The Power of AI: A Game-Changing Session for Speakers
– Insights from the PSASA Johannesburg Chapter Meeting Jan 23rd 2025
By Saul Rosenberg (Marketing and Comms)
The Joburg chapter Meeting took place on Thursday 23rd January at the PSASA new venue at The Wanderers Golf Club. Guest Speakers were Arthur Goldstuck and Tiffany Markman. They delved into the world of Transformative Artificial Intelligence, AI.
Tiffany Markman
Demystifying AI: Practical Insights for Speakers
Tiffany hacked through the AI tangle, briefly demystifying and myth-busting. She unpacked the world of artificial intelligence in ways that speakers could benefit from. Whether one was AI-curious or AI-anxious, everyone walked away with a clearer understanding of what tools are available, and what to do next. She angled her talk at professionals who would like to stay relevant
Tiffany spoke about the semantic differences between AI, Robots, Large language models, and natural language processing. In ways that are relevant to speakers. Tiffany brought out some Oreos, and Zoo biscuits to make a point about the differences between large language models and robots. The first AI programme was written in the 50’s, she said. Ai is basically a simulation of human intelligence by machines. Deep learning fits into this world, says Tiffany, “Robots are different, they are physical machines that have been programmed but are not AI”.
Large language models fall under NLP. These depend on prompts. Examples include Chat GPT copilot and Gemini. AI can be good at helping you generate ideas for talks.
Robots on the other hand are a novelty, often there for efficiency. NLP, natural language processing can produce content for marketing. Taking an actual talk and breaking it up into chunks, automating. NLP can help you gather real time audience feedback. It is also good for prepping for audience questions. LLMs are good for creative designs.
“Chat GPT is never going to be as good as what you produce”, Tiffany said, “ GPT is just an assistant”. Tiffany has a social media policy and AI policy. Best to keep anonymity when using AI. “Always read the small print with AI, know what’s in it”.
Arthur Goldstuck
Future Readiness: AI, sport and your roadmap to the future.
Arthur is an award-winning writer, analyst and technology commentator. He has decade long expertise on AI. Arthur shared engaging anecdotes and real-world examples of sport stories with AI. Arthur’s talk aimed to empower the assessment of personal future-readiness, and he provided actionable strategies that enhance skills.
Feeding data, like weather into AI for planning sports events was spoken about. Using AI to generate heat maps of the extent of the effort of the player. From 2008- 2018 the use of technology enabled Spanish clubs to dominate European football. In the next 5 years 7 teams got into semi-finals. It showed that if you aren’t using those tools you would fall behind.
From 2020 to 2023, Ireland become the number 1 ranked team. A Statistics firm from Ireland offered player data on a level never seen before, such as measuring the heartbeat of players. Could AI add 1 point per day to a teams performance?
Sport is a metaphor for business, that can apply to any business. Effective use of data gives you an edge. When everyone has the same use of that data, strategy gives you an edge. Arthur quoted Peter Drucker as Culture eats strategy for breakfast. “Culture on the sports field is called Gees”.
Automation is the very beginning of using computing tools. It started in the 19th century. Arthur shared the story behind the analytical engine. Metaphors exist in technology for customer experience.
Arthur then asked the audience to rate themselves on readiness. How effectively do you or business manage multiple projects simultaneously? How well are resources allocated? How well do you leverage collaboration and support. How quickly can you introduce a new product or service?. How effectively do you incorporate customer feedback. Ai is a tool that allows you to achieve all of these things.
“All speakers have superpowers”, Arthur said. How quickly can you make decisions is important? How integrated is your real time information. How well do you anticipate to cater for future demands in your field?
Arthur emphasized that Preparing for the future isn’t about the tools you use, its about the mindset you have. Prepare for the future first with mindset then with tools.
