Welcome Lifesavers Superhero!
Text Based Generative AI
How I use AI for communication and influence our traffic safety world.
How I use Text Based Generative AI for social media.
I'm not an engineer or a computer programmer. I just a guy working in the Traffic Safety world. I'm a former Kansas City, Missouri Police Officer and a former professional mascot. I run our local DUI Task Force and our local Buckle Up Montana Coalition. I'm a CPST and I help family learn about their car seats.
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In the safe systems approach, I'm spend most of my time working in the "Safe Road Users" section. I use AI to help generate content to proactively influence road uses to choose safer options.
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I also use AI to help me generate content that empowers people. I don't want to "Tell" people what to do. I want to help them discover, for themselves, what is the safest option. Then I want try and help them feel empowered enough to choose that option. However, I don't have a Ph.D. in Psychology, or Marketing & Advertising, or Influence & Rhetoric. So I've been leveraging AI to help me in ways that were not possible just over a year ago.
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AI is like my persona Guru. When I need something I act just like I would if I was in a real meeting with a Guru on any specific topic.
First, I need to provide some background information about who I am, what I do, what I'm trying to do, what problems I need help with. Then I make sure AI understands and give it permission to ask me clarifying questions. Here's what my first prompt might look like
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I run an organization called Drive Safe Missoula. It's home to our DUI Task Force and our Buckle Up Montana coalition. I try to keep people driving sober and wearing their seat belts. I also work with families helping them learn how to properly install their child's car seats. Additionally, I teach the Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service training to servers and clerks who sell alcohol. Does this all make sense? Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions.
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AI will reply confirm and might even ask a couple of questions, just like a real Guru might.
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Then I might provide some more information. I would then say:
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My target audience is driving age teens and adults and families with car seat age children. I have a website and I use social media platforms like Facebook. I need help writing a series of 15 social media posts about sober driving during the 100 deadliest days of summer. Before you write anything, be sure to confirm you know what I'm talking about and ask any follow-up questions.
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AI will then reply with a conformation and might ask questions. You might be surprised, but AI very likely already knows exactly what the 100 deadly days of summer is.
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Once I get the confirmation and answer any questions it might have, I'll ask it:
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I would also like the content to be formatted in a way that it won't likely cause psychological reactance. I don't wan tot tell people what to do but I want it framed using a positive framework demonstrating the positive behaviors I'm trying to empower people to adopt. Instead of saying, "Don't Drive Drunk" I might say, "Thanks for Driving Sober" Please confirm that you understand and ask any follow-up questions to make this stronger.
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After I get the reply and confirmation, I'll finally begin to ask it what I need. Just like you wouldn't run into a Guru's office and order the Guru to give you 15 social media posts...NOW! You'll get much better answers when you provide it as much information before hand. Now I ask:
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Using the above discussion as a guide, provide 15 social media posts designed to influence driving age individuals to choose to only drive sober during the 100 deadliest days of summer. Format the information using a positive framework that reduces psychological reactance. Avoid telling people what to do. Perhaps frame some of the posts as questions that could generate some interaction and engagement.
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Can you see how this might generate a better response than simply just asking for 15 social media posts to prevent drunk driving? It's the old, garbage in garbage out thing. The more info you can provide, the better content AI can produce for you.
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Email Replies - What, you haven't tried this yet?
In today's fast-paced world, staying on top of your email inbox can be a daunting task. Fortunately, the advent of AI-powered email assistants has made it easier than ever to manage your communication efficiently. By leveraging the power of AI, you can streamline your email responses, saving time and reducing the mental load of crafting replies.
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Benefits of Using AI for Email Replies:
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1. Time-saving: AI can quickly generate relevant and contextual replies, eliminating the need to write each response from scratch
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2. Consistency: AI ensures a consistent tone and style across all your email communication, maintaining a professional and cohesive voice.
