13 Articles About How Companies are Using AI in their Businesses

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Success

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He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;

who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;

who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who has left the world better than he found it whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul;

who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;

who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;whose life was an inspiration;

whose memory a benediction.

 

Bessie Anderson Stanley

 

11 Articles about AI & Creativity

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Wait! You Didn’t Use the Proper Lingo

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Once introduced, a prescriptive rule about terminology in a particular profession or field of study is hard to eradicate, no matter how ridiculous. Steven Pinker writes in The Language Instinct:

The rules survive by the same dynamic that perpetuates ritual genital mutilations and college fraternity hazing: I had to go through it and am none the worse, so why should you have it any easier? Anyone daring to overturn a rule by example must always worry that readers will think he or she is ignorant of the rule, rather than challenging it. Since perspective rules are so psychologically unnatural that only those with access to the right schooling can abide by them, they serve as shibboleths, differentiating the elite from the rabble.

11 Articles about AI for those Leading Companies

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The Flip Side

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Most people are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses but miss the flip side. If your weakness is confrontation, the flip side is that you are probably good at finding creative ways to get along with others and create harmony. Someone else might be prone to make rash decisions, and yet that same quality makes them ideal in times of emergency when quick action is critical. Those who are slow to act will likely be thorough and reliable. Whenever you spot your own (or someone else's) weaknesses—don't forget the flip side.

Stephen Goforth

11 Webinars this week on AI, Writing, PR, Storytelling, Social Media, Journalism & More

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Mon, Sept 25 - How to use ChatGPT and other generative AI tools in your newsrooms

What: A four-week massive open online course, held from Sept. 25 to Oct. 22. Instructors will put aside the AI hype cycle and get down to the basic principles of how the technology works, how it might work in your newsrooms, and the ethical implications to consider. Upon completion of this course, you will:  Become conversant on the topic of AI and news. Be able to put into use tools from simple process automation to basic GPT functions. Develop a plan for your news operation to consider, procure, and maintain tools with automation and AI.

Who: Aimee Rinehart, the Senior Product Manager AI Strategy for The Associated Press.  

Sil Hamilton, AI researcher-in-residence at Hacks/Hackers, a network of journalists who rethink the future of news through talks, hackathons, and conferences.

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Knight Center for Journalism

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Tue, Sept 26 – Why Headline Testing Matters & How AI Can Help

What: We delve into the world of A/B testing data and show how ChatGPT can assist in the process. We aim to demonstrate the benefits of investing time in improving your content's performance right after publication.

Who: Smartocto’s content editor Stefan ten Teije; Janneke Bosch, who is the editor at Omroep Brabant.

When: 9 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Smartocto (builds editorial analytics systems for newsrooms)

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Tue, Sept 26 – Time and Project Management for Freelancers With The Writers' Co-op

What: Strategies for time and project management as a business of one. This webinar will also specifically talk about managing your workflow as a freelancer when you are neurodivergent. You’ll walk away with a slew of options, so you can pick and choose the ones that resonate with you. 

Who: Anna Burgess Yang, a freelance writer focusing on banking and finance based outside of Chicago; Andrea Trimarchi, a certified ADHD Life Coach and creator of Focused Femmes ADHD Coaching; Wudan Yan, the host and executive producer of The Writers’ Co-op.

When: 2 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: $35

Sponsor: The Writers’ Co-op

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Tue, Sept 26 – The Power of Mentoring

What: Find out why our news leaders believe it is crucial to have a deep relationship with a mentor or mentee.Panelists will share stories of being mentored and mentoring others and how these relationships nourished their careers.

Who: Laura Trujillo, Managing Editor, Life & Entertainment at USA TODAY, and author of "Stepping Back from the Ledge" from Penguin Random House. Nicole Carroll, Executive Director, ASU Local Journalism Initiative. Gary Estwick, Breaking News Editor at The Tennessean Katrice Hardy, NLA Board Member and Executive Editor of The Dallas Morning News. The discussion will be moderated by Paul Cheung, CEO of the Center for Public Integrity.

When: 4 pm, Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The News Leaders Association

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Wed, Sept 27 - Public Relations & Artificial Intelligence

What: This webinar will explore the dynamic intersection of public relations and artificial intelligence. showcasing AI's evolution, as well as the opportunities and challenges it presents for PR professionals. A Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Who: Chris Harihar of Crenshaw Communications, a top B2B tech PR agency based in New York City

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: $20 for nonmembers

Sponsor: PRSA Madison (Public Relations Society of America)

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Wed, Sept 27 - From Soft News to Hard News: The Long Journey of Women’s Sections

What: Get the scoop on the evolution of the women’s pages of newspapers and a female journalist who defied the staid conventions of her times and attracted millions of readers.

