Learning AI Isn’t Optional Anymore If You Want To Keep Working;

The ground is shifting: not because AI replaces everyone, but because people who master AI are doing the work of three. We open with real layoffs and consolidations, then move into the choices that keep you employable—learning fast, building workflows, and verifying everything. Our guests span professors, recruiters, parents, nonprofit leaders, and creators across Africa and the U.S., and the stories are raw and useful: a teacher catching AI-written homework and turning it into a lesson on ownership; a recruiter rejecting copy-paste resumes and rewarding proof of work; a parent balancing screens with books while teaching kids curiosity; and a content lead using AI to audit branding and write better proposals without losing voice.

We focus on a mindset shift: AI isn’t a single tool, it’s a system. Break your process into steps, pick the right model for each step, and keep human judgment at the center. One model drafts, another generates images, a third critiques design, and you follow the links to validate facts. That discipline avoids hallucinations, protects your reputation, and saves hours. Along the way, we talk ethics and equity: privacy, bias, and inclusion; how to equip youth across sub-Saharan Africa; and why every employee should see themselves as a brand with skills worth defending. Accessibility shines too—a nonverbal student uses assistive tech to speak with humor and nuance—reminding us that the human touch and AI can strengthen each other.

A standout segment features a Nigerian engineering student who used multiple models to troubleshoot a “impossible” motor and finished the job with human inference. That’s the pattern we return to: let AI accelerate you, but own the outcome. If you’re ready to future-proof your work, this conversation maps a path you can act on today: learn responsibly, verify relentlessly, build systems, and keep the human in the loop. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review telling us your first AI wake-up moment.

Chapters

• 0:00 Jobs Consolidate Under AI Skills;
• 2:07 Why AI Literacy Matters Now;
• 3:20 Generational Learning Lab Vision;
• 4:36 Audience Stories And First Encounters;
• 5:14 AI In Governance And African Startups;
• 6:18 Parenting, Youth, And Balanced Use;
• 9:05 Hiring For Ethical AI Skills;
• 11:15 Academia, Cheating, And Responsible Use;
• 13:30 Recruiters Spot AI-Generated Resumes;
• 16:20 Accessibility Wins And Human Touch;
• 19:05 Creative Workflows And Source Verification;
• 22:09 AI As A System, Not A Tool;
• 24:05 Community, Networking, And Caution;
• 27:30 Principals, Practice, And Process;
• 30:23 BCI Student Solves A “Impossible” Problem;
• 33:10 Ethics, Agency, And The Future Of Work

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:00

Because they didn't have the computer skills. And you know, like they say, um, a person is not going to take your job. Is not artificial artificial intelligence is not going to take your job. It's an individual that knows artificial intelligence that's going to take your job. And that's what I'm seeing that's happening, not just with the individuals that I'm speaking of, but you know, I'm hearing this from other individuals where they're having like one person who knows AI. Three people used to do this job. Now they have eliminated two of those people, and now it's one person that's doing it because they have this skill set to handle a job that three people were doing. And this is rampant. It's even happening at you know, places like Home Depot. It just so happened I was, you know, there shopping and you know ordering something, and somebody was sharing with me, someone who I used to work with, um, as far as the manager, that they no longer are in that capacity because they have someone who have uh who's taken over three departments. So it's happening at the job where I am, it's happening in that environment. And then also I'm seeing it with these individuals who like who I call my friends. And you know, and it's funny that we're mentioning this because one of those individuals that lost her job, I just was teaching her how to use Cash App just this morning, you know. So I just want to say so. She actually got a training in how to use Cash App. So yeah, so this is real. And now, you know, we used to hear that okay, people are going to lose their job. Well, we're in the phase now where it's actually happening. People are losing their jobs due to AI, and not like I said, because AI is taking over, but somebody who knows AI is taking over roles of several people. Because think about it, AI can is more productive, it can do the job better than um an individual. All you need is an individual that knows how to actually do AI and you can eliminate those jobs. And you know, what is business about? Business is about saving money. That's the bottom line.

SPEAKER_07: 1:58

Wow. Very, very powerful, very, very real. And that's why we're talking about AI literacy and reality bites. And just to speak to that point, um, Dr. Gladys, I definitely hope you have directed or you can direct that individual over to um Miss Grace here because you know um Miss Grace actually works in that space of being able to help individuals um find employment, and and so definitely reach out to Miss Grace or have her do that. And in doing so, um my other guest or other co-host here, Michael Camp. Mr. Camp with the Generational Learning Lab. Um, what is that? What is the Generational Learning Lab and why is AI literacy important, sir?

SPEAKER_08: 2:53

There we go. He's having my take issues. Um, yes, generational learning labs is uh just that generations learning together. So our goal and objective is a 50-year age difference between uh students. Young learning with the old, learning from the old, and then all of us learning from the future leaders, right? And the uh absolute brilliance that comes from uh the generation that's had this digital world at their fingertips their entire life. Um so ideally it's to raise awareness, to teach the tools needed, but also to instill the uh a lot of the lost wisdom in my experience and uh opinion in life that's been that that isn't available. Uh working with a lot of indigenous tribes and elders, if you will, of many groups, uh I've learned that uh at least personally we lost we've lost a lot of understanding of what this world is and how it operates together, and uh we've fallen further away from uh how nature works. And I feel that we if we reflect on the symbiotic relationships of nature and how this planet actually works together, and we tried to emulate that, uh we would live in a much better place. So Generational Learning Labs is that hub for uh expanding your understanding and education, but also in having a lot of fun learning these new techs, uh these AI tools, and and how to make a uh higher quality of life, a more productive life for ourselves and each and every person that uh we're associated with.

SPEAKER_07: 4:36

Thank you, thank you for that, Michael. And I'll come back later because I want to know within this AI literacy, um, what is Wonderland and what is AR technology? Um, but before I get there, I want to swing back around now because guys, what we're doing here and we're talking about this AI literacy soon enough, in short order, we'll have um everyone that's in the audience that wants to come on stage. I we want you to come on stage and actually talk about the story of the first time and really the realization that this AI thing is real in your world. And um, the younger the individuals, the better, but all come, please. But I want to skip to in speaking of um Selassie, can you let us know who you are and what you do and why it's in it was important for you to be here and actually be a guest to speak about AI literacy when reality bites.

