AI Works Best When You Still Do The Thinking

Your AI assistant might be sitting in your meetings, taking notes, and you may not have invited it. That’s where we start with Austin Ramsey, a tech consultant and entrepreneur who lives in the real world of launches, deadlines, vendors, and the messy middle where “great ideas” meet actual operations.

We talk about the Johnson City Eye Surgery Center project and what it takes to coordinate multiple contractors, keep timelines aligned, and protect the customer experience so the public only sees a smooth opening day. Austin explains the mindset behind being the “quarterback” on high-stakes projects and why the best work often happens quietly in the background. If you’re into project management, small business operations, or building reliable systems, you’ll hear the practical parts that don’t show up in highlight reels.

Then we dig into artificial intelligence and the guardrails people skip. We compare how tools like Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can accelerate presentations and planning, but also why you still have to verify facts, proofread output, and watch for AI hallucinations that sound confident while being wrong. We also get into data privacy, permissions, and how giving an AI access to your calendar or email can create unexpected “auto-join” behavior that raises real security questions.

If you enjoy the conversation, subscribe, share it with someone who’s trying to use AI at work, and leave a review. What’s your personal rule for using AI without losing accuracy or privacy?

To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com. 

Transcript

Welcome To Benchmark Happenings

SPEAKER_00 0:02

This is Benchmark Happening. Brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Home Loan. Northeast Tennessee. Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, the Tri-City, one of the most beautiful places in the country to live. Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show, you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee. And on the way, we'll have discussions about mortgages. And we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans. And now your host, Christine Reed.

Catching Up With Austin Ramsey

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Benchmark Happenings. And as you know, we always have a star of the show. And so always my favorite, my favorite guest, Austin Ramsey. So Austin, thank you so much for being on today.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

So good to be here. Thanks for having me back.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Of course. And you know, um, we've been on several times. We've talked

Coordinating A Major Medical Project

SPEAKER_01 1:10

about artificial intelligence, um, your company, all the exciting things that you're doing, and the project that you just finished up with, Johnson City Eye Surgery Center here locally. So congratulations. I'm sure the how well is how well is that going?

SPEAKER_02 1:27

It's going really well. So they yeah, they have they've been operating now for I sound like five or six months. Um so I was there the day they they got their certificate of occupancy. Uh state came in and checked off everything, and so uh it was a really great project to be a part of and a great team to work with and uh you know it just it worked out really well.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

That's awesome. And I know I remember how you had to work with so many different folks and organizations and kind of be the quarterback of that, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Exactly. Yeah, a lot of that project was literally being there to help coordinate between different uh contractors and helping them all make sure that the timelines led up to when they were ready to go live, that everything was ready to go. And so, you know, in in in a perfect world, everything goes exactly as you planned. Actually not true, right? Uh you know, you got a lot of things that happened, and so my job was to help behind the scenes make sure everything went perfect. So on the front end, no one really saw any type of impact. So uh yeah, everything worked out really well. So uh it was a fun project, and like I said, it was just great getting to work with all the different people and um when you work with really good people, you know, it makes it fun and makes the job work really well.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

It it does. And and you were kind of the overall project manager and pulling it all together, and uh so I know there's gonna be a lot of other projects like that in your future.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

Yes, it was. It was uh kind of uh it's one of those projects that you enjoy being a part of one of those. Um I'll say every now and then, right? You kind of stage those out. Um, because I have other supported clients that I work with in between, all of that too. So I support those clients in conjunction to that project. So uh but yes, definitely a fun. Um it's it's kind of like putting a puzzle together and you're getting down to the wire and making sure all the pieces come together. Um and you know, in those projects too, you get to also help find other areas to help the company, you know, just just leverage different tech technology things. So, you know, in the middle of that, we were also doing a large-scale phone transition. So, you know, you'll bring a new surgery center online, but you're also helping to operationally make sure there's no downtime with this new phone system. So in that you get to learn how to help kind of you know enhance things along the way. So it's it's fun.

Staying Uncomfortable As An Entrepreneur

SPEAKER_01 3:50

So that's great. And you know what I love about you, Austin? Those of you that have listened to these podcasts when we do have Austin on a true entrepreneur by heart. Yes, um, extremely successful young man, and I do say young man, uh started back when you were very young.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Yep, started selling lemonade, actually.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, and and making money farmer's market and DJing.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

DJing, yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

And then uh I love how you're always you never allow yourself to get comfortable. Yes, yes. So so w why is that, Austin? I mean, what is it that um what is that internal mechanism that you possess that you're like you know, you did some rebranding this year. So share with the audience those that, you know, are entrepreneurs out there or just running businesses or maybe have gotten complacent. What are some recommendations or things that you can help others to constantly be able to challenge yourself?

