Ep 79 The Future of the A.I. Skillet

In episode 79, I share more about the future of the AI skillet, which is my AI skills development program.

Click here to learn more about The A.I. Skillet (skills program)

You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi-retirees figure out the remote work options. I believe remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work, how they want so they can live how they want.

Let's dig into today's episode.

We made it to the final episode in this ever-changing artificial intelligence series. Oh, wow. I did not anticipate that in just six to eight weeks after opening my new AI skillet program we'd be here. Now, if you need a refresher on this, check out episode 78, in which I cover the wild, wild west, and the gold rush of AI.

Today, I want to tell you more about what we've done in the AI Skillet as it winds down and what it will look like in the future.

When I first opened this program at the end of September, I had kind of an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but I also didn't overdo it with content creation. I'm going to come back to that point in just a moment. So put a pin in that thought. I want to tell you first though, that one of the things that really influenced my thinking was the rapid change of AI. Now last week I talked about this being the wild, wild west and I want to continue that theme a little bit because AI has been nothing short of a bull ride whiplash.

Honestly, it's like in just a few weeks there have been so many changes, so much news, and so many decisions made that every time I log into chatGPT it looks different. And that's just one AI tool. By the way, there are literally 8,000 or more. And so, all of that caused me to think about what I was doing in the AI skillet and how I might need to do it differently. Now the people who joined in this first round, this is the founding members' beta test round, got the benefit of seeing how fast this stuff changes. And then they also saw that I couldn't exactly keep up with those changes. Most of them took it upon themselves to self-teach on a number of AI tools.

Now I really advocate self-teaching on AI because it's not so much that you need to master the tools. What you really need to master is the ability to explore and experiment so that no matter what tool you use, you always have a good foundational skillset to draw on. So, thank goodness they did that because I was able to learn from them as much as they were able to learn from me. And because there are so many things to learn, we were all able to help each other. It's kind of like that old phrase, a rising tide lifts, all boats.

And I'm so glad that I did it this way instead of overproducing an online course or really any version of that, a workshop, or a coaching program because I was able to see the real opportunities unfold in real-time. And because I didn't over-create the program, I now have room to actually make the program exactly what it needs to be.

So as a reminder, if you were hoping that I would open the next program up this month, I am delaying it a little bit. I'll talk more about that. You can still join the waitlist though. Click the link in the show notes to join and all that means is you're going to get notified when I get the program back up.

Now I want to pause and go back to that pin that I told you to stick a pin in. Because I want to talk to the people who are listening, and who are interested in creating some kind of an online business. Whether it's a coaching business and online course or courses, online workshops, memberships, et cetera. There are a lot of people in my world who are either my clients or people I know who asked me questions about this. Who says, I really want to build a business like yours and an online coaching business, or course business. But they hold back on it because they feel like they haven't come up with the most amazing idea yet, or they haven't perfected their idea yet.

Or maybe they're hung up on exactly what their program will look like. Or maybe they think it's not going to be good enough. Or sometimes they say, well, someone else has already produced X, Y, Z so I can't do that because there are no more opportunities. Or maybe they think that they need to go out and create, you know, a beautiful website or a brand or a logo, or they must start social media or whatever, whatever. There are so many things that get in their way that they end up never really getting started on the idea in the first place.

If you can relate to all of that, then I'm telling you the way, The way to get over that, the antidote to that, is what I call Launch It Lean. This is something I teach inside of remote work school. It's the very last phase of the program because for the folks who maybe don't want a job or are really done working for somebody else and they want to do their own thing.

They really need a map to get started and that map is Launch It Lean. And what I tell people is that you want to create just the bare minimum, just enough to get your idea in front of people to see if it's truly viable. And that is exactly what I did with the AI skillet. Honestly, that is the leanest thing I've ever created.