3. Personalization: AI can tailor responses based on the recipient's preferences, fostering a more personalized experience.
4. Increased productivity: With AI handling email replies, you can focus your time and energy on more strategic tasks.
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Step-by-Step Guide to Using AI for Email Replies:
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1. Choose an AI platform: Research and select an AI platform like ChatGPT, Claude3, or Gemini that aligns with your needs. Note that if you use Gmail, Google's Gemini might be best. If you use Outlook, perhaps Microsoft's Copilot with ChatGPT might be best and they may even integrate seamlessly with your email client.
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2. Compose your email: When drafting a new email or replying to an existing one, the AI assistant will provide suggested responses based on the context and content of the email thread.
4. Review and refine: Carefully review the AI-generated response and make any necessary edits or additions to ensure it accurately conveys your intended message.
5. Send the email: Once you're satisfied with the response, send the email as you normally would.
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Important Consideration: Protecting Personal and Private Information
When using AI for email replies, it's crucial to exercise caution when sharing personal or private information. AI assistants should never be provided with sensitive data, such as login credentials, financial information, or confidential documents. Always review the generated responses to ensure they do not inadvertently disclose any sensitive information. I won't even put in a person's full name. I'll just use their first name to help AI understand who they might be replying to.
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By leveraging the power of AI email assistants, you can streamline your communication while maintaining a professional and personalized touch. Embrace this technology to boost your productivity and free up time for more meaningful tasks, all while keeping your personal and private information secure.
Generating Notes & Meeting Minutes
Almost every meeting I'm in I ask if I can record our conversation on my phone instead of me trying to take notes. I mention that I'm better able to remain engaged in the conversation and then I don't have to worry if I might miss something. I haven't had a single person decline. Even when I'm meeting with a Judge.
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I open up my phone, hit record and place it on the table. I use Google Recorder on my Android phone and it automatically transcribes the entire conversation in real time.
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Following the meeting I will copy the transcript into AI (I really like Claude3 for this) and I will have it generate the meeting minutes or notes.
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It took you longer to read to this point than it does for me to do this process.
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Additionally, after I paste or drop the transcript file into AI, I can ask a specific questions about the transcript, for example:
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List out the action items we discussed.?
What was the date and time for our next meeting?
What questions were we going to ask Cindy?
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AI will give you the answers faster than you can type the questions.
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This is game changing!
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Also, Teams meetings will have live transcriptions when a meeting is recorded. You can download the transcript and do the same thing.
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Please be aware of personal, private, and or confidential information. If there is anything like that in the transcript, you can manually delete it before you drop it into AI.
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Using AI for Grant Writing
For organizations working in traffic safety, securing grant funding is crucial for implementing programs and initiatives aimed at reducing collisions and fatalities on our roads. However, the grant application process can be highly competitive, and effectively aligning your proposed project with the funder's specific deliverables is key to a successful proposal.
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This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can be a game-changer. By leveraging AI's natural language processing and data analysis capabilities, traffic safety professionals can gain a significant edge in crafting compelling grant applications that seamlessly connect their project goals with the grantor's desired outcomes.
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Here's how AI can assist in this process:
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Analyzing Grant Requirements
AI algorithms can parse through grant guidelines, notices, and related documents to identify and extract the key deliverables, priorities, and evaluation criteria specified by the funder. This systematic analysis can help ensure that no critical requirement is overlooked and that your project proposal directly addresses the grantor's objectives.
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Mapping Project Objectives to Grant Deliverables
Once the grant deliverables are identified, AI can help map your project's objectives, activities, and anticipated outcomes to these specific requirements. This alignment ensures that your proposal clearly demonstrates how your initiative will contribute to the grantor's goals, increasing the likelihood of securing funding.
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Data-Driven Proposal Development
AI can assist in analyzing relevant data sources, such as crash statistics, traffic patterns, and demographic information, to support the need for your proposed project and strengthen your case. By incorporating data-driven insights, your grant application will be more compelling and aligned with evidence-based practices.