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Yeah, I think that's a really good point. Uh you know, I think as a as any person, whether you're an entrepreneur or not, um, I think it's important that we continue to push ourselves. In my mind, it's crush the box, right? So don't get stuck in this box. That's my main company mantra. In fact, a lot of the times when I come into a business or have been in a business for a while, you know, there's these little moments where they've crushed the box, right? They've gone beyond what they thought was traditional. Um and that's just become a great mindset. And I think sometimes, you know, it's easy to uh do something the same way for many years and maybe certain things you need to do a certain way because it's important and and that's fine. But for myself, I find it too boring to be doing the same thing over and over and over again. In fact, I remember uh a little story when I was in college. Um I'd started my business, but I was in college, you know, doing a major and I was kind of, you know, well, if if all else fails, what would I do? Right? That's always the what if. Because when you're an entrepreneur, you know, worst case you go get a normal job, right? That's not not not really that. It doesn't seem too risky to me, right? If this all fails, I'll just go get a job. Um I remember talking to my advisor, and I said, Well, what would I do with a computer science degree and a business management minor? And he's he said, Well, you could manage a a Walmart with a business management minor. And I'm thinking, I don't think I want to manage a you know, I don't I don't want to walk in and manage all these people every day. Not my type of time. That just doesn't sound too fun. And so, you know, I remember thinking about that and thinking in my world, you know, I get to walk into new environments all the time and see new problems and a lot of times it's the same framework, right? It's all technology based. Um, but I think it's just it's just my personality. I love to be in doing new things and seeing new environments, meeting new people. And so I would just encourage anyone, whether you are are are an entrepreneur or whether you're an employee, you know, just think about something in your life that you've been doing forever and shake it up a little bit, right? Change it up.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

And what would be some things they could um resources or

Using AI To Break Routines

SPEAKER_01 7:00

things they could access to help somebody?

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Maybe they just don't really know how to shake things up or that's a good well, and I think that could kind of segue a little bit into we've we've talked about AI a lot, right? Um, I think AI has become uh it's now the Google, right? Everybody used to say, oh, let's I'll search it on Google. Now it's let me put that in AI. Um and so uh I honestly, what's a better segue to saying, why not use your preferred a lot of people use ChatGPT, some people use Claude, Gemini, pick your preferred um preferred AI tool and start a conversation. You know, hey, here's my situation, here's what I'm doing, and talk, literally talk with your AI tool about ways that you know you could change up your your your world, right? Um I think from an employee, if you're if you work for a company, you know, what's something maybe you've got a hobby and interest that you love. Uh give an example, maybe you love woodworking, right? How could you start a side hustle with your talents, right? Um and a lot of times that becomes somebody's main job. I'll give an

Turning A Hobby Into Full-Time Work

SPEAKER_02 8:10

example. My sister, uh, she used to work at Eastman and and has worked for some local businesses in marketing. Well, she enjoyed those jobs, but she never just felt like it was really what she liked. But she loved to sew. And so she actually did sewing in 4 H growing up. Um, and 4-H has been a big part of both of our lives, my sister and mine both. And but she learned how to sew at a young age, and so she started sewing dresses, and now she operates a I mean, she does six or seven hundred dresses a year out of her home.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Oh my goodness, full time. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

So she also has three kids and has a family and raises. I mean, it's incredible. I'm so proud of her and what she's done. And I always knew she would have that entrepreneurial eventually. It was too close. Uh you know, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

She does like custom clothing dresses, or they put it on the case.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Well, she does all no, she does all alterations. So for weddings, for special events, so um and she has people, she's had people come from uh uh Richmond, Virginia, she's had people come from Knoxville. Um it's kind of a lost art. It really is. People that know how to sew. And in fact, she used to do any type of alteration. If you had pants, hemmed, or a shirt, a button, whatever. Uh, she got so busy that now she only does special occasion dresses. Okay. So uh and literally her front her her sewing room is full of dresses.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

It's so where is she? I need to know this woman.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

So she's in gray. Her company is Top Stitch Alterations.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Top stitch alterations.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