SPEAKER_05: 5:30

Well, I'm Selassie from Ghana, and I'm a content by profession. But I have had experiences in government and the private sector, and as well as working on multiple projects. I'm here as a guest speaker today to talk about AI. Specifically, I want to take out I want to talk about AI in governance as well as AI in helping, I mean uh um startups and businesses build sustainable businesses in Africa.

SPEAKER_07: 6:01

So in government and sustainable business, um focusing on Africa. Thank you, Selasi, for being here. And so as we just went around, um, I'm actually before we get to the head of the monster, um, and also a special guest, but uh, you know, Ms. Miss Kim there, I would like to ask Miss Miss Yoda, you spoke up a little bit here, but can you tell us as a um happiness tribe member, have you had to deal with, are you doing anything with AI that has entered your world or you know, have forced you in any way to have deal with that?

SPEAKER_12: 6:40

Hi, um, hello again, everyone. Thank you for that uh question, Dr. Ross. Um, yes, I I have to deal with uh AI for a couple of reasons. One, as somebody who wants to continue working in in my profession um and understanding and appreciating that you know AI is now there, it's here, and we have to embrace it. I um I'm learning how to navigate the different tools that are available uh to get information faster and to appreciate things better. So, yes, I'm I'm learning. Um I think faster this year than I have before. I have uh had a lot of a lot more time to focus on looking at the different things. And I have special friends, um, many of whom are in this room today who are helping me along with that. So, yes, as a professional, it's it's important. Um, but also as a mother, I think uh that is very important for me to understand, you know, what access children have to AI tools and how it can impact them both negatively and positively. And I think that's where my concern is currently is how do we um allow oops. I don't know if you could hear that thunder, but it's uh it's pretty loud. Um so how do we allow our children to utilize um the different tools that are available for them, but still, you know, maintain their ability to reason and to do work. Uh in other words, understanding that AI makes everything very easy. How do we how do we inspire them to continue being curious? Um and wanting to, for me, I think also wanting to still pick up a book, a physical book, and read it as opposed to getting everything on a gadget. So those are two important reasons why AI is important in my world. And um curious to learn from the younger ones who are with us today on how they've managed to balance um AI with you know other things, physical books as an example. Thank you, Dr. Raz.

SPEAKER_07: 8:58

No problem. No, thank you, Ms. Yoda. I really appreciate it. And now, like I said, we we're really want to know, and because we talked to last week, really the individuals that's working, been in their jobs for quite some time, even decades, right? And how this was a reality. But the other side of that is we have the young folks who um an organization like the Happiness Tribe or a Destination Imagination Africa, who um hire, work with, employ, and train the young folks. This is a reality for us as employers, right? As um, as Ms. Yoda just said, as mothers, as fathers, as the the mentor individual. So, Miss Ms. Kim, who are you and why is that important? Why is this an important topic?

SPEAKER_11: 9:48

Thank you, thank you, Dr. Ross, and hello, hello everyone. Good to see you all. Hello, hello, our listeners and our speakers on stage. Yes, um, this is a topic that is super close to my heart. I think I've always been a big fan of tech. Um, and for the sake of some neuro history, before the mic is taken away from me, I'm one of those girls that I didn't like. I grew up in a semi-village life. Yes, my parents were working, but I it was still a farm life, sort of. And I didn't like farm work. So my escape was books, or any way that we could automate and not do manual work. And I think I've gone through life with that bothering me to an extent. Um I I long started this issue. I started my tech journey with the introduction of recording educational tapes. Who has gray hair here like me? Because some people will not get it when I talk about VHS. I don't even know what the meaning of VHS is video what? What is VHS? But I'm sure some of you have encountered VHS, and then we had those cassettes that used to run sort of a rail something, something like that. Uh Gen Z may not know what I'm talking about, but that's what we did. We had our biggest broadcasting house in Southern Africa, which is SABC, which used to record teachers. So we used to get those VHS videos uh and supply schools and supply TVs. So you supply a television and then you supply the video, the deck for them to play and teach children. And of course, from there we advanced to CDs and then we advanced to softwares, we advanced to apps. Look at how fast the world has moved. I'm talking of that's in a span of less than three decades that we've moved that quickly to an extent. Uh I think the the current, the Gen Zs might know, but the alphas may not know what I'm talking about when I talk about CDs, CD rooms. I don't think they're even producing laptops with a floppy disk space anymore. But that's how we've quickly advanced, and it's quite exciting when you see the power of automation. And having worked extensively with much less communities and within sub-Saharan Africa, these are challenges I encounter every day. And this, the challenges we encounter force us to be on our feet and constantly become problem solvers and want to be part of the solution. So I've seen amazing things come out of AI in education, or let me say, technology and automation. We're able to reach many more children, we're able to create jobs and encourage youth and show them use cases of AI. So there are so many things that I've been able to leverage on by using technology, and I am super grateful. Of course, we're looking at especially bridging the gap, which is overstand. How do we make sure the digital divide does not get wider and wider and we're able to reach out many more and ensure these economic inclusion within our continent? Thank you. I hope that answers you.

SPEAKER_07: 13:19

Thank you. I know Dr. Gladys, um, please have at have at the um individuals on the stage here. But Ms. Kim, let me ask you first. You spoke from such a motherly um perspective. But what I want to know is from an employer in a mentor perspective, now what are you looking for? You have you're you're training and hiring individuals in the educational space, right? In that STEM space. So you have to rely on these individuals in a professional space. Um, so this is what I would like to know from you as an individual that's dealing with these individuals in that in this our most critical job we have to do as employers.

