually good at. And like I say, a great place to start is those repetitive admin tasks. If you\u2019re doing something every morning and you\u2019re doing something on repeat, it\u2019s a great case for automation, it\u2019s also a great case for AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people often get those two things confused. They\u2019re two separate things, AI and automation. They work beautifully together, but that requires quite advanced knowledge of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to avoid using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are so many different things you can use it for. And actually one thing I want to mention, just as you said that, you said that with almost a bit of shame, \u201cOh, I cheated with AI,\u201d and actually it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like if you were to do a Google search, it\u2019s a tool like anything else. A tool like the internet is for us, a tool like mobile phones are for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you calling someone, you\u2019re not cheating because you\u2019re not going round to see them face-to-face. I think that\u2019s one of the main stigmas we need to remove is that there is a shame because you think, \u201cWell, that was too easy. Amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picking up the phone is too easy compared to going round. Putting something in the dishwasher is too easy compared to washing it yourself. It\u2019s just a progression of technology and I think that\u2019s something we need to get around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But most people start with Chat GPT. I call them dabblers. And that is honestly the vast majority of people that I work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often work with rooms of 100 people and probably 95% of them will be dabblers, which means that they\u2019ve tried a couple of things, usually ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They might have written an email, and they ask it to be rephrased in some way. So it\u2019s stuff like, \u201cMake this a little bit more friendly or more formal”, or “Give me some ideas for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where most people start because you open it and there are no instructions, so you have to feel your way and work out how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s a whole world of AI tools out there. So Chat GPT is called an LLM, I hate technical language, hence my business name AI for Non-Techies, but it\u2019s a Large Language Model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, it\u2019s an AI chatbot, and there are a few of them. There\u2019s Gemini, which is by Google. There\u2019s Claude, which is by Anthropic. There\u2019s Copilot by Microsoft, and there\u2019s ChatGPT by OpenAI. They\u2019re your big four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They all have different purposes and different strengths and weaknesses, and they\u2019re the best place to start because they\u2019re multipurpose tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So start with those chatbots because they can do so much. Of course you can create content, but you can simulate difficult conversations, you can analyse information, you can build plans, you can get expert advice, you can summarise information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just endless, and it\u2019s usually \u00a320 a month, there\u2019s always free versions when you first start, but that \u00a320 a month is the best \u00a320 I spend all month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, a little note when you\u2019re saying about using ChatGPT to write or not to write in your case, ChatGPT\u2019s strength isn\u2019t in writing, it\u2019s more analysis and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claude is the one for writers. It\u2019s much more human sounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you start off with the LLMs and then you\u2019d move forward into more specific tools that are designed for a specific purpose. And there\u2019s a whole other group as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you\u2019ve got your LLMs, you\u2019ve got your tools for a specific purpose. You have sales ones, marketing ones, finance ones, all sorts. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them out there at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to work out which tasks to use AI for<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nFor our listeners, they shouldn\u2019t just be seeking out AI tools, like looking up so-and-so with AI because that might not add that much value, but they should be thinking about \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, maybe tell me the process. Do you look at your work day and think about the things that are manual tasks that maybe aren\u2019t generating a lot of value for the business, but are taking a lot of time, and then look for a tool or figure out a way to use AI to cut that down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the process to follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, that\u2019s definitely the right way to do it. I always like to advise people to start with your business goals or your own goals, what are you hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then where are your blockers, exactly like you were saying. You don\u2019t need to necessarily think at that stage what\u2019s time-consuming, but AI is brilliant at time-sapping, repetitive admin-type tasks, but it\u2019s also good at others so I wouldn\u2019t factor that in at that early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are your goals? What\u2019s stopping you from achieving those goals? And you\u2019ll find that lots comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I tend to use the impact effort matrix, it\u2019s a really simple matrix, just Google it, or Perplexity if you\u2019re into your AI, that\u2019s the new Google but we won\u2019t get into that. It hasn\u2019t got quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, the effort impact matrix, or impact effort matrix, helps you set out which of your blockers are quick wins, and which are strategic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the other 2 sections, it\u2019s in 4 quadrants, the other 2 sections aren\u2019t really to bother with because it\u2019s if they\u2019re high effort and low impact, there\u2019s not really much point in doing that. And if they\u2019re low effort, low impact, again, not much point doing that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So then you\u2019ve got your list of quick wins and strategic plans and then you need to look at and see if AI is the answer, because AI is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of