Introducing AI Alongside: Field Notes on AI Collaboration

A new podcast here on Tech and Nonsense

Like many of you, I find myself testing out ways that AI can help me, how I can collaborate with AI, on a daily basis. My frequent uses for it include research, summarizing and offering analysis on data I share with it, and lately a lot more creative sort of assistance. I'm discovering new approaches, hitting unexpected limitations, and uncovering surprising capabilities almost every day.

My continuous learning journey has inspired me to create AI Alongside, a podcast where I'll share field notes from my AI collaboration efforts, and also have some regular guests who I know enjoy doing the same. I hope this can be a fun shared experience of some of the practical realities of working alongside these tools as a wannabe power user.

What to Expect

Each episode will blend real-world experiences, practical insights, and thoughts on some of the latest new GenAI tools, features, and abilities that grab my attention / my guests/colleagues’ attention in the ever changing AI landscape.

Some of the episode themes to expect:

• Hands-on insights, practical tips, and candid discussions about the realities of working alongside AI tools in 2024 and beyond

• Simple accounts of what's working (and what isn't) in AI collaboration

• Conversations with fellow power users about their discoveries and workflows, at work and at home

• Thoughts on new features and capabilities as they emerge

• References and links to people and sources I consider to be AI thought leaders

Why Field Notes?

I chose the field notes theme deliberately. Like researchers in the field, lots of us are observing trying our best to keep tabs on current capabilities and the latest advances in AI, using the tools, seeing where they fit best into our work or other efforts, and documenting our experiences with these rapidly evolving tools. Some findings will stand the test of time; others might be obsolete next week. And that's okay – there’s value in sharing our observations and learning from each other's experiments.

Join the Exploration

If you're someone who uses AI tools daily, and gets excited about new model releases and abilities, then I hope this podcast will appeal to you. I have a first episode almost ready to publish. I will probably post it here tomorrow or Monday. I’m excited to say that this first one is a great chat with Daniel Nest, from one of my favorite Substack publications about AI, Why Try AI. We talk about Google’s new AI powered “Learn About” specialized search (ish) product.

A few other things that are on my mind to talk about soon include: Notion AI, Arc Search/browser on Android, Claude’s Mac app, ChatGPT’s Mac app, and more.

One more thing to mention here. Absolutely in line with the theme, I brainstormed with Claude about creating this podcast. I came up with the name and tagline and Claude was great to collaborate with on the content approach, potential episode themes, tone, and graphics. I also worked with Claude on drafting this post.