SPEAKER_11: 14:20

We need to be ethical and emphasize on the use of AI in an ethical manner, and we also have to have to start with within our spheres, within our jobs, within our staff. So I work with quite a number of youth across the continent from as young as seventeen year olds, which that's the age of some of our staff, to forty year olds. And and it doesn't matter what education they come with, but you get to see that's AI literacy. And exploit it. Then we show them that just within organizations, we're using AI. It's an everyday thing. So when you show people that if if they rely on it, they will automate repetitive tasks. It will help them audit making, it will give them extra skills, which um I'm always critical of. If you join an organization, I give you three years. If in three years you've not been promoted to be a director, manager, something senior, then you need to move on. You're not fitting in all this, there's just a disconnect. Yes, so are you moving on with a skill? I need to see you move on to a better position. I need to see you growing. So this is crucial on ensuring we can understand that this can help them with the decision-making process, the use of technology, advancing their productivity. We have used a lot of tools. And I cannot emphasize more on critical thinking that AI enhances. So it will foster that and much more help them on ethical issues. So once they get educated, they are able to sort of deal with the bias and get to know these privacy concerns, these transparency, how the algorithm works, the implications that we all know that come with you are with AI. We also make sure that they pose as advocates. So we build public accountability and awareness. So them as technology professionals, we get a lot of people that join us, they're very green. And the first thing they do, the whole of the first month, you're going through training and you're getting trained as you work, which it's um it's real time. You you trained in the morning, you go do some activities in the afternoon. So that reinforces the skill that you need to have. Then we educate them on this, how, let's say, like our sales team, how does this affect the job market? And how can it help you, especially with digital skills? What is the impact of AI within our society? And can you can you stand up as an advocate? Can you be accountable on development of AI? Then, of course, we show them the different skills and job opportunities. Can this prepare them for future workforce? Can it foster any other them to get any other skills? Can they be more entrepreneurial? Can they be more innovative, more creative? Can they see themselves as brand ambassadors and see beyond AI? I mean, see beyond destination, imagination of the organization they're working with. So I have that emphasis of ensuring that each person that works with us knows they are brand ambassadors and fast themselves, you're a brand. Before you talk about DI, you're a brand. How do you brand yourself? How do you want the world to see you? What skills do you need to ensure that you can prepare yourself for a future that we don't know? Can we have so much pride on any stuff that leaves us for? I don't allow you, you're not going to leave my organization and just go get stuck in the village. No, I'll get to the village and get you back. I need to see you've advanced. Are you doing something better? Are you solving problems elsewhere? Have you created your own company or have you joined stronger organizations? So, what skills have you left my organization with? And I think that's something that we employers need to preach loudly to our youth. Because that's one of the ways that we can break the cycle of poverty. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07: 19:11

Wow, very, very, very powerful and very on point because before you get out on your own and have to be able to or want to be able to create your own space, you have to learn from individuals that's done it, right? So I'm glad you talked about in that entrepreneurial space and what it takes, um, mindset-wise and understanding your approach. You know, this is all about demystifying um something that might be scary just because it's unknown to you, right? Um but if just imagine you have a creon a box of creons, which are 100 box creons with all these colors you've never seen before, right? It might look a little intimidating because you're just used to the eight box of crayons. But um, if you just take your time and don't be overwhelmed and just Start with a crayon. You can get through all 300 of those crayons and have an appreciation for um for for a majority of them. And so this is the same thing and the same way I look at it as AI. Um so with that I want to get skip into the education. And so Dr. Gladys, you're not only a host, but you're you're a guest as well, right? So because um you have to educate the youth, um, and specifically at that higher competency level, can you speak to that an importance of AI for dealing with students, for looking to students to train? You can speak about the even laboratory STEM space as well, but even in that entrepreneurial space, you have to hire um in that fashion world that you're in and deal with young younger individuals, right? As well. How does this AI literacy play a role?

SPEAKER_04: 20:50

Well, let me just say, um, especially when it comes to um academia, you know, um the college is still evolving. You know, I have to say that they are that there yet. You're still trying to figure it out. That's my phrase for this era. Figure it out. And so um, whether we are, you know, trying to uh figure it out or how still we're evolving, it's there, and we have to deal with that. I do want to mention that um I had uh invited the student, well, I actually invited the class to uh attend last week's obsession, and they if they wrote a summary, they could get um bonus points, okay, towards their um grade. Well, I had a few that um actually came into the room, but what happened was I had a student that claimed that she came into the room and she sent me a summary, and I could I could tell that she used Chat GPT. So she did not get credit. You see, so you know, a lot of people when you know when you're using Chat GPT, um, you have to, it's just a framework. You have to make it your own. So I could tell that what she submitted to me was verbatim, what she, you know, copy and pasted from ChatGPT. I even asked her, I said, um, first of all, were you in the room? I said, second of all, if you were, I said, what name were you under? Because I swore, you know, who was in the room. And then I asked her, did she actually write this herself? And I never got a response. So silence is an answer. So these are some of the things that we are going to be navigating in academia because you are going to have that academic dishonesty, but you have to be able to spot it. And I was able to spot in that case, but she never did respond. So that tells me that I was accurate in what I saw. You know, so that's one of the things that we're going to have to deal with. But I also encourage myself before you go on.

SPEAKER_07: 22:57

So what you're what you're saying that I got from that is whether you are an AI enthusiast or not, whether you're jumping over the moon like a lot of us are about it, you still have to be knowledgeable enough to recognize its presence.