people are trying to plaster and patch problems with AI where it doesn\u2019t fit. It is incredible at some types of tasks, but it\u2019s absolutely horrendous at others. And that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t tools in those horrendous areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think people need to start to educate themselves on what it\u2019s actually good at. And like I say, a great place to start is those repetitive admin tasks. If you\u2019re doing something every morning and you\u2019re doing something on repeat, it\u2019s a great case for automation, it\u2019s also a great case for AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people often get those two things confused. They\u2019re two separate things, AI and automation. They work beautifully together, but that requires quite advanced knowledge of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to avoid using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For our listeners, they shouldn\u2019t just be seeking out AI tools, like looking up so-and-so with AI because that might not add that much value, but they should be thinking about \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, maybe tell me the process. Do you look at your work day and think about the things that are manual tasks that maybe aren\u2019t generating a lot of value for the business, but are taking a lot of time, and then look for a tool or figure out a way to use AI to cut that down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the process to follow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes, that\u2019s definitely the right way to do it. I always like to advise people to start with your business goals or your own goals, what are you hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then where are your blockers, exactly like you were saying. You don\u2019t need to necessarily think at that stage what\u2019s time-consuming, but AI is brilliant at time-sapping, repetitive admin-type tasks, but it\u2019s also good at others so I wouldn\u2019t factor that in at that early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are your goals? What\u2019s stopping you from achieving those goals? And you\u2019ll find that lots comes out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I tend to use the impact effort matrix, it\u2019s a really simple matrix, just Google it, or Perplexity if you\u2019re into your AI, that\u2019s the new Google but we won\u2019t get into that. It hasn\u2019t got quite the same ring to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, the effort impact matrix, or impact effort matrix, helps you set out which of your blockers are quick wins, and which are strategic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the other 2 sections, it\u2019s in 4 quadrants, the other 2 sections aren\u2019t really to bother with because it\u2019s if they\u2019re high effort and low impact, there\u2019s not really much point in doing that. And if they\u2019re low effort, low impact, again, not much point doing that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So then you\u2019ve got your list of quick wins and strategic plans and then you need to look at and see if AI is the answer, because AI is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think a lot of people are trying to plaster and patch problems with AI where it doesn\u2019t fit. It is incredible at some types of tasks, but it\u2019s absolutely horrendous at others. And that doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t tools in those horrendous areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think people need to start to educate themselves on what it\u2019s actually good at. And like I say, a great place to start is those repetitive admin tasks. If you\u2019re doing something every morning and you\u2019re doing something on repeat, it\u2019s a great case for automation, it\u2019s also a great case for AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think people often get those two things confused. They\u2019re two separate things, AI and automation. They work beautifully together, but that requires quite advanced knowledge of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to avoid using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd it\u2019d be good to drill down a little more into when not to use AI, because sometimes when customers are expecting a very human response, for example, it\u2019s become quite easy I think to know when it\u2019s a ChatGPT or a generative AI response to something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019s just a certain cadence, a way of speaking, that is kind of fine and correct, but it lacks warmth and it lacks a certain dimension of humanity, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I know that, for example, certain editors in publishing won\u2019t accept generative AI pitches, because they get so many that have just been journalists going on and saying, \u201cGive me 50 article ideas in this topic,\u201d and then sending them off to editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there are places where you really shouldn\u2019t apply AI. Can you tell me a bit about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, sure. I think anywhere where you\u2019re trying to outsource your thinking. AI itself doesn\u2019t have experience. It doesn\u2019t have opinions. The way it\u2019s trained is on a snapshot of the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So imagine the internet has stopped and it\u2019s been downloaded and everything\u2019s been mashed together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what it does, it finds patterns, it mashes all that information together, whether it\u2019s image, video, everything, and then it finds patterns within that information, not distinguishing between good quality and bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it gives you its best guess as to what you would like to hear. And it\u2019s passable, isn\u2019t it? You think it\u2019s okay, but it\u2019s really hard to put your finger on exactly why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done a lot of work into why, as an ex-copywriter and somebody who ran a copywriting agency as well, I was thinking, \u201cOh, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSomething jars, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It does. It\u2019s a recurrence of certain words, like \u201cdelve,\u201d \u201cembrace,\u201d \u201cever-evolving,\u201d those sorts of things. There are some really interesting graphs on the internet that show the evolution of the word \u201cdelve,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this was in scientific papers, so these are people using ChatGPT to write their papers. So it sort of