Once Dennis and I had come up with the idea of a small, local AI club, I used ChatGPT to help me explore its possibilities. I explained the idea to the AI and began the chat by asking: Is there a market for such a club in Plymouth? The answer was a helpful analysis of the main issues and a qualified yes; but the pitch would need to be “pragmatic rather than evangelical”. We would need to keep things down to earth.
From there, we explored aspects ranging from possible niche markets to session formats. We talked about why people might want to use AI. We looked at different types of users and what each might want from a club like this.
The conversation broadened my thinking about the viability of the idea and brought the issues into better focus. What started as a vague idea of “a club for people like us” grew into something I began to think we could actually try.
As an aside, this research with AI was also research about AI: a simple use case, a small step on my path to AI proficiency.