Over the past week, I have found myself in repeated conversations about AI and large language models… it seems like interest in it continues to grow at pace, expanding beyond ChatGPT to other models and uses too.

The rate of development in this AI space, with new products coming to market attention, is just astounding – and far from being big tech only, open source models, able to run on PCs (soon phones?), are already being discussed – it does feel a genie has just been let out its the bottle.

I haven’t really felt this level of excitement for a while. Not maybe since the dawn of the internet or the mobile smartphone… there is a sense of massive opportunity, that new things are possible and a potential to make life better, mixed with the uncertainty of change.

It’s as if we’re standing on the precipice of a new era.

And, just like a universal Swiss Army Knife, does AI-LLM have the potential to be the fix all, providing solutions to many of the problems we face today? (modern day problems that is, rather than real problems… although maybe it can help with some of these too?)

Comedy – the last frontier?

Adoption is clearly on the rise – Notice more use of emojis on LinkedIn posts – ChatGPT; Smoother to the point headlines – ChatGPT; Waffling a bit in generalities – ChatGPT; Not making sense explaining a complex concept (and making a joke of it) – nope this is me!

Comedy aside… For those in creative spaces, this new technology is an incredible time-saver and let’s be frank about it… once you have started to use it, it is incredibly hard to stop.

Debates over use

All this fast adoption has also ignited lots of debate.

• Should we call a halt to development and introduce more controls?
• Is this the end of society as we know it?

Some concerns do seem valid… the thought of this type of AI interacting with itself, between models, creating its own prompts, and continuously improving is unsettling.

Likewise, that they have not yet been connected to large-scale systems in this form, for now, also seems a blessing.

However, we can no longer unsee what we have seen, and having seen its potential, my view is that it is now going to be incredibly hard to put away… it is really a little too late.

It is now out there, in the wild and we are going to have to adapt… As a result, there will be business implications and not all necessarily positive.

Changing business models

By way of example, over recent years many companies have poured immense time, effort and resources into the development of new tools and techniques for process improvement.

These, often bespoke, solutions and business models, as suddenly starting to seem clunky and expensive, when I can develop something similar, with the same output all for a fraction of the cost with my general ‘swiss army knife’ GPT approach.

Just in the same way that no one buys a digital camera or a flashlight anymore (we just use our smartphones) – it has the potential to fundamentally change the business, and societal, landscape.

Try to keep up

With such a pace of change, if you’re not using it now, or at least understanding how it’s used, there is the potential to fall behind.

It is fast becoming pervasive, is quite thrilling to observe, and helping in part to unleash new levels of creativity – in volume rather than quality at least!

It is all exciting to watch closely, to see where the journey leads us. Hopefully, it will end in a better place than before… which if you look at history of previous cycles (PC, internet, smartphone) I do have some optimism about..:)

Time to now head off for a quick game of Candy Crush… have a good week everyone.

This weekend was the King’s coronation in the UK, with much pomp and circumstance to watch; tea and biscuits to consume.

While the festivities were undoubtedly memorable, the event also heavily emphasized, a royal flush of ideas… inclusion, tolerance, and having a duty of care to others – values that resonated beyond the event itself, across the UK, wider society, and yes even in the financial services industry.

Quick wins…

In today’s fast-paced world, we often find ourselves looking for quick, easy answers to what are sometimes complex and nuanced problems, often where there is no easy answer too.

This tendency makes us all susceptible to taking shortcuts and making quick decisions based on opinion rather than data… however, sometimes making a good decision really matters with quick fixes only getting us into trouble later on.

Recently I have been seeing, an increasing number of attention-grabbing posts on LinkedIn… “The secret of how I made $10m in 90 days”… “Follow my system, guaranteed to make your business successful”… “Passive income from doing nothing”… “Money for free”.. (okay the last two are not true, but you get the gist of it!)

… & snake oil

Clickbait…? Maybe… or maybe I have missed the boat on making easy money… everyone I interact with seems to work hard and not make easy fortunes, and those that have done very well have also worked really hard, and been really smart. (the trend – working hard and being smart…)

So how do these work? It seems that one sure way to be successful is by offering to sell other people the secret of how to be successful… Maybe this is the secret they are selling… the quick-fix mentality, a fear of missing out and we fall for it…

A duty of care…

Financial services are of course no stranger to these dynamics either – great solutions can be easily promised that are not ideal for customers… only later leading to disappointment or worse, unpaid debt or distress.

Reputable companies, of course, do not do this, and in fact the regulator now also protects customers to ensure all of them do not too.

The bar of responsibility is also being raised yet again with the upcoming consumer duty. The initial implementation deadline passed only last week, with the duty to be implemented in full by July 31st.

… to help reevaluate

These new regulations serve as a call for us all to reevaluate our customer strategies and prioritize genuine, long-lasting customer relationships. Something that the coronation this weekend also underlined.