naturally kept on a line and then in 2022 and 20203, it just shoots up. So I think everybody started using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But certain words, certain terms, if you\u2019re good enough, there is a way to get around that and produce human-sounding copy, but in order to do that, you need to know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you need to be a person who\u2019s got a lot of examples of good quality writing, and the ability to identify good quality writing and describe it as well is very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A copywriter, with the right instruction, can create genuinely good copywriting using AI, but it needs their skill and their guidance. You need to learn how to instruct it properly, how to prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When people are talking about the term \u201cprompt\u201d or \u201cprompt engineering,\u201d it\u2019s just the instructions, or more realistically the conversation that you have with AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that is much more complex than people think. Because it looks a bit like Google, we tend to type in just a short sentence and we\u2019re just like, \u201cGive me 5 ideas for this,\u201d and that\u2019s nowhere near enough context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My prompts are usually half a page to a page long, they\u2019ve taken me hours to write, and I\u2019m attaching 5, 6 different documents for background information, but the results I get are incredible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they really are, they\u2019re indistinguishable from human writing, but it sounds like me because I\u2019ve trained it to sound like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So outsourcing your thinking is definitely not good. Anything with specificity, particularly when it comes to image generation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can create these amazing images with just with one word, you put \u201capple\u201d, and you\u2019ll get all these different photographs of an apple. Whatever you want. Your imagination is the only limit with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t move something slightly in the image. You can\u2019t slightly tweak a colour. It\u2019s really quite random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could put that same prompt in again, and you\u2019re going to get something completely different. Anything where it needs to be very bespoke and specific is difficult too. So not outsourcing your thinking and specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to think what else. I think it\u2019s just that humanity. Anything that requires sensitivity. I\u2019m saying that, but I think AI is evolving very rapidly in its ability to imitate sensitivity. It\u2019s called artificial empathy that they\u2019re programming it with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my newsletter, I actually joined something called Sonia.ai, which is a CPT therapist, an AI CPT therapist, with the full intention of absolutely slagging it off afterwards, I thought, \u201cThis is going to be so irresponsible. This session is going to be awful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s done by voice. It says, \u201cLie down.\u201d And I thought, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give it the best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put the phone on the pillow and interacted with it. And it was genuinely an excellent session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt that this AI therapist was listening to me and understood, and the questions were really considered and the exercises I was given to do were really useful. And I felt I made progress towards a better me in that session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that really changed my opinion of AI and sensitivity and empathy as well. So it is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it will have limitations, obviously for very sensitive situations, and they need to be qualifying their customers a lot better because I was able to just go in and do this therapy session. They didn\u2019t know what my background was, or my proclivities were or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s evolving very quickly, I think lots is possible, but it really needs to be in the hands of the human expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI can\u2019t believe that about AI therapists. That\u2019s blown my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, there\u2019s a massive shortage of therapists and there are people waiting years to access any sort of help and counselling. So that\u2019s amazing and maybe a bit wonderful, even if it\u2019s simultaneously quite terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crafting <\/strong>better prompts to get better outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBut, Heather, I wanted to go back to your point about prompts. So how can we learn? You mentioned that your prompts are half a page long and you attach lots of documents. That\u2019s really fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did you learn how to do that? Was that just trial and error over time, or can I go online and take a course in crafting these sorts of prompts? How do I create better outcomes in my generative AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, of course. I\u2019ve got a 3 Cs framework that I built, and it was off the back of a ton of trial and error, and I mean a ton. I was spending 2 or 3 hours every day just learning, learning, learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a writer, that gave me a real leg up in how to construct and how to understand, \u201cSo I put this in, I get this out, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like experimenting with things as well, so I\u2019m very well suited to doing the job that I\u2019m doing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I soon found that there were 3 things that were really important, and I call them the 3 Cs. Character, context and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character, it\u2019s like a role play. Every conversation you have with something like ChatGPT or Claude or Copilot or whatever you\u2019re using is a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t know who you are, and it doesn\u2019t know who it is, but it\u2019s got access to this huge data set. And as we say, this mish-mashed information, and it needs to be narrowed down in order to give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you ask a broad question, you\u2019re going to get a broad and generic answer back because it\u2019s got so much to draw from. It\u2019s like going into the world\u2019s biggest library and just asking for a book. It\u2019s too broad. You need to be really specific as to what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So character is really useful. If you\u2019re writing some LinkedIn posts, you might say, \u201cAct as,\u201d or, \u201cYou are a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years\u2019 experience in generative AI,\u201d even though it\u2019s only been around for 2 years, this is AI, you can make it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in doing that, it will say, \u201cRight, I\u2019m going to take from my LinkedIn knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my ghost-writing knowledge. I\u2019m going to take from my generative AI knowledge.