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AI Fundamentals Live Workshop

Your Path to Productivity, Creativity, & Future-Readiness.
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Unlock the potential of AI in your life and work with hands-on learning, practical insights, and expert guidance. Join a supportive community of others exploring this exciting new technology.

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This is a three-hour, hands-on workshop designed to get you up and running with AI in a fun, engaging way.

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Time:         9:00am to 12:00pm (in person)

Date:         January 18, 2025

Location:   Mill Valley Community Center

Cost:          $500.00

What Makes This Workshop Different?

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This isn’t just another AI class—it’s an interactive, small-group experience designed for hands-on learning. You’ll dive into the tools, guided by someone who brings real-world expertise as a parent, business executive, and educator. With a practical focus and just enough theory to tie everything together, this workshop equips you with skills you can immediately apply in your personal and professional life.​​

You'll leave this course with...

  • A clear understanding of why AI is transforming work, creativity, and daily life—and how you can harness its potential.

  • The foundational skills for building an AI mindset: curiosity, experimentation, and critical thinking.

  • A simple, repeatable framework for writing effective prompts that deliver impressive results every time.

  • Time-saving strategies and productivity hacks using AI for tasks big and small.

  • A curated list of the best AI tools and apps, matched to specific tasks and goals.

  • The confidence to explain AI's value in practical terms—whether to your team, your friends, or even your kids.

Workshop Agenda

Introductions

Start with a brief and engaging icebreaker to set a collaborative tone. This will help everyone connect and align on shared goals for the day.
 

AI 101: The Basics You Need to Know

A jargon-free introduction to AI, explaining what it is and how it works in practical terms. No deep theory—just the essentials to build your confidence.

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Overview of the Leading Tools

Discover the most popular AI tools and what makes them effective. By the end of this session, you’ll know which tools to start using immediately.

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B R E A K 
 

Meet the Tools

Hands-on introduction to leading AI tools like ChatGPT. You’ll also preview cutting-edge tools that inspire creativity and innovation.

 

Crafting Prompts that Work

Master the art of creating prompts to achieve your desired results while avoiding common pitfalls. Think of this as your key to unlocking AI’s potential.

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Hands-on Session

Practice what you’ve learned in a guided, interactive session. These exercises will demonstrate how AI can amplify creativity and productivity when used thoughtfully.

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B R E A K 
 

Building Your AI Experience
 

AI in Your Personal Life
Discover how AI can become your everyday assistant, streamlining tasks like scheduling, meal planning, and managing finances. Unleash your creativity with tools that help you write, brainstorm, or explore new hobbies. Whether it’s personal growth, organization, or entertainment, you’ll leave with fresh ideas and strategies to enhance your day-to-day life.
 

AI in Your Professional Life
Learn how to safely and effectively introduce AI into your work environment. Explore ways AI can optimize workflows, support decision-making, and supercharge your communication. From automating repetitive tasks to generating new insights, we’ll cover how to start small, build trust, and scale your AI use as your confidence grows. This session will equip you to lead with AI, staying ahead in a rapidly evolving professional landscape.
 

Q&A and Tools to Take Away

An open forum to address your questions, followed by actionable next steps and resources tailored to your needs.

Meet the Instructors

This workshop is led by Matt Strain and Doug Nelson, who bring extensive experience in helping humans integrate new technologies in ways that are actionable and accessible. 