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Optimizing Language and Structure
AI-powered writing assistants can help refine the language and structure of your grant proposal, ensuring that it is clear, concise, and effectively communicates the merits of your project. These tools can also help ensure consistency and adherence to formatting guidelines.
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By leveraging AI throughout the grant application process, traffic safety professionals can streamline their efforts, improve their chances of success, and ultimately secure the funding necessary to implement impactful programs that make our roads safer for everyone.
Unleashing the Power of AI for Traffic Safety Data Analysis
In the traffic safety domain, data is the lifeblood of informed decision-making and the development of effective strategies to reduce collisions and save lives. From crash reports and traffic monitoring systems to public surveys and demographic data, the sheer volume and variety of data available can be overwhelming for traffic safety professionals to analyze manually.
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This is where artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a powerful ally, offering a suite of advanced analytical capabilities to unlock invaluable insights from diverse data sources. By harnessing AI, traffic safety professionals can efficiently extract meaningful patterns, trends, and actionable intelligence to drive data-driven solutions.
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Survey Data Analysis
AI can be a game-changer in analyzing survey data, which often provides valuable insights from road users, stakeholders, and community members. Through natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms, AI can quickly identify common themes, sentiments, and key points across survey responses, enabling traffic safety professionals to tailor initiatives and address specific community concerns.
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Crash Data Analysis
Crash reports contain a wealth of information, including location, time, contributing factors, and severity. AI can analyze this data to identify high-risk areas, detect patterns in crash types or causes, and uncover potential correlations with factors like weather, road conditions, or driver behavior.
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Traffic Pattern Analysis
By analyzing data from traffic monitoring systems, such as sensors, cameras, and GPS data, AI can help identify congestion hotspots, predict traffic flow, and optimize signal timing and routing to improve traffic efficiency and safety.
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Demographic and Socioeconomic Data Integration
AI can integrate demographic and socioeconomic data with other sources, such as crash reports and traffic patterns, to uncover potential correlations and tailor traffic safety initiatives to specific communities or vulnerable populations.
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Predictive Modeling
Leveraging machine learning algorithms, AI can develop predictive models based on historical data, enabling traffic safety professionals to anticipate potential safety issues, allocate resources more effectively, and implement proactive measures to mitigate risks.
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By embracing the power of AI for comprehensive data analysis, traffic safety professionals can gain a deeper understanding of the complex factors influencing road safety, make more informed decisions, and ultimately create safer roads for all users.
Websites - Just like this one
Most of the text and most of the images that you have seen were generated with the help of generative AI. I was able to prompt AI, with all the right questions to get it to generate the, hopefully, beneficial information you've consumed up to this point.
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Naturally there was a lot of human oversite. I had to make a lot of edits, or additions to make it more personal. Many of the "prompts" that I first used didn't produce the information I needed so I would have to edit and re-prompt AI in order to get text or images that are inline with the information I'm trying to provide for you.
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If I would have typed all of this out myself, It would have taken weeks. If you've ever built content for websites and web pages like this...you understand how time consuming it can be. With the help of AI, I created all of this for you in about 6 hours worth of total work.
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I hope it helps you enhance your usage of AI Technologies. Remember, it's similar to a Hammer. The more you use it the better you become with it and the more advanced things you can build. When my kids first used a hammer they were at a local home store building a birdhouse from a kit. It was extremely cute watching them learn how to hold the tiny hammer and hit the tiny nails. We all start out like this...AI is similar. Start small and work your way up.
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Use YouTube. It's where I go to learn almost anything and everything these days. If you follow channels like Matt Wolfe's Future Tools, and check out FutureTools.io, you'll likely remain on the cutting edge of this AI Revolution.
Note: I'm not affiliated with Matt Wolfe or Future Tools, I've just learned a tremendous amount from this resource and I want you to know about it.
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