\u201d And you\u2019re starting to narrow down that huge data that it\u2019s able to draw from and get more relevant responses, just in the first sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could give that character personality as well, if you wanted to and say, \u201cYou are really impatient,\u201d or, \u201cYou are really helpful and warm,\u201d or, \u201cYou are very inquisitive and you ask questions,\u201d it depends what outcome you\u2019re looking for. So setting that character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then tell it who you are, because people forget that when we sign up to these chatbots, we don\u2019t answer any forms. You\u2019re just in straight away. You give your email, you\u2019re in. It doesn\u2019t know who you are, or what you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people think that, \u201cOh, actually, it remembered this about me.\u201d And there are things on ChatGPT that do remember little bits and pieces, but they\u2019re pretty flawed at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just think with every new chat, it doesn\u2019t know anything about you. I would say, \u201cAct as a LinkedIn ghostwriter with 10 years of generative AI experience. I am an AI trainer and I am looking to do X,\u201d and that is a great start to a prompt. So that\u2019s character, set in a character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next is context, so giving enough background. So the analogy I like to use here is, imagine that you\u2019ve recruited an assistant and their job is purely to do this task that you\u2019re trying to do when you\u2019re doing this prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What information would they need to have to do a good job? You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cWrite me some LinkedIn posts.\u201d You would say, \u201cOkay, so write me some LinkedIn posts. Here are some examples of LinkedIn posts I\u2019ve done before that I\u2019ve done well. Here\u2019s some information about my audience and what their pains and problems are. Here\u2019s my tone of voice guide. Here\u2019s some information about my product or service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can\u2019t possibly know that information without being given it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as soon as that clicks, you go, \u201cOf course. Well, how would ChatGPT know that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think people think ChatGPT or all of these LLMs know everything. And they kind of have bits of everything, but they don\u2019t know which information to select.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometimes you\u2019ve got to wave things in front of their nose. So using that pay-per-click function or the plus function on some of them, and adding some really good background information will get you much better responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the third thing is clarity. So being really, really specific as to what you want. Don\u2019t just ask for a report, say something like, \u201cI\u2019d like a report that answers these 3 questions,\u201d and give the questions. That\u2019s always a really good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that has these different elements in like, \u201cThese are the section titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or actually, and you could go back to context and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an example of 2 reports I\u2019ve written before,\u201d and it\u2019s going to read those and find patterns in those as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just being really clear, breaking things down. So using white space, don\u2019t just do a big dense block of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Break things down, \u201cHere is your task. Here is my background. Here are the limitations. Here are some things you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then also just being really specific, \u201cI would like a table with 5 columns and these are the headings.\u201d Just explain exactly what you want because it\u2019s got so much information it needs you to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From running my marketing agency, so any sort of marketers out there, think about a good copywriting brief, for example. It would have all the background information and all those documents. It would have who you are meant to be and what the purpose of this is all for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So a copywriting brief would be the perfect prompt as well. So the 3 Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s an amazing insight. I feel like you want to treat it like a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presume no prior knowledge or experience or even the ability to take much initiative, just treat it like briefing a work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, a really intelligent work experience person, who\u2019s enthusiastic and keen to please and they just need pointing in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And similarly, I think constructive feedback is really important. I watch people prompt sometimes in my classes and they will type something in and they\u2019ll get something back that they\u2019re not happy with, and then they\u2019ll go, \u201cOh, it didn\u2019t work. Oh, it\u2019s boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I go, \u201cOh, no, no, that\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You then give constructive feedback, and you say, \u201cOh, I like this bit. I didn\u2019t like this bit.\u201d Or, \u201cThat was too broad. I want you to be more clear.