AI After 50

Episode #4 - Segment 1- AI is Behavioral Shift, Not a Technological Shift

Is AI a behavioral shift or a technological shift for people over 50? It's more of a behavioral shift, especially for folks over 50. While the technology itself is important, the real change comes in adapting to new ways of working and integrating AI into daily routines. It's about shifting habits and embracing continuous learning.

Hey there, welcome to episode number four of AI After 50, the podcast for experienced professionals who want to learn AI and develop an AI skill set. I'm Mark Tennant, and if you're over 50, you're in the right place to become AI literate, AI confident, and professionally indispensable. Well, the goals of the podcast, we say this every week, it's the path to AI literacy begins right here.

We understand the basic concepts first, and we've done that in the first few episodes. We evolve every day, we practice every day, and then we build upon what we learn week after week. Don't forget about our show notes. Everything we go over here in podcast form on the audio side. Um, you're probably going to want to have the show notes for that because all of our exercises, our tips, and things we talked about are on that.

So you can download those and work at your own pace and during the week between podcasts. And again, keep building on that AI skill set. But if you want to advance your AI learning just a little bit further, you can subscribe to our premium show notes. And what those are, we go a little bit deeper, we go a little bit deeper on the exercise, we might provide you with a couple of more things.

And it's really just kind of accelerating your AI journey and getting you up to speed much quicker. All you have to do is subscribe here in the show notes, there is a link to the subscription form. And every week on Monday morning, you will receive your Premium show notes with a link to the podcast so you don't miss an episode.

This week, last week on episode three, we got more advanced with our prompting. We actually went from here to here. We covered the Risen Framework from my pal Kyle Balmer, and we went into some depth as far as structuring our prompts and getting the most out of the AI. And the Risen Framework, it's a great structure if you haven't.

listen to that podcast or saw it last week, the link to all of the podcasts are right here. This week, we're going to look at a couple of more prompt frameworks for you that you could try out, and we'll do that towards the end of the show. But for the show itself today, we're going to Talk about something that inspired me last week, and I think you'll be able to relate to this.

It was a podcast that I listened to, WorkLab was the name of the podcast, it's from Microsoft. Molly Wood is the host, and her guest was Connor Grennan. Connor is the Chief AI Architect at NYU Stern, and the title of it was Moving Beyond the Search Engine Mindset. And while the podcast was focused primarily around getting beyond Google and using AI for more information, the It really inspired me and from personal experiences with the AI labs, I give, um, I couldn't find that to be more true because I go in to a business.

We give the workshop a couple three hours. Our post surveys tell us we do a great job and the people really learned a lot. So upon follow up a few weeks later. And this is so funny, I'll get back to usually the person that was in charge of booking the AI workshop. And I asked them the things they took away.

Are they using it quite a bit? And they pretty much just use AI only when they need it. They just have specific times they open it, and that's it. And that really is not the focus of our workshop. The focus of our workshops is to always learn AI, always have these tools open because it's a coworker for you.

And we teach that. So today I'm going to have a guest on, which I don't normally do. And it's not Connor, but our guest today happens to know a lot about. Her name is Sol, and she's here with us to discuss Connor's appearance on the Work Lab podcast. So let's welcome her to the AI After 50 podcast. Welcome to Sol.

How are you? Hey there, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on AI After 50. This idea of AI as a behavioral shift, it's such an important conversation. Thanks Especially for folks adapting to this new way of working. I normally hear from folks when I do my workshops that they don't understand AI technology and they say, I can't do this, I don't know how to code a program.

But that's when I knew this was not a technological issue. I think it's when I knew it was a behavioral issue. That's exactly it. People assume AI requires technical skills. But really, it's about learning how to interact with it. It's like having a conversation, rather than writing code. The real challenge isn't the technology itself.

It's shifting the way we think about using it in our daily lives.

You know, with the Google search mentality, you only have so many options, right? You, you get a list of links to websites where you may have or may not get the information that you need. You have to sift through the information. And although you may get the information you're looking for, it takes a few minutes.

What about using AI for search and moving away from the Google search mentality? Can you talk about that? Yeah, that shift is huge. With Google search, you're trained to type in a keyword, get a list of links, and then dig through them to find what you need. It's a passive process. You get what's already out there.

But with AI, it's interactive. Instead of searching for links, you're having a conversation. You can refine your question, get tailored answers, and even have AI help you think through a problem.

AI takes all that context and gives you a customized response, not just a generic list of links. But making that shift requires breaking old habits. People need to learn that AI isn't just a search engine, it's a thinking partner. That's where the behavioral shift comes in. I agree for us folks that are over 50, we're set in our ways.

So this behavioral shift, I think is going to be a little bit more difficult. So how do we get folks over 50 to start having conversations with AI instead of generically searching and using search engines like Google? How can we get them to use LLMs like chat GPT? That's the key question, right? Getting folks over 50.

To shift from just searching to actually conversing with AI. The first step is, is helping them see AI as more than just a tool. It's a collaborator. Instead of treating it like a machine that spits out answers, they need to start treating it like a brainstorming partner. One way to do this is by giving them practical, low stakes ways to try it out.

For example, instead of Googling best way to follow up after a job interview, they could ask chat GPT. I just had an interview for a project manager role. Can you help me write a strong followup email? That way they're not just getting generic advice. They're getting something tailored to their specific situation.

Another approach is tying AI into daily habits. If they already use email every day, show them how chat GPT can help draft responses. If they're writing reports, have AI help outline their thoughts. The more they see it working for them in real world scenarios, the more natural it becomes. And here's the big one, getting them to think out loud with AI.

