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Byte-sized AI: Lost in an open plan area!
I’m back for another Byte-sized AI issue, and as promised here are my three things: 😁
- Something techy from the news
- Something that made me laugh
- Something that you can do to improve how you work
📰 The one item of news:
What most small businesses want
Not exactly AI news, but indulge me if you will. On 13 May I attended the Kent and Medway Business Summit at the University of Kent in Canterbury. It was a brilliantly organised event and I had the privilege of speaking to quite a large group of business leaders about AI and its value (and risk) to them.
I said various things, but the summary is this:
What most small businesses want is not world-changing revolution, they want to do less admin and focus on the thing they actually went into business for. Very few of us wake up every morning looking forward to some more admin, a few more spreadsheets and maybe engaging with a process that doesn’t really work.
Alongside me on the panel were experts with very different perspectives to mine – where I am all about making the office work better, we had some mind-bending futurism from Chee Siang (Jim) Ang talking about AI as therapists and detecting parasites from images (I won’t tell you of what!), some really useful, practical things you can do with your online presence to help your brand from Ben Fitter-Harding, and a really thought provoking discussion on the uneven distribution of benefit and impact of AI across society from Tarnia Gonzo. No spoilers, but it definitely helps to be a man.
😂 The one thing that made me laugh:
Getting lost
There was much at the summit to raise a laugh in a positive and supportive way. I think some attendees managing to get lost in an open plan area with only two doors was the highlight.
But can I ask you to join me in a little campaign to get people to understand one thing: When a moderator asks for questions for the panel or speaker, what they’re asking for is questions for the panel or speaker. They’re not asking for your lengthy commentary on the subject, nor are they offering you a chance to pitch your business to the entire room. Don’t be that person. It wasn’t actually in our panel, but it did happen elsewhere.
💡 The one thing you can do next week:
Triple prompting
I found myself at a barbecue with a wonderful Italian lady called Pam the other day. Pam is a fellow AI enthusiast so we “nerded” out while others looked on pityingly. And she introduced me to triple prompting.
For this example, we’ll use a web page to display all the many awards that Select Technology has won. I could start with “I need a web page to display business awards that we have won”. And I will get a moderately OKish response that does the job, sort of.
But let’s try this:
“Please provide me with a prompt that I can give back to you that will get you to create a website for my company to display our awards. Ask for clarification of my requirements on anything you need to do this before providing the prompt.”
I gave that to Claude, here’s the first response:
“I’d be happy to help you create a website for displaying your company’s awards. To provide you with the most effective prompt, I’ll need some clarification on a few key details:
- What’s your company name and what industry are you in?
- Do you have specific brand colours or a visual style you’d like to maintain?
- How many awards do you want to showcase, and would you prefer them organised chronologically or by category?
- Would you like any interactive elements on the website?
- Do you have images of the awards or logos you’d like to display?
Once I have this information, I can craft a tailored prompt for you to use.”
My answers, in a single message:
- Select Technology
- #3c1053 and #e87722
- 20, organised by category
- each award should include narrative about how we won it and a Call to Action for the user to contact us
- yes
Claude then gave me the prompt I needed:
“Create an interactive HTML website artifact for Select Technology to showcase our company awards. Use our brand colours #3c1053 (deep purple) and #e87722 (orange) as the primary colour scheme. The site should display 20 awards organised by category, with each award featuring:
An image of the award
A narrative description explaining how we won it
A clear Call to Action button for visitors to contact us
The design should be clean, professional, and responsive for all devices. Please include navigation between award categories and ensure the site follows modern web design best practices while highlighting our achievements effectively.”
We now have a much clearer, more complete prompt that gives AI everything it needs to produce what we need, and we will get better results, faster. In the image below I have done nothing but use that prompt and copy what I got.
Disclaimer – it made up those awards!
Our actual awards page is here: Select Technology – Partnerships, Accreditations and Awards.
If you are interested to find out how AI, automation and all things clever can help your organisation why not take a look at Future Workplace, our super special IT consultancy service that can supercharge productivity, business efficiency and so much more.
Subscribe to Byte-sized AI
Check out past Byte-sized AI issues:
- Byte-sized AI: Numbers tell a storyDevelop your team for AI, Copilot for Notebook and pining for the fjords!
- Byte-sized AI: Lost in an open plan area!Find out what Nick has been up to at the Kent and Medway Business Summit and have you tried triple promoting.
- Byte-sized AI: AI actFind out how AI is being kept in check, decide if AI is funny, and have you started going loopy!
- Byte-sized AI: AI opportunities£7 million, belly laughs and AI distilled! What more can you want? Byte-sized AI from the mind of Nick Ellis!
- Byte-sized AI: Are you thinking deeper?I’m back for another Byte-sized AI issue, and as promised here are my three things. 😁
- Byte-sized AI: Its a little bit of snow!This week we have seen the government get behind AI in a big way. This was inevitable whoever was in power, I think. There are a few obvious challenges here:
- Byte-sized AI: Say hello to ClaudeFor the more technical parts of my job, I use an AI called Claude, which was created by Anthropic.
- Byte-sized AI: Granny is here to make it all better!O2 have created an AI that sounds like your gran! The obvious question is “why?”. Firstly, it doesn’t sound like your gran specifically, that would be weird; it’s a generic gran called Daisy, complete with confusion about technology and a tendency to talk about her cat too much. Still doesn’t answer why though.
- Byte-sized AI: A llama with AI and an admission!Meta are doing something very interesting. They have a set of AI models collectively called “Llama” which anyone can download and use in their products for free.
- Byte-sized AI: Something special is happening in the UK!The UK is doing something a bit special. The global average for businesses adopting AI to some extent is around 13%.
- Byte-sized AI: Up, up and… back down! 😕Every so often in the world of tech something happens that is so astonishing, so utterly gob-smacking that we should all just stop and applaud.
- Byte-sized AI: An extra brain in the room!I’m back for another Byte-sized AI issue, and as promised here are my three things! 😁
- Byte-sized AI: The machines have taken over SainsburysWelcome to the very first issue of my new technology newsletter Byte-sized AI. Each issue I will give you three things: Something techy from the news Something that made me laugh Something that you can do to improve how you work
- Byte-sized AI: Be the first to hear from NickWant to get the latest news about technology and AI, then there is only one person you need to hear from and that’s me!!
Nick Ellis
AI and Innovation Lead at Select Technology. Nick’s mission is to spread the powers of AI and Automation to all, ensuring businesses are at the forefront of innovation.