\u201d Or, \u201cI want you to break it down more or add more detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just give that feedback in the same way you would with your work experience. You wouldn\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s rubbish, that\u2019s it. Writing you off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019d say, \u201cRight, okay, so let\u2019s work on this bit a little bit further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s when it becomes much more, you start with the instructions and then it becomes a conversation back and forth. Hence, having this character that is assuming this role and knows who you are, so it\u2019s going to respond accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using AI to increase your revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, Heather, you are so passionate about this, and you are so well-informed and you put it all in layman\u2019s terms so it\u2019s really accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tell me how you fell in love with AI, because you are a non-techie and you mentioned a background in copywriting, for example. So take us through the journey that brought you to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh yeah, of course. Yeah, definite, non-techie. I never have the latest phone. Some people now look at me when I go and do speaking gigs and if something goes wrong, they go, \u201cOh, she\u2019s the AI person.\u201d And I look at them and go, \u201cNope, I do not know how to fix this situation. I\u2019m not a techie person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that\u2019s one of the most magical things right now about AI. You don\u2019t need to be technical to use it anymore. We can now interact with just normal human words and we can build stuff. We can build our own apps, we can design stuff, we can create, and it\u2019s just so exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was running the marketing agency and we had a client that came up to us and said, \u201cI\u2019m trying to sell this big high-ticket thing, this \u00a310 million thing. And we are knocking on all the doors and nobody\u2019s responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I looked and I said, \u201cOh, how are we breaking down your audience?\u201d And they were breaking them down by job title, by industry, by pain point, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I had a little fumble around the internet and entirely by accident came across an AI tool. I didn\u2019t even know it was AI at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this tool analysed people\u2019s digital presence, so they\u2019re called digital breadcrumbs, all over the internet. Wherever you have a profile or a bio on a website or you\u2019ve commented on a YouTube or you\u2019ve got a LinkedIn post, it hoovers them all up and analyses your personality and creates this sort of sales playbook for you specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at first I was really cynical, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be great.\u201d There\u2019s going to be 5 different versions and it\u2019s just going to randomly allocate them, but it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we got $60 million worth of pipeline for this company, and then we did it again and again, $15 million more. So this made me go, \u201cHang on a second, this AI thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was a tiny company. My pricing was so low considering the results we got for them. I was just there sitting in my little home office in Birmingham, but that really piqued my interest in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d started to notice and started to research and think, and this was probably early 2022, late 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we would pay a little bit of attention, but like everyone else, we were super busy, and just thinking, \u201cOh, this is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then ChatGPT came out, and I remember sitting here in this very office and I just thought, \u201cWhat is this \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had 2 thoughts. My first thought was, \u201cThis is going to kill my marketing agency.\u201d This can do or will eventually be able to do, and I didn\u2019t realise how fast it would move, what my agency does now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much of the kind of persona-building work and all that. People started to do that in-house and I started to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then my second thought was, \u201cI need to learn everything.\u201d This is new. How often are you at the beginning of a new technology?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t need to know any coding. This is really exciting.\u201d So I also thought this is an entirely new business as well, but I didn\u2019t realise how much it would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to focus and spend a good 3 or 4 hours a day, every single day, including Christmas day, even though I was cooking for a massive amount of people, on that thing. When I get excited about something I go all in, and I just learned as much as I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up travelling around the world, met AI tool founders. I prompted and prompted and prompted, trying to work out how these things work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I read papers and listened to things and bought books and just devoured information. And then most of all, I experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe that people running their own businesses just as one person can now get to much higher revenue levels by using AI. And I think that is by far much more exciting to me than big enterprises using AI. I think those individual businesses can go, \u201cOh, I\u2019m used to getting \u00a310K month, now I can get \u00a320K a month. That\u2019s incredible. And I don\u2019t have to hire anybody. I don\u2019t have the hassle of hiring and the responsibility of managing a person, but I can do all these new things and things can run more smoothly, and my services can be deeper and better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I started sharing what I\u2019d learnt. I started a newsletter called AI for Non-Techies, and that just went whoosh. And so eventually, I think my eye just completely went off the ball with my agency because there was so much opportunity and people were asking me to speak and share what I\u2019d learnt, and people were so hungry for this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I ended up having to very sadly wind down my agency and my team as well. It was one of the toughest decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my entire life. It was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, one was going this way, and the other one was going this way, and you have to make these decisions as a business owner sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that was March this year, and it\u2019s just absolutely shot up since then. Because I was doing both for a while, doing both for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was