So look her up, Topstitch Alterations. Okay. Um, and all she does, though, literally all she does is dresses because she's so busy now. She has so many people coming. And it's a great way for her. She's got three kids. Um, so you know, for for for them as a family, she can help, you know, r uh have her kids in in home and not have to not be around them, but also operate her business.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

So it works out really well. That is wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

And you know what? In all the times that we've talked, Austin, that's never come up.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

I know. It was it just came up to my I was trying to think of an example of that, and it was like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

So that's a great example. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

And it all started, you know, like I said, she had worked in, she didn't really care for the corporate work, it just didn't fit her. She tried this the more small, mid-sized business as a marketing person, um, enjoyed it, but just it didn't fit. And so literally, in between working a full-time job, she would at night, she would sew dresses and people would come and then eventually it was like everybody. I mean, you know, word of mouth and uh yeah, so you can look her up online and last time I checked, she had like over 200 five-star Google Google reviews.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Um maybe more than that. Don't quote me on that. So but look her up. She's it's incredible to see how her business has grown.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Um definitely will. And you know, that is it is needed. And so uh when we you mentioned artificial intelligence AI, I just got so tickled, Austin, because I went back to the first podcast you and I ever did on AI. And it was my approach was oh my goodness, this is coming. Um, I was fearful, um, you know, just very reserved of the technology, and that's probably been two years ago.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

And it has ramped up so much. I'm using it in my job, and uh and I work for a global med tech company, and they're pushing the the AI through Microsoft. Um, is is what I use. So I just decided to challenge myself and thought, okay, I need to learn how to use this. But you and I have been talking before this podcast, there's some things that um probably it's it's a great tool

AI Guardrails And Double-Checking Facts

SPEAKER_01 11:55

to learn how to use, just like you were talking about before. But but what about some of the guardrails? You know, I think as humans, you know, I know myself, I won't speak for you, but I have a tendency to be lazy.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

I think that's just that's human nature.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

And then but it's it may not always be accurate.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Correct. I think um, you know, I've got a very interesting approach to it because in my world I work with companies that are you know small, mid-sized business space, right? And you know, AI from a from a from an implementation is so easy, right? It's even easy from an enterprise. Um you have to worry about data privacy, right? But it's so easy to uh get everybody on co-pilot Microsoft, right? If they're a Microsoft environment already, they've got access to it literally on on their device today. Um the key is using it in a way that's complementary to your work, right? And so I think we're moving, in my opinion, you know, it's for a good example is hey, I need to develop a presentation to talk about this concept, right? Well let Chat GPT or Copilot or whatever tool you use, let it generate the the the framework of that presentation, but still go in and add your own you. I mean, because at the end of the day, I mean we are still human and AI is trained by humans, right? It that's where I mean it builds because of human involvement. And so I think it's it's remembering that you know it's a great tool, it's a resource to to speed up some of the things that might have taken, you know how long, right? I mean, to do a presentation, you you might spend a week to set it up, all the slides. In five minutes, you can have a beautiful presentation put together. But then going back in and and modifying it, making sure that the data's correct or the information is. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

That that's one thing that kind of concerns me is the data. Yes. You know, because I know it looks good and a lot of times we have a lot of data to go through um in certain situations, and I I just would caution people to make sure that you are double checking that.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

100%. I think, you know, I always say double triple check everything that is being generated out. Um so when you get a result, when you when you get a document, you get a press whatever, um, you know, uh it it it's ironic because I've had a couple instances where I've had people generate a document, not proofread it, send it out, and it's like got these blanks left, right? Put insert name here, insert this here, and you know, it that's where you've got to be careful um and also validating the information. And so I think that's where one of the risks I think is becoming so dependent on AI that you just forget that the the the that that it could be wrong, right? You just become so reliant on it that's like generate me a result and send it out. It's it's it's it's right. Um but it's a really it's a it's a huge resource, and I think we're only gonna see AI become more and more and more prevalent.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Um and it's gonna get better, right? That's the beauty of it. It's a it's it's a working model. Um it's also a business space, so all the different AI models are all their own independent business that are trying to compete for people's business, right? So Microsoft wants you to use Copilot, OpenAI wants you to use ChatGPT, Google wants you to use Gemini, uh, and there's other examples out there. So what does competition in the marketplace do? It makes everything better, right? So I think we're gonna see more and more ability, and it's just gonna make our lives, I mean, hopefully, in one way, better. Um in some ways. I'm sure there's some there's there's always consequences to any technology. I mean, I look at the the the Model T as an example, right? When the first car mass produced, that's good. Everybody was like, oh my gosh, you know, no, no, no, this can't be good for society. Who would imagine not having a car today?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Absolutely. Well, and then when the Teslas um, you know, where you could program them and you could just work on your computer. Well, we had a friend of ours that swore by Tesla, and he's like, Oh my gosh, I love it. I just get on my computer while I'm it's driving me to work. And one day it drove him into a field. So he sold the Tesla. That was that was enough for him. Yes. Uh I I think we still have a ways to go with some of that, especially in our rural areas. Yes. You know, being able to see and sense, um, so that that could have ended bad um for our friends. So I'm glad he got