Who: Journalism professor Kimberly Voss explores the significance of the women’s sections, and journalist Allison Gilbert delves into Elsie Robinson’s career and life.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: $25 for non-members

Sponsor: Smithsonian  

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Thu, Sept 28 - Engage Your Audience Through Storytelling

What: Learn: How brand storytelling works. How to clarify your story’s message. How to understand your ideal customer’s needs

Who: Peter Davis, Brand Story Strategist & Owner of Hero’s Quest Consulting

When: 8:30, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The BBB

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Thu, Sept 28 - After Twitter: Understanding Social Media Protocols

What: We'll delve into the reasons behind the growing search for alternative platforms and the intriguing trends that are emerging from this shift. Discover post-Twitter social media's evolution, alternative platforms, and trends. Learn about decentralization's significance for nonprofits in online communication. 

Who: Ex-Twitter exec Evan Henshaw-Plath and Billy Bicket of TechSoup, Director of Maker Labs.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

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Thu, Sept 28 - How to Become a Micro-Influencer on LinkedIn: Grow Your Followers

What: In this program we will cover how to: Position your profile to be seen as a resource and subject matter expert. Create compelling and reputation building content.  Engage and amplify other influencers and prospects. Become a guest on podcasts, LIVE streams and beyond.

Who: Brynne Tillman CEO & LinkedIn Whisperer, Social Sales Link.

When: 11 am, Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

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Fri, Sept 29 - Health and Science Journalism Webinar

What: Designed especially for freelance journalists, this webinar will teach effective storytelling, evidence-based reporting, and ethical considerations in health communication.  

Who: Lori Leibovich, Editor, NYT Well; Kyong Song, Managing Editor, WebMD; Shraddha Chakradhar, Deputy News Editor for Diversity, Science; Katherine Reynolds Lewis, IIJ Founder and Independent Journalist

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Institute for Independent Journalists

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Fri, Sept 29 - Covering a U.S. Government Shutdown: Story ideas for national and local reporters

What: Participants will: Gain confidence in covering the government shut down. Obtain resources for covering this story from both a national and local perspective Learn what led to this year’s impasse, and how this shutdown would be different Get story ideas to tailor the government shutdown story to a media outlet’s community.

Who: Shai Akabas, executive director, Bipartisan Policy Center’s Economic Policy Program. Moderator: Bara Vaida, NPCJI’s director of training and a longtime Washington, D.C.-based reporter.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Press Club

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Here's how you can spot who is going to be successful

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(Some researchers ran) a workshop for low-performing seven graders at a New York City junior high school, teaching them about the brain and about effective study techniques. Half the group also received a presentation on memory, but the other half were given an explanation of how the brain changes as a result of effortful learning: that when you try hard and learn something new, the brain forms new connections, and these new connections, over time, make you smarter. This group was told that intellectual development is not the natural unfolding of intelligence but results from the new connections that are formed through effort and learning.

After the workshop, both groups of kids filtered back into their classwork. Their teachers were unaware that some had been taught that effortful learning changes the brain, but as the school year unfolded, those students adopted what (the researchers) call a "growth mindset," a belief that their intelligence was largely within their own control, and they went on to become much more aggressive learners and higher achievers than students from the first group, who continued to hold the conventional view, what (the researchers) called a "fixed mindset" that they're intellectual ability was set at birth by the natural talents they were born with.

(The) research had been triggered by curiosity over why some people become helpless when they encounter challenges and fail at them, whereas others respond to failure by trying new strategies and redoubling their effort. (They) found that a fundamental difference between the two responses lies in how a person attributes failure: those who attribute to their own inability-"I'm not intelligent"-become helpless. Those who interpret failure as a result of insufficient effort or an ineffective strategy dig deeper and try different approaches.

Peter C. Brown and Henry L. Roediger III,, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Assertive v Aggressive

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While aggressive behavior injures in order to win, assertive behavior focuses, not on winning as such, but on negotiating reasonable changes in the way both parties behave so as to equalize the balance of social power. The purpose of assertive speaking-up is usually to solve an interpersonal problem.

But assertiveness is not just expressing feelings, laying down the law to someone, and then walking away. In general, to solve problems you must do more than talk back or express feelings; you must be very clear about what you want to accomplish by asserting yourself. You must attend to your feelings, decide what you want, and then use some specific verbal skills to negotiate for the changes you want.

Assertive problem-solving involves the ability to plan, “sell,” and implement an agreeable contract between yourself and the other person without sounding like a nag, a dictator, or a preacher.

In other words, an assertive person can express feelings in a manner that is both personally satisfying and socially effective.

Sharon and Gordon Bower, Asserting Yourself

7 Articles about AI & Coding

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A Dozen Articles about AI Coming for Your Job

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Teaching Life Skills

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The data emerging about the mental health of our kids only confirms the harm done by asking so little of them when it comes to life skills yet so much of them when it comes to adhering to the academic plans we’ve made for them.