out doing the AI speaking and now all I do is the AI stuff. I train people, I speak, I build programmes, I do boot camps and things like that, and I absolutely love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s how I got into it. It was by accident, as is the case so many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the best business idea or best business journey is when it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I just couldn\u2019t not do it. I stumbled across this thing and it reached out with its arms and it grabbed me and then that was it. That was what I was doing for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grow your business by becoming an early adopter of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this is an area that\u2019s exploding, and there are a lot of people out there that need help and need the education piece, but is that going to be the same in 10 years time? Are you still going to be giving the same sort of training, only, I don\u2019t know, 2 levels up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there\u2019ll always be a gap between what the person, regular person on the street knows about AI, and what the actual potential for it or what the kind of usability has reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So is that a bit of job security, I guess, for you going forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I think so. The technology adoption curve, where you\u2019ve got the early adopters, and we\u2019re not even in the early majority yet, I think the vast majority of people haven\u2019t even begun on this journey yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where I\u2019m positioning myself right now is AI for beginners. Non-technical. Because I see this too much and I still see it, I\u2019m often popping into things and seeing what other people are doing, and I find it starts about 3 stages further than a lot of people need it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I usually start all my talks by going, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m talking about by the way. This is generative AI.\u201d And they go, \u201cOh, okay, right. I get it now.\u201d, \u201cSo that\u2019s what\u2019s different. Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I\u2019ll just explain things in a really basic way. I hate the term \u201cfor dummies,\u201d but you remember those books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just simplify things, and that\u2019s what I plan to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sticking with that beginner book. My forte is working with other small businesses and other people who want to, just like me, who want to double, or triple the size of their business without hiring. And just to see what that feels like to have this beautiful, almost like other team members with specialisms, but they\u2019re AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then knit that all together really nicely with automation and you\u2019ve got something really quite special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be wary of AI bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd do you have any worries? I mean, there\u2019s a lot of fear out there about the dark side of AI and what it could do to jobs, to the way that we socialise, the way that humanity feels about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you share those fears, or are you just really quite bullish on AI and really positive about the impact it will make on the world around us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, absolutely. Every technology in the hands of bad actors for a start is a scary thing. Look at the internet. But there\u2019s a huge flip side, and I think I\u2019m 50\/50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m very much a kind of live in the present moment, and I\u2019m thinking about what it can do right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I think ahead, and a lot of people ask me this question of, \u201cWhere do you think we\u2019ll be in 2 years\u2019 time? What will have changed and where do you think we\u2019ll be in 10 years\u2019 time, 20 years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really difficult to say because it\u2019s changing so quickly. I know it\u2019s a cliche, but it really is. As somebody who works in it, I\u2019ll do the same session 2 days apart and something will have changed. I can never get my slides right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are lots of risks. There are lots of ethical issues as well around generative AI. I think we\u2019d be talking about them for hours if we got really into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But things like the possibility of misinformation has now just got so much worse because of people using AI incorrectly. And that\u2019s the main reason I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, making it accessible and helping people understand how to use it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t use it properly, if you\u2019re just trusting what comes out the other side and you\u2019re not fact-checking it, because it hallucinates, it makes things up, it\u2019s biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the data set that it\u2019s being trained on, it\u2019s trained on human content, which means it\u2019s got human bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s built by humans, and then it\u2019s coming out with this bias content. So we have bias, we have the potential for deepfakes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can create a video now with a couple of sentences in 30 seconds. Again, in the wrong hands, that\u2019s a terrifying thing too. I think safety is so important, and transparency is so important too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become more transparent about using AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when we were talking earlier about the shame of using AI, that people feel like they\u2019re cheating, I think we need to learn to be much more open about our AI use and say, \u201cHey, I used AI for this\u201d, so that we are not starting to cover things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love LinkedIn, they\u2019ve just started to do this thing where you get a little CR on the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah. I was just going to mention that because I love the fact that it was, \u201cUse AI to expand your reach,\u201d or something. And then it puts a little tab on it that says, \u201cThis was made with AI,\u201d which I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I\u2019ve seen a few startups now who are building products like that all over the internet, so you\u2019d be able to