Thank you so much for wanting to keep up to date with AI within the u3a. If you received this newsletter from a friend you can sign up to receive your own copy here.
AI and the Pope
There are lots of amazing things about AI but also quite a lot not to like. Personally I find the lack of humility on the part of the AI Tech Entrepreneurs very worrying. Anthropic cofounder Chris Olah nearly walked out on the Pope when the Pope refused to endorse the possibility that AI systems might be conscious or have a moral status. Lots of newspapers carried the story or you can read Yahoo’s write up here.
Finding AI information in the u3a
We know there is such a lot of information about AI that it can get quite daunting to find what you are looking for. We are increasingly making information available by a website called Padlet. Padlets are like notice boards and you can search them, or get a list of all the recent changes or even be notified when new items are posted.
To make them less daunting we have split the Padlet into five, each one addressing a different need:
- AI for AI Beginners
- AI for AI Groups and more experienced AI users
- AI for other groups – Like Family History
- AI for u3a committee members and
- AI for Developers vibe coding apps
You can find the padlets via googling “u3a ai for everyone” and clicking on the Resources icon, or via the AI Subject Advisors page or directly here.
One Feature to try this month - Voice
Don’t you just hate it when you want to interrupt the person you are talking to but feel it wouldn’t be appropriate. ChatGPT’s voice feature now allows you to interrupt and have a much more natural conversation. Try it, but remember it is still a computer and if you don’t want AI to remember the voice chat you can delete it. A very similar feature is available with the Gemini app on your phone and both ChatGPT and Gemini allow you to use the camera and ask voice questions about the picture.
AI Zoom Webinars
- The September AI News reflected on the incredible changes that there have been in AI technology, with AI adoption, and with AI in the u3a. There are a few slides available.
- On October 12th we had an AI news event covering an introduction to AI and AI in Scotland. Links take you to the presentations used.
- On November 2nd 9th,16thand 23rd we have our zoom based beginners course for using AI Chatbots. Four classes make up the course.
Our AI Agitators Group is now up to 80 members. If you want to network with members organising AI activities in their local u3a do join us.
Alan Freeland u3a Subject Advisor for AI Alan.Freeland@u3a.org.uk
To find all u3a AI Information Google “u3a AI for Everyone”
( https://u3acommunities.org/interest-groups/computing/ai-for-everyone/ )