Coding matters: The personal touch

The personal touch - stylized image of two people working together at a computer. Generated by DALL-E.

On Saturday my aerial hoop instructor said that she had used ChatGPT to draft a formal letter. She doesn't work in IT.

News updates, articles, videos - AI remains the hot topic. I did a quick search on Youtube: more than 80 videos on ChatGPT were uploaded in one hour. I've lost count of the emails sent to me about webinars on how to [insert topic here] using ChatGPT.

Between ChatGPT and Synthesia, you could generate training videos on almost any topic. But the last 3 courses reminded me of the importance of the personal touch in training.

Three examples

Last week Charles presented the first in-person course since March 2020. (We are only doing this for on-site courses.) The delegates from this client do not have a technical background, and had struggled with virtual training. But they were thrilled with the in-person training. A Udemy-type course would have been a waste of time and money.

Last week I taught XML and Schemas for an old client. It was a virtual instructor-led course, like all our courses now. The delegates had a specific problem that led to them requesting the course. I spent time showing them how what I was explaining specifically applied to their work. A Udemy-style course can't do this.

This week Renier is teaching Python - also virtual training. One of the delegates is legally blind. Online videos, Zoom or similar tools, and classroom whiteboards are a problem. Renier has found ways to help him so that the screen-reader can process what Renier is demonstrating. An adjustment for a personal situation.

Content is everywhere. The personal touch is not. Regardless of the rise of AI, we are human. And that personal touch makes a huge difference.

My next attempts at DALL-E

I am artistically challenged. My stick figures aren't bad, but that's about it. My first attempt using DALL-E - an AI tool that generates images - was mediocre, to say the least. Since then I've watched Renier experiment with DALL-E and Midjourney, which is a similar tool.

Other than the logo and photos, I've replaced all the images on our website with results from DALL-E. I might have got a bit carried away on the contact page. But take a look and tell me what you think. I also used DALL-E for the image for this blog post, although I spent less time trying to get something specific.

What do you think about the need for personal interaction on a course? I'd love you to share your comments.

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