SPEAKER_04: 23:14

Absolutely. And that's what I'm saying. You know, the the thing is, I actually use it. Let me just tell you, I encourage my students to use it but responsibly. So I tell them you use it as a framework. Just like when I use it, if someone needs a reference or recommendation from me, I use chat GPT. I might say I have a student academy of physiology. Um, you know, um, I need to um write a recommendation. It will give me a framework, but I still have to tell why that student is being recommended. I have to go back to look at their grades. I have to put in where they were in the past of the peer, a cop tier student. I have to tell what they did, you know, they collaborated with others, they you know they were later providing you know information to their um to their peers. So you can't tell, you can't take chat GPT for a bit of and submit that and stick it with your other. It just provides that framework. So I do tell my students because we have to deal with it in the secret. So I tell them, yeah, I do want you to use chat GPT. I want you to make it your own. I even give it a time to do it for what it's education, and I said I want you to create a lesson plan, and I want you to use chat GPT, but I want you to, I want you to make it your own. They could stop happening for the data, but I explained to them that that explains your responsibility. You see, so we have to take it, it's okay to use it, that's why we got to use it responsible and you have to make it your own. So that's what I said. That's a whole, you know, you know, situation there just in that particular area. So we're still trying to figure out in the in that environment, the college environment, how do we deal with that? So that's how I deal with it as an individual. I'm just saying that's how I deal with it in my uh sector.

SPEAKER_08: 25:03

I'm gonna jump in real quick here about um to ask the students a question too, because a lot of people it's simple as it appears, they don't realize there are AIs in many of them that scan the papers, that do all of it to determine how AI the paper is and how much it's changed. So you can just let them know. Don't you guys realize that I use AI to determine if what you did and didn't do with your documents? I don't even have to read it. Even though we still do, but in that level of just because AI is to determine how much and if something's authentic, grammar-wise, photo-wise, and all that out there as well.

SPEAKER_03: 25:46

If I can add to that from the recruiting perspective as well, um similar to what you've been talking about, uh, Dr. Gladys, um, in recruiting, I find often also that resumes are uh so AI allows you now to just select each word that is applicable to a job description and try to fill it in within your resume. So often what it looks like is if you look at enough resumes, you find a lot a lot of those looking almost cloed. Um the same. So the personality and the actual uniqueness of that individual does not come through in those resumes that is fully and only um written by a resume as well when it comes down to uh the documentation and how they you know how they use the AI and you're talking about the ethics and the implication of these things. Um, I think that type of that resonated with me as well from that perspective.

SPEAKER_07: 26:48

Thank you, Miss Grace, and welcome to the stage, Sherry, and welcome, Sharon. Let me just take some time here to actually acknowledge the guests and our listeners. Um whether our live listeners, I'm actually um feeling thank you for stopping in. Uh Zizi, how are you? Sharito, hi, thank you. Uh favorite, um Lisa, how are you doing? Hello, Dr. Rickman, thank you, Babacarr. Hey Julie. I know you got some things to teach us here um about AI and its importance in social work, so feel free to raise your hand and get up here. Hello, Terrence, thank you for stopping in. Zonzi, um, hello Brandon and Dr. AO, please, I need you to come up and speak um how these kids and what grade level your kids are and why AI literacy is important. Um, and when did you realize as an educator, right? That you had to get in the game. Um, hello, Michael, and um, yes, we have our guest McKenzie. If you can raise your hand as well to come up on stage, and and every and anyone down there, please raise your hands. Time to hear when did the AI literacy, when did that reality bite for you? Uh specifically, if you remember the time, uh that's what I want to capture here. Um, please. So, how are you doing, Sherry? Um, welcome. We'll start with Sharon and then we'll go to Sherry.

SPEAKER_02: 28:17

Thank you so much for having me and putting this together.

SPEAKER_07: 47:12

And when reality bites, so for you, when did it bite that this AI, you needed some literacy yourself or for someone around you that this was a real thing? Go for it. We'll start with Angelica and then we'll go with um peace.

SPEAKER_09: 47:28

Well, as soon as AI came into the picture, I knew that I had to adapt because things change, right? And it's sometimes if we if we don't learn it, we might be left behind. For example, computers. Everybody started using computers at work. And those that didn't want to use them well, they they um were behind. I just wanted to mention a little bit uh about Sherry because she she talked about having that special touch as a teacher. I was just at a global um neurodiversity conference in in La Jolla, and um and it was for autistic uh families and autistic teachers. And so there were panelists there, and one of the panelists was one of our Head Start teachers, and talking about the human touch, this uh and what um and what Dr. Io mentioned that it is important. One of the teachers was talking about their child, the one of the children in the room that had autism. But this child, the only thing that they would eat was bananas, and so it was affecting their nutrition. Their nutrition was um level was going bad, and the mom um, you know, let the teacher know that. So, what happened? Um, the teacher did what she would play with the child, and she played with the dinosaurs, and the child loved the dinosaurs. And she started telling the child, you know, dinosaurs they like to get really strong. And the way that they get strong is by eating vegetables. They eat fruits, but they eat vegetables too. And so this child all of a sudden started eating vegetables at in the classroom for lunch, right? And so it took that relationship that she built by playing with the child to have the child um start eating vegetables. The and so the teacher took some video of the child and sent it to the parent, the mom. And the parent one day goes, How did you do it? How did you do it? She says, I've been trying to get him to eat vegetables for two years. And so um she explained how she did it. So it's those things like the human touch is very important when it comes to uh teaching. Um, but another thing about AI that is important, another panelist that has autism, he had the type of autism that he doesn't speak, but he uses a program um through the computer where it talks for him. So his he types in what his thought is, and he's a brilliant, the way he expresses himself is brilliant, and he's humorous, he's a college student, um, very articulate, but he just doesn't speak. But he used AI to convey his thoughts. So those are some of the wonderful ways that AI is is being used. And uh I think you know there's a balance, right? We there's some people that need the human touch and some people that need that AI in order to be able to communicate. So I just wanted to share that, and uh thank you so much for letting me come up and share back over to you.

