Musings

Launching a Live AI Course: Behind the Scenes

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It is officially ready. After months of prep, my brand-new course is live!

If you want to confidently use, understand, and explain AI without the technical jargon, you can check out the Demystifying AI page. 

(And if this isn’t for you, but you know a friend, colleague, or business owner who needs this, please share this post with them!)

Curious but still not sure? Why not try out a free taster session? Book now on Eventbrite!

Me and my AI partner

Now that the course is live, I am dreaming up ways to actually reach the women for whom it was designed. To do that, I’m taking my own medicine: I am using AI to turn myself into an online businesswoman.

I launched a popular on-demand course in human-computer interaction a while ago which has 1,258 students and counting, so I’m not new to creating online —but this feels different. This one is just me: no existing infrastructure like Udemy with a team behind the scenes. It’s just me building in public, in real time, with nothing pre-recorded to hide behind.

And it feels very different from speaking in a lecture theatre (or pub), or from working with companies in a consulting context when I know exactly what I am doing.

And because of that, I even got AI to help me a little bit with this blog, because I really struggle to sell myself! (Mind you, a journalist actually contacted me yesterday for my opinion, so something new is definitely going on.)

I fed a draft of this into Google Gemini to see what it thought, and it gave me a whole list of standard marketing advice—break down the curriculum, list out deadlines, and add logistics. But, that’s all already on the Demystifying AI page.

Instead, I took the best bit of advice and ignored the rest: Gemini told me to shout about the fact that 300 women said they want to use AI but don’t know where to begin or what to believe in the news and that I designed the course specifically for them.

If you want to watch me ignoring AI advice as part of the messy, real-time journey of me building this business, whilst using AI tools to handle launch pages, sales, and community building, follow along here:

I’ve not figured out exactly what I am doing yet, but come along for the ride.

Inside the Course: Demystifying AI

After analysing 300 questionnaire responses—mainly from women—the data showed that many simply didn’t know where to begin, or what to believe in the news. But after working closely with a brilliant pilot group of non-technical learners, the AI Co-Creators who totally shaped the learning journey for the better, Demystifying AI is ready.

It’s a practical, 4-part live cohort starting this July, designed specifically for people who want to use, understand, and explain AI.

Quick Note: If you already took this with me on VIA, or plan to in the future, you’ve got this covered—you won’t need to do this course! Like King Peppy in Trolls, I want no one left behind. This version is my way of reaching people who aren’t on that platform.

How to Check It Out:

  • The Launch Page: Get all the cohort details, watch the 54-second trailer, and grab your spot here:  Demystifying AI
  • The Blog Summary: Not sure yet? Read a quick breakdown and watch a shorter 30-second trailer here:  Demystifying AI blog.

Demystifying AI (in 35°C Heat!)

The picture at the top of this blog was me on Wednesday evening (24th June), Demystifying AI after one of the hottest days in the year so far,  35°C heat to 90 people, so I was a little bit delirious – but when I asked, everyone else said they were too, luckily!  As in my left hand, I’m holding a bingo card and I got everyone to shout “AIrrrrrrr yourself” each time I said a buzzword on it. How I came up with that crazy idea, is a whole blogpost in itself: AIrrrrrrr yourself!!

The talk was completely sold out and so much fun, so I am doing it again next month – read all about it on my Speaking Page.

Between now and then though, I am giving all my energy to finding everyone who wants to know how to Use, Understand and Explain AI live on Zoom.

Over to You

I don’t mind telling you I’m feeling a bit wobbly about this launch, but I am absolutely loving the energy of it all. No matter what happens, there’s nothing else I would rather be doing right now.

What are you “wobbling” over?

Let me know! Or, if you have a tip for a former academic (it’s official, I finally put it on my About page last night) navigating the online business world, I’d love to hear from you via my Contact or FaceBook or YouTube page.

If this launch has taught me anything, it’s this:

AIrrrrrrr yourself!