click on it and see its provenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that is such an amazing and important step as well. I don\u2019t know how we do that with text, but I think there are a lot of people working on that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, there are a ton of risks and ethical issues, but there\u2019s a ton of mitigations being worked on as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to use AI safely and securely<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHeather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s like with any new technology, and we really are in its infancy, which is another thing to know for people who are just starting out using it, it breaks all the time. All the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very rare that I have a day where I\u2019m training somebody on, say, ChatGPT and it doesn\u2019t do something weird. So don\u2019t be put off if it does, just give it a minute, give it an hour, it\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or if it gives you a weird response, don\u2019t write it off. Just be very careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the most important thing to know right now for people starting to use it is that whatever you put in, could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I\u2019m talking about attaching documents and things like that, be really, really careful with the information that you give it because it\u2019s being used to train and it could, it\u2019s very unlikely as I say, but it could come out in somebody else\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So avoid sensitive data, if you\u2019re using free versions of things. Generally, you pay for data privacy when it comes to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, I have Chat GPT Teams edition, and that\u2019s because I am constantly feeding it sensitive data. I\u2019m doing lots of work on it and I know that I\u2019m secure there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the free versions, your data is not secure at all. So anonymise it or just play around without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you do want to start feeding it real information, get one of the paid versions instead. And just look into the security side, do your due diligence in that way, I think it\u2019s really, really important to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who owns the copyright for AI generated content?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And is it true that if you generate any sort of content on these platforms, you don\u2019t actually own the copyright? Is that right? It\u2019s all owned by the AI company itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a Wild West. Nobody\u2019s able to answer that question right now, and a lot of people ask it to me. When it comes to regulation right now and who owns what in IP, it\u2019s a Wild West in the UK. We\u2019ve got the EU AI Act, which is obviously going to set a precedent for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the moment in the UK, we\u2019ve got bits and pieces, and the bits and pieces are great, but they\u2019re not joined up. And that is something we need to be working on right now so we\u2019ve got set clear rules for who owns what and how transparent we should be and what needs to be declared and risk levels and all of that sort of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But yeah, there\u2019s no answer for that yet. That\u2019s how early we are into this. And this is rare for a technology that we all have such easy access to this new thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it also makes it a dangerous thing as well, that we can all go so wrong, so easily. But nobody knows who owns it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s rare that I feel pity for lawyers, but my goodness, this is a mind-boggling area where a lot of work, a lot of man-hours, are going to go into figuring all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do, I have sympathy for the people who are going to try and put this all down in rules and laws and make it all comprehensive. That\u2019s a big job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the future have in store for AI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, Heather, we talked a bit about the future of your business. Now while I was talking to you, I was just imagining it, we\u2019ve got holograms already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you wanted to grow your business, could you just create an AI version of yourself to go out, flick a switch, the hologram comes on, and you are delivering training?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean, could this be something that, I don\u2019t know, in 5 years time even you could do if you wanted to grow your training business. Is this the way technology is headed? Is this the kind of thing you are thinking about when you are looking into the future of AI for Non-Techies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I mean, I\u2019m really torn because I deliberately deliver my training in a way that\u2019s so human. It\u2019s just me talking. There\u2019s no slickness. If I make a mistake, I deliberately keep it in as well, if I trip over my words. I think it\u2019s really important now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve actually got an AI version of myself, which is an AI avatar trained on my image, not quite in hologram form yet, but that\u2019s bound to be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this digital Heather, she looks like me, she sounds like me. My own dad, when I played the video, couldn\u2019t tell it wasn\u2019t me. She has my voice. All you do is you type in what you want her to say and she\u2019ll say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You deepfaked yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI deepfaked myself. Yes. Which seems really stupid when you think about it. A lot of people go, \u201cAre you not worried that you\u2019ve actually given your likeness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s with a company called HeyGen and they have really good guardrails. And there is a lot of trust you have to put in these tools if you want to experiment, and I chose to trust this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ve had a look at avatars for training purposes. I think the beauty of training, is that being engaging is about responding to what people are saying and doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, just the thoughts that come into your head as you\u2019re talking. It\u2019s not a rehearsed script. I would never sit and read off slides, I\u2019ve never had a script for training in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to go, \u201cOh, and that reminds me of this,\u201d and \u201cOh, this came out yesterday and this is actually really relevant.