I am pleased to announce the launch of our new blog series, Rockland.AI.
Now, before you think that we are planning to build the next, Skynet, Hal, or Matrix, I assure you that we are not. For now, it’s just going to be a blog, that reports on and gathers info on this fascinating, emerging mainstream technology.
Each week, I will be gathering and reporting on new, useful technologies that use Artificial Intelligence (LLMs, AGI, etc. – with explanations!) in order to provide astounding results. Examples include ChatGPT and Midjourney, with outcomes such as creative writing, graphics, productivity and organization.
Ai has been around for decades. But it’s been largely used by Governments, well-connected individuals and various corporations, typically aligned with the technology sectors of economies. It’s only now that there are commercial applications available to the general public. For us the average user, this is akin to an indigenous tribe in a remote area of the world suddenly gaining access to the Internet. So much to learn!
The starting point for my focused interest in Ai stems from a major professional challenge that I dealt with for most of 2023, but largely kept to myself.
Lemme tell you a quick story.
Last year, due to numerous market forces, our RocklandWeb.com profit margins shrunk considerably. Year over year, we were down 12%. Additionally, we said goodbye to several team members that occupied pivotal roles at the company: Operations, Programming and Graphic Design.
Thankfully, we recovered. But when crises happen – sometimes you just gotta put your head down and do the work. And so I did — for ALL THREE roles. Plus my own role as CEO of RockWeb Systems Inc., and President of Rockland Web Design Inc. Needless to say, it stretched me to a new outer limit.
At around the same time, I randomly started tuning into the latest news about Open AI, and started experimenting with it. I then began to use Midjourney for some unique artwork, and Auto GPT for productivity tasks.
The combination of these three technologies, along with some new features in Canva and Promo helped me to be twice as effective, and sometimes 10x as fast as I would have been without Ai assistance. Necessity is the mother of invention.
As it got easier to run the companies with these new technologies, I started thinking about going back to some of my teaching roots. I taught for Rockland BOCES for about 19 years, hanging up my cleats in 2021/2.
So…here we are! The starting point for something new and educational. I hope that this blog series, with video and graphical examples, will help you to be more effective in your careers, and perhaps even your personal activities.
Just remember, there’s no substitute for an imperfect human being.