SPEAKER_11: 51:21

Thank you, and we missed you. Oh, there you are. Hi, Doctor Miss Swahili speaking sister, jambotana. Oh, you're doing good. So at least you have increased your vocabularies. How awesome is that the mic will be all used to sing for us as we close the room the Swahili song. And I love love your feedback. It's it's interesting when we look into the use cases for AI. I have a very unique one that I actually started um recently, where I struggle with uh designing, and sometimes you know, when you you want something, okay. I have a lot of AI tools that I use to help me with my design one. I just forgot because it made me especially proposals. I do now I do very good proposals, which it's from designing to creating the content. But it's one I started using recently where I would put um a flyer on my AI app, actually, just on my phone. Come on! Oh, I'm sorry, it's internet, I thought I've been switched off. So um, so I'll use it, I'll put, I'll I'll get pick a flyer, I'll put it on my phone app, and I'll ask the, I mean, it's it's all functionering. Can you can you tell me can you criticize this flyer, pretend to be a world-class graphic designer, and tell me from branding perspective, what do you think about this flyer? Is it something presentable to stick to my world-class client and get to see sophisticated on class? You put a hard fact in your project, and the AI does a fantastic job where you'll be told, can you align like this and that? Can you check on that color scheme? Can you do this and that? Can you stop you overusing this word? My goodness, it is so super awesome. Yes, of course, like Sharon said, there's that concern that we get on what's gonna happen to our creative industry. But guess what? From my perspective, I feel AI has made me more creative, a better human being, my reasoning as well. And I also feel like um on this side of, I think it was just Sharon who was talking about we don't even know what's true and what's fake. If you're using, I don't know about the other chat DPT, but if you're using the 4.0, it tells you, it shares links, like to show the authenticity of where that content is coming from. So all you need to do to see if these are facts, open the link. Because I mean we all know, we all know organizations that are credible, that we feel like on your research, you rely on established research publications, you see if this is a reputable university, or this is a technology company, or this is a research company that I can trust and count on. So, on that, um, if you check, like sometimes I actually bring some with AI. So, for me to get opinions, I look at like even legal documents. Legal documents, I post them there and then I say, can you customize this according to Botanal? And is this making sense? Then I will obviously check on who is the legal analyst that AI is using. Because I mean the links are there. So if it's um something that is just on the socials, you see, is this a credible bugger where this perspective is coming from? So if we can try to use this still regulatory framework still coming up, you've seen a lot of companies now coming up with their IPs to protect their work and stuff like that. So, yes, we still need to emphasize on ethical ethics in using AI. But I feel the gym is out of the bottle and we can't afford to stay put and just be preachy. Yeah, that it's been I mean it's it's it's reality. You've had the several times of friends for both jobs. We're not talking about what we see in the papers, we're talking about people we know. So as we deal with that replacement, it's it's um the challenge is within us to learn and unlearn and as quickly as we can. Over to you, Dr. Burz. I see we still have some gifts. I have seen the over. I think she stepped down. I'm not sure if it's Lisa or Peace or Sherry, I don't know who is next, Dr. Bass. The mic is yours, and another big hello to our listeners.

SPEAKER_07: 56:06

Thank you, Miss Kim, for sharing that and always reminding us um as well and appreciating our listeners. Yes, I think peace was next and then Lisa. Go for it, ladies. How has AI literacy um impacted you and when did that reality bite for you? Peace, are you um there? Can you hear? If not, we'll if she's having audio show, we can start with Lisa. Lisa, is your mic audible?

SPEAKER_10: 56:45

Hi, can you hear me?

SPEAKER_07: 56:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_10: 56:49

Hi, uh, good morning, good evening, everybody. Um, this is a really interesting conversation. I just had to come up on and give my two cents. Um, so I love what Miss Kim was just talking about, the different ways to really embrace and appreciate what AI can do for you. Um, when she talked about using it to critique her work, you know, I thought it was just so brilliant because you can actually get Chat GBT or whatever AI are using to write you something and then critique its own work. And in that critique, it picks up the errors that it made initially. So I just think that was so fascinating. And when Angelica spoke about uh using AI for differently abled persons, that's the power of AI, and this is why we need to do that learning curve as quickly as we can and see how AI can fit into our business, into our personal lives, into how we support others because it's not going anywhere. And it's it doesn't make sense to say, well, AI is gonna take jobs, or AI is gonna make me stop thinking for myself or stop being critical. No, it's how you use AI, and let's learn the correct way to do it. And that's why I heard Dr. Gladys speak and how she um talks to her students, and I thought that was just so powerful because I remember I think last year a student got expelled for using Grammarly on her thesis. And I thought, how close-minded can you be? That means you don't even understand the different types of AI that's available and how it can be used to just expel a student for using grammarly. And that's like the lecturers, the old lecturers being afraid of computers. You know, we need to get to the times because if we're calling ourselves educators, we are educating the next generation for the world they are going to live in, not the world we came from. So we need to embrace AI, we need to teach them the right way to use AI so that we don't end up with a with a Skynet terminator situation, right? We need to empower them, but you teach them the right way to use it. Um, I just wanted to add my two cents to what um Ms. Kim said about verification. And just to be careful about um when you ask AI to verify certain things. I had a case where I was doing my um thesis and I asked it to verify the sources and chat GPT. And I believe Gemini did it as well. They literally created papers, created fictitious authors, created fictitious journals. So you have to be careful of when you're asking to verify sources and give you the sources of where it's pulling from, to actually verify the verification. You know, actually take the information and then you know put it in Google and find it for yourself. Because if you're just relying on each Lat GPTs to verify that information that you're giving out, it can. I'm not sure if um Dr. But you really need to be careful of what AI you're using and then what very situation you're asking you to do because, like I said, it literally created people to eventually exist. Now we have uh received programs for colleges and universities like illicit AI that real people, but again, we need to educate especially the students, which AI tools to use and for what? That's my two cents. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_07: 1:00:44

Thank you. Thank you for that. So I got so much to say after that. First of all, um you said so much, but just from the accent alone, you I could have just kept, you could have just kept talking. Um uh so anyway, let me let me get back to being serious here. Yes, what you said about AI is so important, right? That even the children, right? It's across different generations, but you have to understand how to use it. It's like teaching someone to ride a bike and then giving them the keys to the car.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:10