\u201d Or, \u201cThat\u2019s actually not as up-to-date as it could be because this happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that type of lively delivery would be something that AI would really struggle to do. It could be possible in the future. It could sit and listen to me delivering training and be able to mimic it and then be tailored into the news somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s something called Google NotebookLM that came out that really made me go, \u201cWhoa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s free. I really recommend people check it out just to see where voice has got to, AI voice. So it\u2019s free. You just load in whatever information you want. I mean, you can just type in a paragraph. I typed in to get a paragraph about my husband leaving his career and starting this business that I\u2019m going to help him out with, and just like a few sentences, but you can upload loads of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also uploaded a different one with all of my AI training in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it creates a podcast with 2 humans talking to each other about the topic, and it comes up with insights that you hadn\u2019t even thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the podcast, you would never guess it was AI. They\u2019re laughing, they make jokes, they express opinions. It\u2019s incredible. And that really made me go, \u201cOh, AI voice is a lot more advanced than what we\u2019ve got access to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s so much that the humanity of this podcast was so realistic that I\u2019m not deeming anything impossible right now, but from where I am right now, I think very human delivery is what I\u2019m focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I think that\u2019s keeping me apart from competitors, is just that I\u2019m very normal and I think people relate to that like, \u201cOh, she\u2019s like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve spent the last 2 years researching AI, and that\u2019s the whole point. I\u2019m not a gatekeeper of knowledge, or that I know things you could never understand. It\u2019s not that. The whole point is that you can understand it, it\u2019s really easy. Let me show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And your enthusiasm is infectious. I\u2019m literally on the edge of my seat and I\u2019m leaning in, my head is going to look enormous on YouTube because I\u2019m properly bent forward, hanging off your every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I do think that you definitely have a niche with that. And I feel like we ought to apologise to our listeners because they\u2019re going to lose, what, 40 hours next week at least\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, at least, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 playing with all these tools, going down the rabbit hole. I\u2019ve been scribbling down things to play with. Maybe I\u2019ll spend a day where I\u2019ll send all my emails in the style of George Orwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYes. Exactly. And that\u2019s another really important part is play. Play safely, but play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the time to be playing around. A lot of the tools are in their infancy, but getting to understand how they work and how they respond will prepare you for when they\u2019re not in their infancy and they\u2019re a bit more advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they\u2019ve got all these capabilities that will jump you ahead of everybody else who just starts to learn at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s so much fun. It\u2019s loads of fun to play around with these. I\u2019m constantly squishing people and turning people into cakes and writing random things and all sorts of different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband is sick of me coming home and going, \u201cLook at this.\u201d And he goes, \u201cWhat is this now?\u201d But it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s a fun thing. So play, but play safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A fun place to start your AI journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I guess just finally, so if someone who\u2019s tuned into the show has 1 hour that they\u2019ve set aside to look into this tech, what would you tell them to do with that one hour? Where would you send them? It\u2019s their first play, as you say, with this tech, where should they go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Murray:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still think Chat GPT, its free version is really broad, but try to think outside of content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask it to act as an interviewer for you. Ask it to be these different characters. I think just playing around with characters for an hour on ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are applying for a job, you can set it as your interviewer and you can practice. You could say, \u201cI am X. I\u2019m applying for a job X.\u201d You can even attach the job description or paste the job advert in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re going to be the interviewer and you\u2019re going to be quite harsh and ask difficult questions. Start the simulation.\u201d And you can go back and forth, back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine the people that you would like to book a one-to-one with, but are probably a bit too expensive, set that conversation up on ChatGPT and I bet you\u2019ll be surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could say, \u201cAct as a sales consultant that usually costs \u00a31,000 an hour. I am a business owner, and I would like some advice on my sales. Ask me the questions you\u2019d normally ask in this situation and come up with a plan at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you\u2019re going to get this amazing expert advice. It\u2019s incredible what you can achieve. So yeah, ChatGPT, the free version, is a really good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join our community to share your insights and stories on X @SageUK<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out more about Heather on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Heather and AI for Non-Techies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/08\/YBCA_FY19_Intacct_V3_0338-1-1215x810.jpg\")
\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2021\/04\/z.5E3A0481_All-Uses.jpg\")
\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"