Karen Able is a staff psychologist at a large public university in the Midwest. (Her name has been changed here because of the sensitive nature of her work.) Based on her clinical experience, Able says, “Overinvolved parenting is taking a serious toll on the psychological well-being of college students who can’t negotiate a balance between consulting with parents and independent decision-making.”

When parents have tended to do the stuff of life for kids—the waking up, the transporting, the reminding about deadlines and obligations, the bill-paying, the question-asking, the decision-making, the responsibility-taking, the talking to strangers, and the confronting of authorities, kids may be in for quite a shock when parents turn them loose in the world of college or work. They will experience setbacks, which will feel to them like failure. Lurking beneath the problem of whatever thing needs to be handled is the student’s inability to differentiate the self from the parent.

Julie Lythcott-Haims, How to Raise an Adult

8 Media Webinars this week: Writing, AI, Teaching, Journalism, & More

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Mon, Sept 18 – Introducing the Media Dictionary

What: Join us to learn about this important national initiative and consider the opportunities and challenges faced by the Media Dictionary team. Discussion Questions include: Why is media literacy important in modern society? What kind of challenges does it address?   What do you think are some effective strategies to increase media literacy in our societies?

Who: Dr. Jatin Srivastavais is Professor and Director at E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University; Dr. Vijayta Tanejais an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, DIHE-JIMS Noida; Bhavna Pathak is National Secretary, International Association of Women Media Teachers.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Media Education Lab

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Mon, Sept 18 - Transforming Education with AI: What Educators Need to Know

What: Educators will get a closer look at how AI’s rapid advancement is prompting a wave of change across the education landscape.  

Who: Alex Kotran, Co-Founder and CEO, The AI Education Project; and Jennifer Ehehalt, Sr. Regional Manager, Midwest, Common Sense Education

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Common Sense Education

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Tue, Sept 19 – Beyond the Headlines: Women Journalists in Africa

Who: Moderator Amaka Okoye, Freelance Journalist Gabrielle Nina Mitch, Ruth Nesoba with the BBC News; Independent Journalist Dicta Asiimwe

When: 12 noon

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Women In Journalism

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Tue, Sept 19 - AI for Collaborative Journalism

What: A discussion of the methodology and development of a collaborative journalism platform, from concept to journalistic content creation.

Who: Sebastián Neter of Wingu, a non-profit organization focused on leveraging technology for social impact. María Paula Murcia, the creator of the Comments Library, a digital tool for analyzing social conversations on Mutante’s channels.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Code For All

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Tue, Sept 19 – AI in the JMC Classroom

Who: Tiffany Gallicano, UNC Charlotte; Tait, Ball State University; Raluca Cozma, Kansas State University.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free for members

Sponsor: AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communcation)

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Tue, Sept 19 - L.A. Times Ask A Reporter: Our Climate Change Challenge

What: This discussion, based on a Times special report investigating the state of climate change in California.

Who: LA Times reporters Rosanna Xia and Sammy Roth. City Editor Maria La Ganga will moderate.

When: 6 pm, Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: LA Times

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Thu, Sept 21 - How To Write Stories That People Actually Want to Read

What: An introduction to interviewing, structuring and writing for impactful storytelling

Who: Courtney Crowder is the Iowa Columnist and a senior writer at the Des Moines Register.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: $35

Sponsor: Online Media Campus

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Thu, Sept 21 - The Education Beat Is the Democracy Beat

What: The panel will talk about hot-button educational issues; learn story ideas and insider tips; and find inspiration in the experiences of both journalists and educators.

Who: Amy Zimmer is Chalkbeat's New York bureau chief. John Hildebrand is the senior education writer for Newsday. Adam Fine has been superintendent of the East Hampton Union Free School District since September 2021.

When: 6 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Press Club of Long Island

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Self-Control as a Child

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Behaving yourself as a child brings big rewards in adulthood. Researchers tracked more than 1,000 people from toddlerhood into their early 30s and found that the more self-control they showed as kids, the healthier, wealthier, and happier they were as grown-ups. By contrast, children who struggled to complete tasks and handle frustration without lashing out at their peers were more likely to be overweight, drug dependent, and ridden with debt as adults. The study’s authors say that self-control can be taught and nurtured with practice, and that no matter what a child’s circumstances, “good parenting can improve self-control and improve life success.”

The Week Magazine

Free yourself from negative people

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Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven and like-minded. Relationships should help you, not hurt you. Surround yourself with people who reflect the person you want to be. Choose friends who you are proud to know, people you admire, who love and respect you – people who make your day a little brighter simply by being in it. Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you.

Renee Jones, read more here

10 Amazing Things AI is being used to do

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