That this isn't something that you've written, um, that's not great. Uh so just being aware that that can expose you um in some ways that you might not um might not be desirable. And so sometimes the expertise is around knowing when not to use AI as well as when knowing when to use AI. Um, so just something to keep in mind there that really it's a way to um advance on your expertise and expand on your expertise. But if it's trying to replace expertise, that is where um a lot of people run into trouble in using these tools and might not be getting the results um that they're looking for. And then a second point is in terms of AI, um, and again, others have brought this up. Don't focus on necessarily a specific tool. Um, I know ChatGPT is super popular. That's where I started as well. Um, it's kind of just the most ubiquitous in the space and the most well-known. Um, but there are a lot of tools out there, and yes, that can be overwhelming. But start to think of AI not as a tool, but as a system. Um, you need to build out your ecosystem of these different tools that are really specialized for different things, again, as others have mentioned. Um, one might be better for copywriting or a certain type of copywriting, and you can focus on that bit for copywriting. One is better at design, one might be better at research and citing sources. And so just making sure you're using the right tool and building an ecosystem of these tools rather than using one as a one size fits all. And so, back to expertise, think of a process that you know well, like something that you've done every day over and over for years now, and then start to break that down into individual steps, and then start to assign those steps to a different AI. So some again might be better at certain steps in that process. Um, an example on my end is um with doing design and marketing and creative work. Um, some of the AI are better at writing, right? And so I might use those to generate some ideas and then generate a general prompt, um, and then take that prompt and put it into one that's better at image generation and use that from there. And then one that's better at analy uh analyzing images, kind of as Ms. Kim was saying earlier, with looking at your branding and kind of checking things there. You might take that image and plug it into another tool and kind of verify it. And so it becomes a sort of three-step process: one that's doing the writing and the prompting, one that's generating the image, and then one that's verifying that that's a part of your brand. Um, and so and that can sound kind of um overwhelming at first, but really just breaking down something you know well into simple steps and then start with the basics. And from the first step to say, okay, I'm gonna look into this thing specifically, and okay, it looks like this AI tool is the best for that, and then plug that into your ecosystem and really start to build out your team and think of these things as working together and the synergy between them.

SPEAKER_07: 1:12:02

Thank you, Brandon. You're 100% correct, right? And I love what you said. Um, first of all, let me say as a as a brain scientist, I want to say um, you know, words and what you hear goes right to your brain. And you said something there, and thinking of this and all the teaching of everything with AI, you said AI, think of it as a system, not a tool, but a system. Um, my brother, I'm gonna take that forward as I talk to myself, as I talk to my colleagues, as I talk to my youth, because you're talking about workflow, right? And if you people that's in the game and work in, you yes, you understand workflow to the point where individuals are now selling this, right? Companies are actually basically selling workflows, right? But what you said is it's what the level I'm at is changing the mind and the concept of your thought, of how you think about it before you engage. So, you know, it's a common practice to say that AI is a tool, AI is a tool, and I'm going to make it um my mission now to actually just if you said that and it clicked so much that no, it's not a tool, it's a system. And yes, you're building out your team, and and something like that is really awesome for like like myself, like you know, researcher, scientists who, yes, you rely on students and you want to develop the students and have that engagement, and just like the kids need it, um, well, the adults need that um contact and engagement as well for growth, right? For personal growth. You have IQ, SQ, EQ, you know, social intelligence, emotional intelligence. We all need that no matter what age, believe it or not. Um, but being able to use that technology to where now, if you want to display an image where I got into the sciences and stuff because of the art of nature, like the art of the brain, how artistic and symmetrical everything is. That's what drew me in, right? Besides of the mind. But being able to now translate some of these thoughts and ideas and using that technology where you don't have to pay someone thousands and thousands of dollars to get very close to what you are even thinking, to then use that idea into what you can do professionally. Um, it's amazing to me. So, yes, thank you for that. And um, Ms. Kim, would you like to have a word?

SPEAKER_11: 1:14:30

Yes, and I I think we should have a separate session where we invite Brandon, specifically focusing on digital marketing and branding, because he is a genius in that space. And of course, I'm itching to say hello. I've just seen, you know, these uh the Africa STEM queen, then there's the real, real Africa STEM queen. I see her in the listening large. No nofo. A big shout out, and so good to see you. If you want to talk about anything, space exploration, that's our genius teacher in Botswana. And hey, Chiesa, how awesome to see you, Alexander, Lance, Cherry. Sherry, you are up, you went down, Sharon as well, my Swahili speaking sister, Angelika, Terrence, Aweyodit, Clement, Emmanuel, David, Zara, it's been so long. Where have you been hiding? Bebecca and our very own Zomzi. A big shout out. It's a lovely Sunday, very nice weather here in Botswana. I see we're almost getting to the end of our session. I really want to ask you, let's do what we do. Connect, connect, connect. If there's anybody in this listening lounge or speaker's lounge and you don't know that person, this is your chance to click on their face and say, hello, we're here together. Can we collaborate? Can we see if um we aligned? There's any synergy we can create. And as well, if you're here looking for a job, promoting a product, please put it on the comment section. If you also have um a topic that you're going like, we would love to talk about this. Please DM us, any one of the happiness tribe members, and then we can discuss it. If you want to come in as a guest, Lisa, I think we need to you need we need to invite you as a guest. You have a lot of great insights to share, especially AI. And just to mention something, Lisa, you say, which I think um I use AI. I'll take I'll take your advice and be very, very thorough now researching on where that when I put my prompt. But I see when you use ChPT4, it gives you you so you do your research, it will give you the link to where that content is coming from. So usually click on the link because you go to a specific website and verify. But that's a wake-up call for me that yes, uh, these tools we need to be careful as we use them. They can make up stories, and and then you're submitting when you're talking about things that are not facts. The only thing that I've I think we've all known that we can't heavily rely on AI with is statistics. Statistics, I think it's not figured out how to come up with numbers. That one I'm very wary. I don't go straight to that. But uh on on research, be it on anything, I just ensure that the tools that have been presented with by AI, I click on them and confirm this could be true. This has been super awesome. I don't know if somebody else would love to help and close the room. I think we've learned a lot.

