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The AI Copilot Paradox: Subscription Waste, Cloud Risks, and the Case for Aggregation

I was recently contemplating a subscription to an AI copilot, and a thought struck me: my usage would likely be anything but steady. Some weeks I might rely on it heavily, drafting code, analysing data, or generating content; other weeks, barely at all. Some AI platforms do offer usage-based plans, where you pay per token or per request, rather than a fixed monthly fee—but most of the copilots I’ve seen do not. This discrepancy is significant. On high-use days, I might quickly exhaust my tokens. On low-use days, unused credits simply go to waste. While a handful of platforms allow the “rollover” of unused tokens, it’s far from standard practice. Most copilot subscriptions are engineered for predictable, steady usage—presumably because providers value predictable income, and, frankly, customers often crave predictable expenditure. Humans are creatures of habit. We love predictability. The Hidden Inefficiency of Multiple Subscriptions The problem deepens when you consider ...
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Fostering Trust, Fairness, and Engagement

We live and work in a world where employee loyalty is increasingly hard to secure, and organisations need to examine a multitude of strategies to retain their top talent. One approach, salary transparency, has emerged as a powerful tool for fostering trust, fairness, and engagement within the workplace. Let's explore how this practice can significantly impact employee retention. Trust is the cornerstone of any strong employer-employee relationship. When it comes to compensation, transparency can play a crucial role in building and maintaining this trust. According to a study by PayScale, 66% of employees at organisations with transparent pay practices expressed trust in company leadership. This trust translates directly into improved retention rates, with transparent organisations experiencing up to 25% lower turnover. Salary transparency goes beyond just disclosing numbers; it is about creating a culture of fairness and equity. When employees understand how their pay is determined...

10 Popular AI Prompt Formats

As the world continues to embrace the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), the quest for effective ways to communicate with these intelligent systems becomes increasingly important.  Over the last few months, I've encountered numerous discussions surrounding the usefulness of different prompt formats in harnessing the power of AI models. The necessity for clear and adaptable prompt structures has become abundantly clear.  In this article, I have a quick look at ten popular AI prompt formats, shedding light on their unique features, applications, and giving an example of each. Keyword-based  prompts: Prompting with specific keywords or phrases to guide the model's attention towards relevant information. Example: "Generate a summary of recent news articles about [keyword]." Template-based  prompts: Utilizing pre-defined templates to structure the input and guide the model's response generation. Templates can include placeholders for variables or specific conte...

Some ChatGPT Prompts

My inbox has turned into an AI listicle hotspot lately.  It seems that AI tools, in particular ChatGPT, can solve just about any problem you can think of and many that you probably didn't even know existed.   I thought if you can't beat them, you might as well join them, so I've used ChatGPT (of course) to produce some prompts of my own below. I've done most of the hard work by producing the prompts. I'm expecting others to use them to actually solve the problems and apply the the real world solutions. Please do let me know how you get on. The prompts - simply copy and paste them into ChatGPT (other AI systems are available): Prompt: "Generate a Single Line of Code to Decipher Dark Matter's Cryptic Language" Prompt: "Explain Quantum Entanglement in a way that a lay-person would understand" Prompt: "Develop an AI Interpreter in Python for Decoding Alien Communications" Prompt: "Provide a simulation of Black Hole Fusion" Pro...

The Limitations of Reward in Organisational Development

The ongoing inquiry into the Post Office Scandal[1] has recently brought to light disturbing evidence. It appears that Post Office investigators were incentivised with monetary bonuses for successful prosecutions and the confiscation of funds from sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses affected by the faulty Horizon software[2].  As discussed in Dan Pink's book on motivation, "Drive[3]," the repercussions of offering extrinsic rewards without adequate safeguards can be severe. People might exploit the system, ignoring long-term consequences for the sake of immediate gains. The effectiveness of rewards, such as bonuses and salary increases, in motivating and disciplining individuals has been a subject of ongoing debate. While some argue that extrinsic incentives can drive desired behaviors and outcomes, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting otherwise. Let's explore the limitations of relying on rewards in these contexts, emphasising the significance of intrins...

Embracing the Promise of AI: Overcoming Fears and Musk's Paradox

In the face of groundbreaking technologies like AI, initial fears and uncertainties are not uncommon. However, history has shown that society often transitions from apprehension to wholehearted acceptance as the true potential of a technology unfolds.  When motor vehicles emerged in the late 19th century, society grappled with fear and uncertainty. Laws mandating a person carrying a red flag to precede each vehicle reflected public anxiety and attempts to mitigate potential accidents.  Similarly, society's current apprehension towards AI stems from fear of the unknown and its potential disruptive consequences. However, history shows that initial fears are often unfounded and subside with increased familiarity and understanding of new technologies. AI's capability to process vast amounts of data and identify complex patterns presents unprecedented opportunities for decision-making and efficiency. Organizations can unlock insights, make data-driven decisions, and optimize proces...

Integrating UI/UX Design Into Your Sprints

Integrating UI/UX design work into the Sprint and aligning it with your Scrum process can be challenging but not impossible. Here’s a few suggestions on how a Scrum Master can handle this situation : 1. Encourage close collaboration between the UI/UX designers, developers, and QA team members. Create an environment where they can work together and understand each other's perspectives. Encourage them to pair and/or mob to help bridge the gap between design and development. 2. Educate the team about the value of UI/UX design: Help the developers and QA team members understand the importance of good design and how it impacts the overall user experience. This will help them appreciate the design work and its role in creating a successful product. 3. Include design-related tasks in the Sprint: While design work may not be easily quantifiable in the same way as development tasks, you can still include design-related tasks in the Sprint backlog. These tasks could include activities ...