"Aside from the beyond user-friendly, ease of entry into ChatGPT, I thought the sense of community and the way you interacted with the group and the individuals was super welcoming and made everyone feel very comfortable and willing to comment and ask questions, which is quite a rarity." -
Independent Film & Television Producer
Matt demystifies the A.I. landscape and puts a caring, human face on the coming A.I. revolution. He offers thoughtful, practical, and immediate suggestions for ways to make the most of this fast-evolving technology.
Mark, CEO ExtendedSession
Matt's exceptional ability to simplify complex principles led to improved work quality and efficiency. The investment paid for itself within weeks. I highly recommend Matt Strain for businesses seeking elevated operations and team performance through deeper AI understanding.
Leiha D, President of Laulima Process Architect Firm
  • How can I get started in AI?
    Getting started is easy. You can do it right now. Start with the basics. Sure, you can use the free version of ChatGPT but I urge you to treat yourself and upgrade to ChatGPT4. Don't overthink it. Ask it the same kinds of questions would you aska smart friend. I recently lead a session titled, "AI for Real People -- A light and accessible Intro to AI". This is a non-technical introduction to AI. It's a good place to start if you'd like some guidance. There are many other dedicated apps that leverage AI. Some of my current favorites: Fathom -- for capturing action items and transcripts in Zoom meetings Beautiful.ai - for auto-magically creating entire presentations from a prompt Yoodli - I like how Yoodli has applied AI to training for public speaking. * I look forward to hearing about your favorite tools.
  • What can I do to protect my job?
    Adapting to the changing world of work in the era of AI involves a multi-faceted approach. Here are some practical steps you can take: Understand AI and its Impact on Your Industry: Learn about AI's fundamental concepts, how it works, and how it's affecting your industry. Understanding AI and its potential will help you foresee how it may affect your job and allow you to anticipate changes before they happen. Online courses, webinars, or industry-specific AI publications can provide a wealth of information. Become the AI Go-To Person: Familiarize yourself with how AI is being utilized in your field. You could look into how other companies in your industry are deploying AI. Start by identifying opportunities in your current role where AI could help streamline processes or enhance results. By becoming the "go-to" person for AI, you not only make yourself indispensable, but also position yourself as a forward thinker in your organization. Acquire New Skills: AI often replaces repetitive and routine tasks, while jobs that require complex decision-making, creativity, and human interaction are less likely to be fully automated. By focusing on these areas and acquiring relevant skills, you can make your role more robust against automation. This could involve taking courses on critical thinking, communication, leadership, or creativity. Embrace Change: AI is here to stay, and the workplace is changing as a result. By being open to new ways of working and readily adopting new technologies, you can show your adaptability and flexibility. This can make you more valuable in a rapidly evolving workplace. Keep Learning: The world of AI is continually evolving, with new technologies and applications appearing all the time. By keeping up to date with these changes, you'll be better equipped to understand how they could impact your job and your company. Network: Connect with other professionals in your industry who are also interested in AI. This can give you a broader perspective on how AI is impacting your field and provide opportunities for collaboration. By adopting these strategies, you can help protect your job and even thrive in the AI era. Remember that the goal is not just to "survive" but to find ways to leverage these changes for your personal and professional growth.
  • What are some of your favorite AI examples?
    There are so many. Some of my current favorites include Channeling Anthony Bourdain to create a five-day food-centric road trip itinerary. Using AI for guidance on how to communicate with a difficult client who is constantly making changes Providing blue sky ideas for radically new ways of doing something — product launches, business models, travel ideas. For the small nonprofit, using ChatGPT to analyze donor records and draft custom outreach based on the specific donation patterns of unique supporter. And, my favorite, using ChatGPT, Dall-e, and Adobe’s Firefly to generate custom cocktails based on the tenets of Chinese medicine. (And, that’s a longer story).
  • Why are you fascinated with artificial intelligence?
    I’ve been fascinated with the application of AI for decades. Early in my career at Apple, we explored ways of improving education with early AI. The concept of a personal AI-tutor may have just arrived. This is transformative. For most of the past seven years, I've at the intersection of AI and Creativity at Adobe’s Research lab. Much of this work can now be seeing in Adobe’s Firefly AI offering. I also had the opportunity to be on the forefront of AI-driven marketing based on predictive modeling. Now, with the acceleration of Generative AI, we’re able to deploy AI to transform our lives, improve problem-solving capabilities, and push the boundaries of human understanding. Change is hard -- especially when it involves peoples' jobs and a company's underlying value proposition and even business model. These are exciting times !
  • What's the story behind the New York Times article?
    ChatGPT and Dall-e allowed me to do things that I never thought possible. More than just generating tech and images, this is about using Generative AI as a creative co-pilot.
  • Why should I hire The Prompt?
    Please talk with us if you’re interested in simplifying complex AI concepts, making them accessible to non-technical professionals, including those at the C-Suite. Our engaging and conversational approach to teaching, coupled with our focus on accessible and actionable use cases, often leaves participants feeling inspired and ready to apply AI tools like ChatGPT and Dall-e in their everyday life and work. Our extensive experience in working with a diverse range of companies, from small creative agencies to major corporations and leading investment firms, speaks to our adaptability and efficiency. Importantly, our commitment is to future-proof your capabilities, helping you stay relevant in a rapidly evolving technological landscape by encouraging lifelong learning, fostering tech-savviness, and predicting trends for sustained relevance and employability. If you're reading this far, I hope to have the chance to talk with you.
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© 2024 by The Prompt, Matt Strain.

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