I mean, like I said, I had a vague idea of what I wanted the AI Skillet to be. And so, what I did was I was really honest with people when I launched it. I told them, look, this is like an experimental lab. We're putting on a lab coat, we're putting on our scientists' brains, we're going to play with AI and we're going to see what happens with it and the people who have been in my world for a really long time.

Those are the ones who decided to join the Skillet. They know me, they trust me. They understand that they're going to learn from me no matter what. They don't want me to wait until I have a perfect program because that's not going to happen for who knows. Never, it's never going to happen because I never do anything perfectly. I just get things done. And I trust that the things that I produce will be beneficial.

Will they be the most amazing things in the world? Not right away but over time. Yes. I will tell you that Remote Work School is about as perfect as it's ever going to be. And people love it. I mean, people still to this day, and it's been around for six years, tell me that. You know, even six years ago, it was amazing.

And now I've done three different iterations of it. So, it's pretty perfect. But that took six years. I worked on that for a really, really long time, over and over again, and iterated it and, you know, turned it into a fine wine. But that's not where I started. And so, the AI Skillet is a really good example of how you take action on an idea, put it in front of people, and go. So, after I told people what I thought it would be, I did that in a few emails.

I didn't market it. I didn't sell it anywhere. I didn't use Facebook ads or anything like that. I didn't do a big fancy launch with webinars and training. I simply emailed people. I answered some questions. And when they joined, they joined a Facebook group that had very little in it. Just a few things about how to get started.

I set up some meetings with folks - live sessions. We did six of them. I'm adding a bonus one because unfortunately, one of the ones I did the recording didn't save, which was a bummer. But hey, they get a bonus session. And each week I'm adding more videos and adding more tips and tricks and things that I'm learning. So, it was a really great way to put something in front of people, test the ideas, and not over-commit myself and make it feel heavy and overwhelming and something that was a big drag to create.

So hopefully that part of the story can be an inspiration for you. And if you're one of those people who's waiting for the perfect moment to do your thing. I have really good news for you. Your perfect moment is right now. If you're listening to this podcast, or if you're watching this video, right now is your perfect moment to get your thing out into the world. Now you might not know how to take steps, one, two, and three. That's fine. Just shoot me a direct message on Instagram and ask me, and I will ask you back, what are you building? And I'll give you a couple of steps to get you started.

Now let's get back into the AI Skillet program. Because of the structure I just shared with you and how I put a few guard rails around it and kept it very lean and loose enough that I could change and pivot. What I learned from that is how I thought I was going to build it for the public. And it just isn't going to work.

So, what I had originally thought about was building a program that had training videos that would teach people AI in a linear way. I had imagined that I would start with concepts: What is AI? What is machine learning? Let's learn how to write an effective prompt or a clear prompt. By the way, That's another episode you can listen to. I believe that's episode 76.

But again, what I noticed is I really couldn't keep up with the pace of change in the AI tools we were using. But here's the other thing I couldn't keep up with. I simply couldn't keep up with the members. They were learning at a faster rate than me. And they were learning different things because AI is just so vast that, you know, you're all learning different things at different times.

There are a few members in the program who are very interested in creating art and images and that's what they're learning. And that's not my thing. I'm not as interested in that. I'm interested in other aspects of AI. I'm trying to speed up the things I do in my business. I'm trying to pump out content. I'm trying to figure out financial projections. And so, I'm learning AI that way and trying to figure out how to integrate it with different tools.

And so, the big aha for me was figuring out that while AI is not that hard to learn, it's harder to actually teach. And this was not only a surprise to me. It was a big old bummer. Because this is what I do for a living, I teach, and coach. And if I can't keep up with the pace of change in teaching and coaching, how is it that I'm going to have a program that does that?

One of the things that makes teaching such an appealing thing for me is that I can take people on a journey and that journey is usually linear. Unfortunately, AI is not linear. It is less like a snake and it is more like an octopus. But it's like an octopus you've never seen before with a hundred tentacles. And sometimes those tentacles never end. AI is simply a vast discipline to study.