SPEAKER_07: 1:17:40

Can I before you close up, can I just make a quick comment on the statistics thing that you're saying? Because it's funny that you say um that the issue is that uh AI has a problem with numbers and statistics. And principal Lance, if you got a moment, you should raise your hand and speak. Emmanuel as well, please speak, um, speak up. But you what you just said is that numbers have a problem with numbers. Because um AI, right? Technology, it's it's it's numbers, right? It's mathematical formulas putting away in functionality um and usability, but it's all based on mathematics and statistics is mathematics. So you're saying numbers have a problem with numbers. That's what just happened in my mind. Um, welcome to the stage, Principal Lance. How are you doing? And I thought Emmanuel was up here. Oh, someone please let uh Mr. Peter up.

SPEAKER_11: 1:18:37

I think my my AI tools are like going on retirement now. This thing is time up because I'm struggling to get Emmanuel. Can you try? I think one of the other hosts can try to get Emmanuel on top. I'm clicking his other mind.

SPEAKER_02: 1:18:52

Yeah, I tried as well, but I I cannot get him um up either. Uh Emmanuel, if you want to take your hand down, I can try that again. Maybe refresh on your hand. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07: 1:19:11

Principal Lance, go for it.

SPEAKER_06: 1:19:13

Okay, good morning. Good morning, everyone. Uh sorry, during this time, usually I am in uh services, so it was always I would try to catch as much as I can. Uh, but I was just super um, you know, kind of amped and thrilled and uh kind of charged up by the conversation, especially from the young people in the in the group, because uh as an educator myself, uh uh you know, I I would say I'm in between. I'm in a unique position to be in between sort of generations. So I can I've been able to translate some things from the older generation to the younger generation because we're kind of stuck in the middle. So those who are who are in that unique uh uh space, do not um you know shirk your responsibility you have for both sides as well as uh you. know your peers as well because the skepticism and and I love how Dr. Ross says the demystifying of the of the AI uh system I'm gonna start using that too versus tools because um as he was mentioning too is if you don't know how to use something there's usually a system even in in using tools and and taking things apart there's always a system and a way to do things first second third and there's a process. So I love that uh I love what um I believe it was Peter who had said that and uh just uh the whole the way he uh he explained that so that's awesome but um also kind of circling back to what was mentioned about the um the different use cases and and the responsibility we have to check on things like even when it comes down to numbers um that's important uh they always say the phrase that numbers don't lie but people will and nowadays you have to watch about the numbers lying to you because of how we're getting it because let's be honest like data is nothing but ones and zeros bits of data you know even IP addresses all those so people actually use numbers to uh to uh tell falsities all the time so that's a big thing and then lastly I think um one big key piece to uh remember is that um you need to use uh the tools that um that not only that you that are best for you but the ones you're the most um uh successful with and the most the ones you have the most practice with using it once and then thinking you know how to use it is very is is reckless. And um and that's something that Dr. Ross has kind of helped me do in a lot okay he'll send me a lot of different tools and then I'll I'll dive into them and I try to find the end of the way in, the way out, um the things that hold me up, the things that it can't do is much is more important sometimes than the things that it can do because it will dial in your your use cases and the way that you're um operating with it respectfully and responsibly. So um and I just want to share like um a quick uh quote that I heard and I want us to kind of assign that to some of the things that we're doing with AI and they said um uh they said gratitude statistically is actually one of the shortest lived of all emotions. Gratitude is the shortest lived of all emotions. Right now there's a lot of people that are experiencing it and they get that instant gratification but as soon as you know that happens that they they kind of turn it off and they don't realize the long-term effectiveness of gratification. And we're not we're not letting it be short lived we're not letting it be a match a matchstick excitement where it just fizzles out and burns down and eventually burns your fingers. We are we're we're setting bonfires where um we're control but it's a controlled burn and that's the most important part of it is that you can use fire to destroy but you can also use fire to create and uh let's remember that fire has a lot of the same um you know thing it needs a lot of the same things that we as humans need. It needs air it needs food it needs oxygen you know those things like that. So um with AI it it can it can be a fire that can consume or it can be a fire that can create so let's remember to use it wisely and to you know just like any campfire as soon as you're done using it you know just you know put it out clean it up so that it doesn't burn anything else down in the process so if that makes sense. Thank you so much for letting me share Dr.

SPEAKER_07: 1:23:25

Ralph thank thank you with that principle Lance and before we get to Emmanuel can you tell me as a principal or in your work or was it your personal life when did AI become a reality to you?

SPEAKER_06: 1:23:39

And or just not even just AI but the fact that you have to be AI literate that's the point here is when did it become a reality that I have to become AI literate I think that turning point happened honestly about two and a half years ago when I started realizing the different things it could do and being ADHD and dyslexic and a couple other things that you know of course statistically should have slowed me down or stopped me from learning things, I was able to harness those particular shall we say classifications as as superpowers when it came down to the ability to hyperfocus on something sometimes that allows me to not let go like Dr. Ross would say go down the rabbit hole. People forget that rabbit holes are not just rabbit holes they're tunnels. Rabbits don't just have one way in and out they have and they and and inside their burrows they have plenty of compartments where they can store food but the same areas they store food is not also where they live and where they sleep and then there's a you know a community and a and a structure in what they do. So just because you see a rabbit hole it's not just a hole in the ground it's actually something that will it will get you to other places quicker and and and without uh distraction you know so it's a it's they've they've designed those tunnels to go to certain places for certain things whether it be for protection and we think about cybersecurity that's important. We need to know that um the things we are doing are protected. I mean Dr. Ross has something called file baby which is awesome because it's taking people's intellectual property and their generative ideas and being able to um allow that person to have ownership of it because we live in a world where people will steal anything that they that's not nailed down, including your intellectual property. So the best way to nail down your intellectual property is to protect it with things like File Baby and also the different cybersecurity tools that are out there to um uh protect the assets that you're accumulating. So uh like they used to say in the you know I was growing up get all you can can all you get and sit on the lid. So that's what I think has allowed what uh they've allowed me to do and uh just being able to take all the things that were cluttering my mind up all these ideas all these inventions all these uh concepts all these different tools that I that I I'm allowed to now research those things in a matter of minutes hours and days where it would have taken me weeks and months and years so let's just look at the um the the the speed aspect of it as long as you are able the faster you can consume it the faster you can contain it and then the faster you can eventually start to uh you know uh you know use it as a complement to your own personal and professional life so that's kind of uh in a nutshell where I feel that I it happened for me.

