As the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) expands, small business owners have the opportunity to gain experience in how they can use it to grow their business.
Managed Nerds, an IT managed services company based in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, is offering a class on Jan. 28 called EntrepreAI Tuesday.
“We help small businesses manage their IT, from planning on what their technology purchases are to maintaining the computers, ensuring that they’re regularly updated, to providing remote or onsite support, and cyber security protection to make sure those systems are secure,” Sharon Martin, CEO of the company, explained for ABD.
Martin, and her partner, Matthew Chapman, realized small businesses were experimenting with AI, but most did not know where to get started.
“There are a lot of AI tools out there. Maybe they’ve even tried AI in the past, and they just didn’t get the information they’re looking for,” she said. “One of the things I want to do with this AI literacy class is to teach folks from the very beginning, here’s how to write a good AI prompt to get the information you want back from AI. We’re going to very specifically focus on prompt writing. Depending on how much folks like it, we’re going to start diving into specific topics, like how to use AI to write your social media posts or help you come up with quick ideas, and how to use AI to help you write a business plan or a marketing schedule.”
Martin is also a new contributor to ABD, offering small business technology tips every Thursday.
“We want to inform and help small businesses understand technology better,” she said. “Some of it will be money-saving ideas, some of it may be answers to questions they’ve always wondered about, technology in general, or cyber security in general. But the idea is trying to break technology down into something that’s understandable by everybody. Basically, how do we save small businesses money? How do we better educate them?”
Martin also hopes to increase understanding of AI, while also lowering fears about using it.
“It’s becoming so ubiquitous and there are things you do now you don’t even realize AI is in the back end,” she said. “AI literacy is becoming the new computer literacy. Remember back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s when you need computer literacy classes in school. People need to use how to learn computers. And I’m saying AI literacy is that next level of fluency.”
The class will be held in theClubhou.se, on the third floor of the Hull McKnight Building at 100 Grace Hopper Lane, just off 12th Street.
“They should bring their laptop, or favorite mobile tablet that has a keyboard, because we’re going to be doing some hands-on exercises. Then we’re going to go through prompt writing and basically see what they get,” she said. “They don’t have to have any past experience with AI. Just bring your laptop. This is going to go below your level of expertise. For almost everybody, I want it to be foundational and help give some folks some confidence in using AI.”
Martin envisions the EntrepreAI Tuesday class will be a monthly program held on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Registration for the February class is also available.
There is a $25.00 fee to attend the class because it will include lunch for attendees. Registration is at www.managednerds.tech/training/entrepreai-tuesdays/