And even with the very fancy and expensive courses that I've invested in, (which are a lot), I have literally invested thousands of dollars those courses are really not that much better than the AI Skillet, which is brand new and, and is a test in the testing phase. And that's because all of us, all of us who are teaching this have the same problem. AI is moving very quickly, and it is a very difficult thing to teach.

I should also mention that the cheap courses are the same. Because I've bought some really cheap courses thinking, oh, well, I'll buy these inexpensive things. The problem is those are already outdated. And if you don't find someone who keeps their course updated, then you're just buying outdated stuff. And it's really hard to know which courses to buy because there are so many of them.

But as I mentioned, AI isn't that hard to actually learn. It's actually pretty easy once you know what you're doing. But knowing where to start is the hardest part. And then knowing what to focus on is the second hardest thing to do. There are already about 8,000 different AI tools. And now that you can create custom GPTs, there will be an infinite number of tools.

All of this has caused me to slow down opening the doors to the next AI Skillet. I talked about this in last week's episode. Now I'm giving you the full story as to why I had hoped to open it in November. I was really excited about doing some sort of a Black Friday sale. But all of this has caused me to slow down and ask is this good for my customers? Do I want to rush this out just to have a Black Friday sale? Just so they could perhaps save some money? Because in the end, if I don't have something that I feel confident enough about, then I'm actually doing them a disservice.

Sure, maybe they'll save some money. But if they get into my program and it feels confusing or chaotic because I haven't quite sorted out the details that's not a very good experience. And it is really important to me that I provide as best of a customer service experience as I can. All that to say it will probably be delayed just a few weeks. I'm shooting for January of 2024.

That is when I will have those octopus tentacles all gathered up and I can make more sense of them so that they can make sense to you. Here's what I can tell you though. I am really excited about the direction that the AI Skillet is going. I will be focusing on helping people develop high-value skills that are sought after by employers or clients. If you plan to start a business it will be a guided experience. I think it will be even better than what I could have imagined before.

I was able to get to this new vision because I opened my mind to think about doing things differently. I am literally getting out of my comfort zone. I am moving away from what I've always done simply because it always worked. Because I'm learning that it's not going to work anymore. So, this is uncomfortable for me because I have been creating online training programs since the nineties. I have enhanced and I have changed with the times, and I have pivoted and adopted technology. But at my core, I've always developed them from the place of I am the one guiding people on a path. Because why wouldn't I be? I was the teacher. I was the coach. That is not how things work anymore. And so, I have had to totally change how I think about developing programs. But I'm excited about this.

This is a new frontier for me. Ah, there's another wild, wild west metaphor. If you don't know what I'm talking about go back and listen to episode 78. Deep, deep into those metaphors there. But I really want this to inspire you. If I can pivot with the times, if I can take a skillset that I have been developing for 25 plus years and completely rethink how I use that skillset to adopt AI and do things differently, then I really believe that you can too.

But remember, if you feel stuck, if you're not sure what your next step is, if you want to adopt AI, or if you want to start a business, but you're just not sure what the heck to do, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. Once again, you can just shoot me a direct message. I'm here to help you. And so too is my community.

Okay. That's it for today. Thank you for listening. A reminder that you can still join the waitlist for the AI Skillet when I open it most likely in the early part of 2024. You can find the link in the show notes. I will see you next time. The entire month of December, I will be talking about what we can expect for remote work AI and the job market in 2024.

If you're looking to learn more about artificial intelligence and using it in practical ways that will help you get a job, keep a job, start a side business, or make income in new ways, then join the waitlist for the next round of my AI Skillet Skills development program. Click the link in the show notes to join.

Click here to join the waitlist to learn more about the AI Skillet Skills Program 

Click here to join Remote Work School:

https://www.camilleattell.com/remoteworkschool

If you want to start something new but feel a bit overwhelmed, I invite you to take my free remote work training:

https://www.camilleattell.com/remote-training

If you have any questions, Click here to DM on Instagram.

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