Author Archives: greg

The New AI Working It Hacks

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The problem:  Working It Hacks is an emagazine what we’d written for more than 20 years.   We had 4 Working It trademarks.  We owned WorkingIt.com.  We had a lot invested in Working It and the future of work.

We took a hard look at the emagazine.  We didn’t like what we saw.  Big problems.  We advocated the idea that the truth will set up free.  We had to know the truth.

The problem was no one was reading or cared for Working It Hacks.  It was boring.  Readership was aging out.  Folks were not thrilled by the pieces.  All of these are kind.  The emag was simply not working.  What to do?

Fog of words and ideas:  A few months ago, I read Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz.  The premise of the book is pretty direct: “Never in the history of humanity have we vomited more words in more places with more velocity.”

We’re addicted to our smart phones.  We check is 350 times each day.  We don’t read.  We scan.  We watch videos.  All of our stuff was frankly boring.

The solution: Test, prototype, and iterate new material, format, look/feel, and content using Smart Brevity.  We would use this format for our emagazine, videos, apps, and all our products.

Can you teach an old writer dog new tricks? Not easily.  And, we’re going to talk about this a lot more.  Why?  AI is disrupting all work, careers, and job.

Why It Matters:  Have you ever read Axios articles.  Each of their book articles and emails have the same format.  Intro.  Date.  # of words.  Time to read.  See below.

 I was offended by this.  I was used to writing 200K word professional books.  Or, as my daughter calls them ‘thuds’ or ‘tomes’.  Kinda tough love.

The structure of the article consists of thought bites or takeaways that may interest you.  See below:

Takeaways:  AI age is the new industrial revolution.  AI is the new oil or electricity.  Pick your metaphor.

We are pivoting and reinventing our products.  The theme for the new AI Working It Hacks is we are now all AI guinea pigs.  People are fearful.  AI is the new work/career/job driver.  Working It Hacks provides hack to succeed and even thrive in today’s World.  As Smart Brevity says folks want to know ‘what’s new’ and ‘why it matters.’  This is what we’ll give you in our AI Working It Hacks emag and app.  Enjoy!

Killer AI Tip/Tool 

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AI Tools: I use AI, specifically Chat GPT and Gemini for first drafts for emails, proposals, background searches, software dev, and brainstorming.  It’s great a great tool for lots of things.  Each week, we’re going to provide a killer tip/tool for using and getting more comfortable with AI.

We may go into virtual dating with AI.  We may go into practical uses for AI at work.  Today, we’re going to talk about using AI for tough conversations.  We got this idea from a Wall Street Journal article called For Conversation You Dread, Try a Chatbot.

Dreaded conversations:  These are conversations that give us fear, dread, and anxiety.  We all have these.  Taking care of our aging parents.  Giving instructions or rules with our kids.  Asking for a raise at work.  Talking with our ex significant others about money.

We wonder how to do these to be effective and kind.  I role play with friends or even in a mirror.  I also have gotten coaching.  Rehearse with Chat GPT:  I had not heard of this use case.  But, gave it a try.  It’s sorta fun to rehears with Chat GPT.

How:  How to do this?  Chat GPT needs to be coached and trained.  The machine needs to be coached on the person it has to be and be believable.  The machine has to form a basic psychological profile on who it Is supposed to play.  Creating a believeable role play playing chat avatar, takes time.  So, you may have to iterate a little.

Why it matters:  Using a chat bot has a several advantages.  It’ll introduce you to chatbot who may be future companions, coaches, and even significant others.  You learn how to contextualize the machine.  This will have to be done with engineering prompts and queries in the future.

It is fun.  You learn prompting.  You create an avatar.  You get new ideas.  You can finesse the propoer ‘tone and feel’ for the tough conversation.

For more info:  Check out May 4 2024 For Conversation You Dread, Try a Chatbot, WSJ piece for more tips on how to do this.

Is College Worth It?

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Context is Worth 20 IQ Points:  Our daughter just graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in computer science.  Our question as parents is: “Can she get a job?”  Five years ago, when our daughter started uni, we thought that CS would be the forever meal ticket for her.  Why?  Every company needs computers and programmers.

That was pre-explosion of AI.  Now, I guess not so much!  Why?  Supply and demand.  The supply of CS grads in the US increased 40% in the last 5 years (WSJ).  The demand for CS grads without AI has decreased 30% thanks to AI (WSJ Handshake).  Why?

The Chat GPT can program and do it pretty well.  World Economic Forum predicts that AI will be one of the professions most impacted by AI.  Well, more work/career/job  disruption.

Wall Street Journal Artlcle:  WSJ had a piece called CS Major graduate Into a World of Fewer Opportunities (May 30, 2024).

Is College Worth It?:    :  Or, the question every parent and person now asks: “is college worth it.”

Why it matters:  Depends on who you ask? 

Students:  Students have to pay off student loans.  If you’re in a private uni in the US, they can be $60k or more a year.  They wonder if they should have pursued a trade such as plumbing or welding.  Guranteed jobs.

Parents:  Parents cosigned the loans, so they are on the repayment hook for a lot of years.  They wonder if they should have counseled their kids a little better about financial and job adulting.

Politicians: Taxpayers may be saddled with student loan debts if they can’t pay them off.  Pols may be held to account.

Unis:  They may have to change their mission on the purpose and value of a higher education.  They need to develop new programs to ensure graduate employability regardless if the student gets a CS, French history, or gender studies degrees. 

 Bottom Line:  There is a lot of college regrets.  Wouldas.  Shouldas.  Coulda’s

#448 – SURPRISES: AS THE REALIZATION OF RISK – MALCOLM PEART

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How often do we hear about surprise attacks and the effectiveness they have on a potential enemy.  Some surprise attacks have been heralded as victories while others have been declared infamy – it’s all a matter from which side it’s received. Continue reading →

#448 – NIST CYBER SECURITY FRAMEWORK 2.0 – JAMES KLINE PH.D.

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On February 26, 2024, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued several Cyber-Security Frameworks. These included: a.) Cyber-security Framework 2.0 Small Business Quick-Start Guide, b.) Cyber-security Framework (CFS) 2.0 Resources Overview Guide, c.) Cyber-security Framework 2.0 Quick Start Guide, and Cybersecurity Framework 2.0: Enterprise Risk Management Quick-Start Guide. Another manual Enterprise Risk Management and Governance Oversight was issued on March 6, 2024. (1) These guides and manuals indicate the NIST is attempting to provide a wide range of information on cyber-security for different sectors of the economy, which have different levels of risk management sophistication. Continue reading →