SPEAKER_07: 1:26:27

Powerful powerful thank you so much principal Lance and um wow so much to say I think Ms. Kim I'd like to push this to to the to the next hour if we could if you have the time um because I definitely would like some time for Emmanuel here um very bright young individual um to really get some time and speak of who he is what he's doing and the mission he's on.

SPEAKER_01: 1:26:51

Hello Emmanuel how are you hello everyone um good afternoon my name is Emmanuel Peter I'm a final year student of Obafemelo University so um I'm a student of electronic and electrical engineering so it's a pleasure coming um on board this platform. So apologies for joining this I'm just coming from church so I just have to like open the call so yeah um AI literacy when reality bites so what do I do basically so yeah um I'm in Nigeria and I'm interested in brain computer interfacing so um this guy who is fascinated by um how the brain works and how you are going to use some signals in the brain to make life easier for human beings like yeah something is popping up in the brain the brain is firing signals but however you're unable to like um get those signals down to your muscles so I'm really really worked up about that but um yes from everything people have been saying I would like to like make some make a very very little contribution which is um my first interaction with AI so earlier this year I was I was on an internship and my supervisor gave me a task which he was to so there's this thing we call a motor so yeah a a brushless direct current motor so I was actually working on it so it was faulty and we had to repair that particular motor so I knew it was a big problem because um more than 50 persons had actually troubleshooted it and everybody was saying this idea was crazy it is impossible to repair that particular motor with the crude issues we had so yeah my supervisor gave me the capacity to actually solve the problem he said um this thing is possible and I should just get it done with so um before I started working on it I had to like um reach out to my a good number of my senior colleagues so that they can give me insight about the problems they face so that I can know how to channel um my own solution. So a lot of them were even telling me the man is like wasting time it cannot be solved and all those um things. So however um there was I got introduced like Claude Claude so and at the same time charged as well so both of them were my buddies at the same time so I was just trying to brainstorm what could be wrong. Yes evidently um I wrote code to emulate those signals and to try to troubleshoot things but they were not actually working yes I had to like um dissect the brain of Claude dissect the brain of Char GPT but the results were not still um still they weren't looking the variable for the problem statement I was actually like dealing with however um I just had to like sit down relax look at the signals themselves and yeah based on my um my inferences from the signals I was able to generate I was able to like solve that particular problem so um when people talk about he high I see it as not just an entity itself um he high is not just independence it is actually very much dependent on human intelligence as well and um the limit is of your AI is how far you can actually think with that particular AI because oftentimes the hay before um the hay actually gives you your desired results so I yeah I I felt like I felt like I was actually on the sky after being able to like trash more than a four year problem um within like two months two months of like crazy work two months of like sitting down to understand the signals and being able to like do something novel. So what am I pointing at what am I arriving at because yes there's a lot of issues out there concerning AI changing the future of work AI replacing human beings and everything but what I'll just say is that um um the limit of AI is actually human intelligence. So your AI is is is as smart as you are so it depends on how you prompt your AI how you're able to like break down the problems for the AI. So the the AI is not really really that intelligent yet to look at certain problems look to enter some niches and um offer um solutions first and like that so it still requires a large chunk of like human understanding. So I I'm not able to like keep up with the consistency. I I study books on the brain computer interfacing and um I try to look at what I study and relate it with um the normal human experience because I don't want to share um contents that are too esoteric for an average human understanding. So I I I sit down with this whatever I read especially um for the field of brain computer interfacing the problem is I read the content and yes it's fascinating I I sit down I look at what is what occurs in in the society and how can I draw a parallel between what I've actually read and what is actually playing out in the society. So now based on those contents I I actually like put out like you see people asking questions you see people um coming into the knowledge of what is actually going on I see minds becoming like becoming more educated in that particular field. So yes I would say I'm a brain computer and interface enthusiast yes I I deal more into um I'm currently self-learning as an undergraduate and yes I'm an electronic and electrical engineer um in training as well so yeah AI is actually is the future but um it is it is not the future without us so we we just need to to keep improving AI and if if if AI would be very little in the nearest future that would be because we human beings are actually like bad people so that's what I just feel like so if people are using AI um in a very very wrong manner it is not because um such a two existing it is because there are human beings exist um who are not being considerate that human beings who exist who are being very very selfish and that human beings exist who are just um not um bothered about the advancement of humanity um at large thank you so much yeah and thank you so much Dr.

SPEAKER_07: 1:33:11

Ras and everyone for lending me your case yeah Peter thank you everyone yeah thank you thank you for that Peter and um let me just say it's an honor to have you on here and we're gonna work very hard so you won't be self-taught well you'll always be self-taught because it's life right and those of um you want to be a life learner but definitely if you guys want to support Peter's mission he didn't mention um Emmanuel here is on a 100 day mission of his BCI investigation. So studying BCI and you know he's on a good journey in actually using the technology to put that information out there and share the journey and that's how we came across so I'm looking to um a lot of exciting things in in the growth of yourself as well as AI in the future and everything that's going on. So um you know good luck with that and we we will push forward with a number of objectives and your uh take on this is important too for the individuals because you mentioned about um AI in the brain and you know that's the space that I'm in as far as neuron trauma and then understanding um graphic neural networks and the AI technology and how you can use large language models small language models and neurobots and things to be able to augment and help better the quality of life in a number of ways not only physically but also mentally psychologically um emotionally um so yeah this is a very very good space and thank you so much for um coming on um to my other co-hosts please have a round of things to say we're gonna extend this another 14 minutes um to the to the grace of miss kim thank you both um yes so thank you audience and please take it away