We all need to build better communities with strong values… one where we can all support each other, lifting each other up to be better versions of ourselves.

So whilst there is more to do and undoubtedly more to come, this is also something to reflect on for the week.

This weekend was the King’s coronation in the UK, with much pomp and circumstance to watch; tea and biscuits to consume.

While the festivities were undoubtedly memorable, the event also heavily emphasized, a royal flush of ideas… inclusion, tolerance, and having a duty of care to others – values that resonated beyond the event itself, across the UK, wider society, and yes even in the financial services industry.

Quick wins…

In today’s fast-paced world, we often find ourselves looking for quick, easy answers to what are sometimes complex and nuanced problems, often where there is no easy answer too.

This tendency makes us all susceptible to taking shortcuts and making quick decisions based on opinion rather than data… however, sometimes making a good decision really matters with quick fixes only getting us into trouble later on.

Recently I have been seeing, an increasing number of attention-grabbing posts on LinkedIn… “The secret of how I made $10m in 90 days”… “Follow my system, guaranteed to make your business successful”… “Passive income from doing nothing”… “Money for free”.. (okay the last two are not true, but you get the gist of it!)

… & snake oil

Clickbait…? Maybe… or maybe I have missed the boat on making easy money… everyone I interact with seems to work hard and not make easy fortunes, and those that have done very well have also worked really hard, and been really smart. (the trend – working hard and being smart…)

So how do these work? It seems that one sure way to be successful is by offering to sell other people the secret of how to be successful… Maybe this is the secret they are selling… the quick-fix mentality, a fear of missing out and we fall for it…

A duty of care…

Financial services are of course no stranger to these dynamics either – great solutions can be easily promised that are not ideal for customers… only later leading to disappointment or worse, unpaid debt or distress.

Reputable companies, of course, do not do this, and in fact the regulator now also protects customers to ensure all of them do not too.

The bar of responsibility is also being raised yet again with the upcoming consumer duty. The initial implementation deadline passed only last week, with the duty to be implemented in full by July 31st.

… to help reevaluate

These new regulations serve as a call for us all to reevaluate our customer strategies and prioritize genuine, long-lasting customer relationships. Something that the coronation this weekend also underlined.

We all need to build better communities with strong values… one where we can all support each other, lifting each other up to be better versions of ourselves.

So whilst there is more to do and undoubtedly more to come, this is also something to reflect on for the week.

Let me know your thoughts on this subject. Share your opinion in the comments below, and let’s continue the conversation as the consumer duty deadline approaches.

Last week, I was back in Toronto, Canada, in what was really beautiful spring weather, sunny, flowers starting and green grass (spring is after all short there – summer in a couple of weeks!).

The trip not only offered me the chance to catch up with friends and old-colleagues, but also allowed me to spend the week discussing the Canadian market, receivables and collections processes. In particular the progress that has been made since the pandemic around digitalization and customer treatment.

Market Comparison

Comparing markets can be an insightful thing, and there are undoubtedly some areas where the UK, at least, has moved forward differently in comparison with the Canadian market. By comparison, there are opportunities and benefits locked away from these learnings for sure.

Likewise, I was also reminded of some of the focus and approach to business/collections from my time in Canada too… this can also be applied, to some benefit, for companies back in the UK too… a win win.

It’s the little things

Travel has the gift of providing us with fresh perspectives and in my case also the perceptions of what I think I miss vs what I actually do…

Reflecting on the trip, I was struck by these small things, which with fresh eyes, after a long absence, made me realise some of the quirky things I enjoyed during my 10 years there and made a difference to me personally. This is essentially now my checklist for when I go back…

• Canadian Cadbury’s chocolate – not the same as the uk, it’s different and I like it
• Canadian Tire – is possibly the most amazing hardware store ever, so much stuff in every store, how do they do it?
• Polishing my shoes with the brushes on the side of the down escalators on the TTC – strangely relaxing and comforting!
• Eating dinner early at 5:30 – restaurants are busy. Eat early avoid indigestion
• Goldfish – yes those tasty cheesy treats, very snackable
• President’s Choice decadent chocolate chunk cookies
• Food and asian food in particular – the food in Toronto is really very good
• Fruit and veg shops spilling onto the sidewalk
• Black squirrels – it was good to see them again (I don’t feel that way about the Racoons btw)
• And Tim Hortons iced cappuccio – although more of a summer thing… for next time

… and of course friends, old colleagues and meeting new people.

… they matter

We often assume that it is the big high profile things that are essential to our lives and we will miss when they are not there… however in fact often it is the little things and friendships that are more important.

Similarly, in business, we often hold onto big processes and practices that we think are really critical, but in reality, these perceptions may be holding us back, even not appreciated by customers or fundamental to business success.

So, what else can we learn from each other? Are there little things that really make a big difference in your processes too? What are they and is this an opportunity for improvement?

We are all connected and by being open to new perspectives, there are valuable insights to be gained, that can help us grow in all aspects of our lives.