Unlocking AI: A Practical Guide to Getting Started
AI is everywhere, and yet, it can feel like it’s nowhere at all. In the AV industry and beyond, there’s been plenty of discussion about its potential, from Copilot in Teams to using ChatGPT for outlining ideas. (I’ve written about it here!)
But if you’re not already immersed in AI, it’s easy to wonder: Where do I even start? During an interview with Joe Pham, I was given simple but powerful advice: Just start. That was all I needed. But if you didn’t grow up in the “throw them in the deep end to teach ‘em how to swim” school like I did, “just start” might seem rash. Unfocused, even. If you prefer a structured approach, here’s how to begin—depending on what you want AI to do for you.
Step 1: Identify Your AI Goals
Before diving into AI tools and applications, take a step back and ask: What do I actually want to accomplish? What do I want AI to help me with? The answer will shape which tools you need and how deep you should go. If you’re unsure what AI can do, keep reading.
Boost Productivity
AI isn’t just about replacing tasks or automating them; it’s about efficiency. Whether it’s ChatGPT drafting emails, Notion AI organizing meeting notes, or Grammarly polishing your writing, AI can be a seamless digital assistant. Just keep an eye on the output!
Make Smarter Decisions: Data Analytics?
Running a business, leading a team, or tracking performance metrics? Platforms like Google Analytics AI, SEMRush, or Tableau can surface insights you might otherwise miss. AI can also process and analyze raw data Try Claude or ChatGPT to find the nuggets of information hidden deep in your spreadsheets.?
Creative Exploration?
Maybe you want to see what AI can do with images, videos, or even music. Tools like MidJourney, Runway, or Descript let you generate artwork, edit videos with minimal effort, and clone – or create - voices for content creation. I’m still shocked that AI can translate my speech into Spanish, yet somehow preserve the timber of my voice!
Experiment and Learn
Curious? Just want to play around? That’s valid too. You can start small with AI chatbots, or voice assistants. Try writing a sales pitch or a TV script to see how AI can generate content from simple prompts. The more you experiment, the more you’ll find potential in AI. Or for that matter you may find it has little to offer; that's possible too.
?Step 2: Choose the Right AI Tools
Now that you know your goals and have some basic familiarity with AI, here are some more tools to explore:
Everyday Productivity
If your goal is to speed up daily tasks, these AI-powered assistants can help:
Analytics and Decision-Making
For insights and analytics, consider:
AI for Content and Media
Want to create AI-generated visuals, videos, or voiceovers? Try:
Experimentation and Learning
If you want to go a little deeper, these platforms let you dig deeper into AI without any coding experience:
Step 3: Just Start
AI tools are more accessible than ever. The key is to start small—pick one or two that align with your goals and experiment. You don’t need to master AI overnight. The best way to learn: Get in the deep end and start playing around.
You got this.
THANKYOU Tim Albright. We need more of these types of Posts, just sharing tools that we are getting value out of and the "case studies" of RoI they have delivered in our personal workflows. Build one's own familiarity, comfort, & understanding with AI, and you add to the positive momentum of opportunity around AI transformation generally, but ultimately enhance your ability to identify "think different" approaches to traditional workflows, etc. that new AI tools might support. With that inspiration, I commit to sharing some of my favorite AI tools in an upcoming post, and challenge anyone else reading this to do so.
President of AI Initiatives/Midwest RVP
15 小时前Very insightful Tim. Excellent list of AI tools with a reliable reputation.
Brand Conductor | Orchestrating Brands from Invisible to Inevitable in the AI Age
17 小时前This is a great overview and list Tim. I’m personally finding Claude to be my go-to AI workhorse. The deeper I get, the more opportunity I see for how to leverage these tools to enable us to up -evel our marketing and develop ways to understand and connect with the right customers. It can certainly be overwhelming at first and it’s evolving faster than most of us can take in but it starts with being the human with a vision and ideas directing the tools . . .