Instead of typing a single question and expecting a perfect answer, they need to engage in back and forth dialogue. Ask AI for an idea, react to its response, refine it, and keep going. It's about co creating solutions. But the hardest part? Breaking that Google search habit. We need to keep reminding them that AI is a two way street.

If they don't like the first answer, they can push back, refine, and get something even better. That's where the real power lies. That's so true. But a way I found when I started first using AI to how to use it all day and always have chat GPT open on my computer is inserting it into my personal life.

Yeah, that's such a great point. When people start using AI for personal tasks, whether it's meal planning, travel itineraries, or even troubleshooting tech issues. It becomes second nature. It stops feeling like work tech and starts feeling like a personal assistant that's always there to help. And once it's a natural part of their personal life, It's an easy leap to using it at work.

That's a great way to help folks over 50 make the behavioral shift. I fixed my dryer for under 20 that I know it would have taken 600 if I called somebody professionally to come over to the house and do it. I just had a conversation with ChatGPT and it was able to tell me exactly what was wrong with my dryer.

It knew the model. It told me the part number to order from Amazon. I did that when the part came, it told me screw by screw and step by step how to fix my dryer. I had it all done within 90 minutes and I know it saved me over 500. That's an incredible story and it's exactly the kind of real real world example that makes AI click for people.

It's one thing to tell someone AI can help you. But when they hear that it saved you 500 and an entire service call, that's powerful. It shows AI isn't just for work or big tech problems. It's a practical tool for everyday life. And the key here is that you didn't just ask one question and get a simple answer.

You had an ongoing conversation with AI, refining the details as you went. That's what people need to experience. Once they see that AI can walk them through a problem step by step, They realize it's more than just a search engine. Stories like that are what get folks over 50 to think, wait a minute, maybe I should try this too.

Have you seen anyone else in your workshops have an aha moment like that after trying AI? Well, no I haven't to be honest with you, and that's why this whole conversation we're having is happening because it's a behavioral thing, I think. That makes sense. It's not that they can't use AI, it's that they don't think to use it.

They're stuck in their old workflows, And AI just isn't part of their mental toolkit yet. That's why stories like your dryer repair are so important. It's not about teaching people what AI can do. It's about showing them why they should even consider using it in the first place. So maybe the next step is finding ways to create those aha moments for them instead of just telling them what AI can do.

What if you structured your workshop so they experience it firsthand? Give them a problem, something personal, not work related, and have them solve it using AI. Get them to ask AI how to fix their coffee maker, plan a weekend getaway, or even write a fun birthday message for a friend. Once they see AI work for them in a way that's immediately useful, That's when the shift happens because now it's not just some abstract tech.

It's their tool helping them in their life What do you think? I couldn't agree more Finally, and this is my last one for you What final thoughts do you have for our audience of over 50 professionals and this whole? Behavioral mentality as opposed to a technological mentality. I'd say this AI isn't something you have to learn, like a new software or coding language.

It's, it's something you get to learn, like a new way of thinking that makes life easier. And the good news, you already have the skills you need. AI isn't about being technical. It's about being curious, asking good questions and having conversations. The biggest shift isn't in the technology. It's in your mindset.

Instead of thinking, how do I use AI for this one task? Start thinking, how can AI help me think through this problem? Whether it's at work, at home, or just for fun. AI is a tool that works with you, not just for you. So don't be afraid to start small, open chat, GPT, ask it a question, push back on its response, have a conversation.

The more you do that, the more natural it becomes. AI isn't the future. It's already here. And the sooner you start using it, the sooner you'll realize it's not something to be afraid of. It's something that can make your life better in ways you never expected. That is a great way to wrap up this conversation.

So thank you so much for joining us. And we'll talk to you down the road. Thanks, Mark. This was a great conversation. I appreciate being part of it. And I'm excited to see how your audience starts making that behavioral shift. Talk to you soon. I am too. Talk to you soon. Well, that was a lot of fun. It's always nice talking to Sol, and we'll probably have her on as a guest in an upcoming podcast because her insights are, well, I couldn't say it any better.

Let's move on to our exercise for the week, our prompting exercise in a new framework. We promised you this is the ERA framework, the Expectation role and action framework. And this is just another framework you can put in your prompt library. And by the way, have you started your prompt library? Simple Google doc will do it.

Put this in your prompt library. Again, the ERA framework. Today, this is an HR example we're giving you. Expectation, the desired result. and specify CHAT GPT's role and then the action that you want. So the prompt is, you are an HI policy expert tasked with updating company policies for a mid size manufacturing company, create three well structured documents, a clearly written paid time off policy covering eligibility, carryover rules, and request procedures, number two, new benefits package, and number three, a professional Spanish translations of key HR forms.

All things that Chats GPT are easy to do. So go ahead and take this prompt, download it from the show notes. All you have to do is kind of scroll down and download the show notes and copy it. Put it into your prompt library and work with it this week. I think if you work with it this week, for the next few days, you'll come back with something very cool.

Customize it for yourself. Make it your own. It's the E R A. Expectation, Role, and Action. And hopefully you found today's episode insightful, even a little bit entertaining. And if anything, it proved that just having those conversations with the AI naturally will help you both professionally and personally, because now you understand why.

And of course our exercise, if you want to download the prompt, please do so in our show notes, just scroll down for that. And we also have an extra prompt framework for our premium subscribers. And you can absolutely free subscribe to our premium show notes by scrolling down a little bit further and going to the subscribe form and a new framework for you as an extra in our premium show notes today.

So. Until next time, hope you have a great week. Keep prompting, keep learning AI, have those conversations and please subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your favorite podcast. Take care. We'll see you next time.