Unwanted AI Note-Takers In Meetings

SPEAKER_01 16:45

rid of it. But I well, another interesting thing that happened, so Steve and Jonathan, they were on a call together and they were in Steve's office. Well, Jonathan has an AI assistant and her name's Lindy.

unknown 16:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

So they finished their call in Steve's office. Well, Jonathan got back to his office and Lindy says, I took notes of your meeting. Would you like to review them? Well, Jonathan never told her to do that. Now I that's all that stuff is kind of beyond me. I'm not the IT person like you are, but I'm like, how in the world did something like that happen? But they were great notes and he was glad, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

So that becomes from an IT management perspective, uh that that boils down to what tools you grant access into an environment. And so I had an instance like that a couple years ago, um, early AI, right? So very, very fresh. And you know, what it was is that one user in that organization had consented to allow an AI into their calendar. Well, it joined every meeting their calendar had set up.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

So any shared invites internally to the organization that had that person into that invite, AI joined in. And so it was kind of a mystery at first. And it was like, well, wait a minute, I didn't invite this person in. So uh and you hear that now. Ironically, I was on a meeting last week and with a with a support person for a vendor, and uh, we're doing a check-in meeting, and uh the the representative said, Oh, let me shut off this AI. I didn't invite AI into the meeting. That was kind of the conversation that's well how did they know?

SPEAKER_01 18:25

I mean, like, isn't it the erroneous number that just shows up like on a team's call? Correct.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

It could be a it could be a rogue number. Some of them have names that will join in as a participant. It just depends on what what AI tool you're using. Um but I've come to find that most of them are pretty obtrusive. So once they get into one, like your calendar, for example, then they just try to join all your meetings. And so you have to go through and it it it it can be a it can be a challenge. So that's where again data privacy becomes a question, you know, do you you know, how far do you let it in? You know, do you you know so sometimes people will will pick a preferred you know platform and say, I'm only mainly gonna use this this like Zoom, for example, you know, or Teams, for example, um, and and kind of lock in on that. But then if you're joining somebody else's meeting, you don't have control of that, so you have to decide, you know. So it yeah, it it can be uh it can be uh uh I think we're sort of in I don't want to use the term wild west because that sounds a little bit too potentially wild.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Too rogue.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

But I think we are kind of in a wild west with all these with with all these AI tools because it's just you know, how do you trust and what do you give it access to? You know, you can give AI Chat GPT for example, you can give it access to your whole uh your calendar, your email, your you can give it so much access, but then you have to ask yourself, okay, how far does that go? And what is confidential that you don't want? Because again, I mean all the data gets put into this model. Theoretically, you're not gonna somebody else is not gonna be able to pull your data.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

But it's learning on your data.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Well, it's the same thing with with social media and our searches, and it's all it's all learning who we are.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Exactly. Exactly. It's learning who you are, what you search, and being predictive about well, they're searching these things.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

And it's selling your data.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

And they're selling your data.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Like Facebook and all that. And I remember you and I have talked about that. Like, you know, go to your phone and and you know, turn off, don't allow

Data Privacy And The Real Cost

SPEAKER_01 20:40

some of those things to happen. It's what all you give access to.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

Yeah. And inevitably I always say, you know, people always say the internet, you know, typically is a free environment. You know, you go into Google search, you you even these AI tools are s a lot of them have free access. Nothing's free. That's the reality. Right. So if you're on a free product, they're selling your data around. So, you know, that's that's the big challenge today is, you know, and I think it's inevitable. I mean, you know, I think a lot of it we would be farther behind without. Right? Think about GPS's today. You know, when you navigate to places now, it's so much more predictive and robust. I mean, it avoids accidents. If there's a road that constantly bottlenecks, Google Maps is gonna start to route around that in real time. Right. What's the value of that? It's huge. That is but how are they getting that data? Because they're tracking your phone every time you ride on that route.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

And it's looking and saying, Oh, everybody stops here at three o'clock. Why are they stopping here at three o'clock? Maybe we should start routing them this way. And next thing you know, your route will take you a different way.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Okay.

