How I use AI

I use AI in my work, and I use it on this site. I want to be transparent about that, so this page says where I stand and how I'm using it right now.

My current view

I think it's important as a technologist to be engaging with these new tools and processes. I come from being a practitioner in industry, and the tech industry has embraced them. So figuring out how to use them ethically, in a human-centered way, is really important.

I think there has been no better time to be a designer. AI is changing everything, and designers have a unique place and a unique voice in continuing to design things for humans, even if AI is doing most of the coding.

I also believe that as we learn to work with AI, there should always be a human in the loop. Humans are still the drivers and the decision makers, and humans are still the owners of what AI produces. If false or bad information is presented, that is on the human who was working with the AI.

How I'm using it right now

• Quick research. I use AI as a tool for quick research.
• Voice notes. I capture voice notes and use AI to turn them into written notes. I expand on those notes and write from them.
• Code. I co-code with AI, using a number of different models.
• Private models. I'm setting up local, private LLMs through services like Tinfoil to explore that approach.

In my professional work

When AI has shaped work I publish or deliver, I'll say so on the work itself. For client work, that disclosure will name the models I used, the data that went through them and the approach I took.

AI is an interesting area to explore professionally right now. I think it's worth exploring as long as I'm disclosing my usage, and I'll keep looking at ways it can make my work more efficient.

In my teaching

For my classes, I draft the syllabus, my lecture notes and the content I want to cover. From there I have AI take my notes and generate the slide decks I teach from. That's a personal choice. I've never enjoyed putting together PowerPoint decks, and if I didn't do it this way I probably wouldn't give students decks at all. I'd just lecture without a presentation. So hopefully the decks help them.

I'm also exploring explainer videos for my students. I do the research and my voice is the narrator, and the videos are generated by AI.

In my writing

I often run my writing through AI to flag problems and edit for me. I always decide what is right or wrong with the edits. I'm still looking at whether I'll keep doing this, but it's how I'm working right now.

Images and illustrations

The illustrations in my case studies were hand-drawn by an illustrator, working from field photos. When AI image tools first came out I started using AI-generated images, and in the past I used them in my blog posts. Some of those can probably still be found around the internet. I'm working to pull them down and replace them with better images: real photos, stock photography or work I hire people to do.

I'm backing away from AI-generated images now, and I'll keep working with artists and illustrators when I need them.