Last week, we gathered at SEC Newgate for an inspiring evening with the OM Women’s Network as we explored Owning the Narrative: Women, Technology & the Future of Influence.
We heard from Sara Langridge (MO 2005-07), Mixed Reality, Executive Producer and Product Lead working with the tech powerhouses to translate content into this new space, and Rebecca Glenapp (LI 1999-01), founder of the Venture Scouts programme connecting the science created at the University of Oxford’s Innovation Centre with the outside world. Helping us to stay human in a digital world, communications coaches and experts Naomi Kerbel (NC 1993-98) and Susannah Tresilian (NC 1992-97) gave tips and tools to make sure our communicative powers stay one step ahead of AI.
Some takeaways from the evening included:
- Always remember to harness AI in order to move your own thinking forward (rather than to do your thinking for you)
- Think of an AI engine as an assistant working for you
- Clarify your true, authentic voice to cut through the noise
- AI shows you actually how your own brain works – make the most of that knowledge!
- Put AIs innate bias into the prompt, name its own blind spots (misogyny, racism, ableism etc) and ask it/train it to think around it
- AI is like learning a language – we’ve got to be inquisitive and learn by trying and failing
- AI is a powerful tool, but WE are the architects of its potential
- We’re not just users – we’re shapers of technology
- And finally – the message from our ‘techno-optimists’ was: human creativity, trust, and relationships remain our superpower, so revel in your own unique humanity! AI will and can never replace that.
Courses that were mentioned included:
- Stanford – remains the OG of free online courses
- Coursiv – an AI course that’s akin to Duolingo
- Otter – for transcription
- ChatGPT – but there are clearly different models that are better for different kinds of searches.. over to you all to dig deeper!
As part of the evening, the panel looked at keeping our own humanity alive, with the ABCDE Model of Networking Conversations, which we recap here:
A – Atmosphere – choose a word for the kind of atmosphere you want the conversation to have, and embody it
B – Balance – ensure you are speaking enough, and receiving enough – take control of keeping the proportions fair
C – Communicate – no-one will know what you have to say unless you say it!
D – Data – if you have data you know you need them to know, then say it; if they have data you need to know, ask for it!
E – Exchange – keep the doors open for future conversations (an age old is ‘Do you mind if I send you an email after this?’. They can’t say no and you’ve now got permission!)
We hope you are all a part of the Old Marlburian Women’s Group on LinkedIn, but if you’re not, please join up here.