AI Hallucinations And False Confidence

SPEAKER_01 21:50

And then one thing you brought up just real quickly, um, hallucinations with Yeah. So tell us a little bit about that, because I've heard that, but I really didn't understand what it was. So there might be some people listening that don't understand that either.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Yeah, so what it is is basically it's you know there's and and different ones are there's different grades of like like you know, worse or less hallucinations, but basically it's that you can convince a AI tool to make whatever you say or tell it is correct. So for example, it could pull in uh you know f uh fictitious data that that looks real and it it it it it'll say it's real. This is this is the actual data, but it's all false. And so or you could have this idea and say, I really think this is a great idea. Here's all the information, knowing that it's not, and it could say, Yeah, that's a really great idea. How would you have thought of that? You know, it's hallucinating you to think that something is better.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Because they don't know any they don't know negative.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

It's or it's geared to be positive.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

It's it's all geared to be positive. It's geared to be positive. Yes, yes, because no matter what you say to it, it comes back and says, I I apologize, that's my bad. You know, your AI assistant, you know, no matter what you say to it in return, it's always something very positive.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Right. It's it's geared towards making you feel good and making what you making what you provide it as good versus again and and and it it may be, right? A lot of times what it generates is great, but again, it's what's the old measure twice, cut once philosophy. You know, read twice. Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

You know, and it's it's appealing to that dopamine, you know, that dopamine surge that we get.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

How would I have come with that? I'm just amazing.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

And you could see how that could really, like some people who are not mentally stable and very narcissistic, you know what I'm saying, could just think that they're the greatest thing since sliced bread.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Yeah, they just send all their thoughts. Oh, that's amazing, you know, whether it is or not.

What Austin Is Building Next

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Well, Austin, so tell us what's the next um what is the next adventure for Austin? I know you travel so much. And um just update us on that uh if you don't care.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Yeah, so um, well, you know, when you come from a big project and you I always say this is kind of like the reset period. So, you know, for me it's continue to manage the things I've got. Um I've got some clients that I'm working with right now and some really cool projects that involve different, can't we get into the nitty-gritties of them, but you know, some some some uh bringing other organizations together and and just trying to help figure out, you know, how how do we leverage all these tools, right? And so some of my travel involves going on behalf of clients of different vendors across the country to learn about new tools and resources that we can leverage. Um and you know, one of the things that I've come back from these different uh trips is that you know things are moving faster than ever before. Um, you know, speed is almost speeding up. I know that sounds kind of cliche, but it really is, right? Um we expect things to happen so much faster than ever before. I mean, think about when you expect something to when you send a picture, you expect to be immediate, right? Um and so for me it's looking outside and again, crush the box, right? Helping businesses in the region think beyond uh you know where they're at today. Think beyond big was my my mantra coming into the new year, you know. Think beyond big. And so um there are some some some projects I'm working with where that's the ask. Let's think beyond big. Let's stop thinking about it from this real small lens. And so um, yeah, I've got some cool travels coming up, actually heading to Chicago here soon. And and uh then we'll end the year in New Orleans for a conference. So that'll be fun and just kind of enjoying this this season of kind of resting from a big project, but thinking about how you know we can continue to evolve and help businesses thrive.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

All right. Well, Austin, thank you for coming in. It was great to uh catch up with you and and talk about AI and some of your next adventures. So hopefully you'll come back and join us soon.

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Yes, I just thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure being on here. And I know sometimes we start these and we we uh have a little working idea of what we're gonna talk about and expand so much. So it's always good to be here. Thanks for having me so much.

Closing And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_00 26:19

This has been Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reed from Benchmark Home Loans. Jonathan and Steve are residential mortgage lenders. They do home loans in Northeast Tennessee, and they're not only licensed in Tennessee, but Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to like, rate, and review. Our passion is Northeast Tennessee. So if you have questions about mortgages, call us at 423 491 5405. And the website is www.jonathansteve.com. Thanks for being with us, and we'll see you next time on Benchmark Happenings.