Ever had somebody tell you "just use AI for this?"

The software isn't a magic bullet but there's still a lot of assumptions that AI can do whatever you ask it to. But that's not always the case - at least not with a lot of human input.

In this episode, we welcome back Telstra's Senior Creative Producer and Futurist Tomas Haffenden to explore the limitations of AI and why anybody using LLMs needs to understand the maths behind the model.

• Soc•AI•l Skylines is a Social Hills production.
• Hosts: Christina Vetta and Gary Andrews.
• Producer: Peter Northcote.
• Videographer: Imogen Mabin.
• Guest: Tomas Haffenden.

Product and marketing are closely intertwined. Those who are familiar with marketing theory know that product is one of the 4Ps, with marketing traditionally working to develop products that have a market-fit.

But if you're a product manager or a marketing manager working with product, where does AI come in? And how does it help, whether you're building digital features or a new SKU?

It's why we asked experienced product manager Diana Bui to share her approach to AI, and why she recommends slowing down rather than moving fast and breaking things.

In this episode, Diana speaks to Gary and Christina about:

• Where to get started with AI when you've got a number of different directions you could go in.
• How to harness Copilot properly.
• Thinking user-first when using AI.
• Why you should never ask AI to do something you don't know how to do yourself.

Soc•AI•l Skylines is a Social Hills production.

Hosts: Christina Vetta and Gary Andrews.

Producer: Peter Northcote.

Videographer: Imogen Mabin.

Guest: Diana Bui.

Chris Hall is an experienced designer and retoucher. He's moved from print design to digital and now uses AI regularly as part of his work. In this podcast Chris talks us through:

• How and why he first started using AI in his retouching work.
• How he uses AI to enhance his work (a clue: it's not one and done when it comes to prompting).
• Why his experience in design and retouching help him produce higher quality final assets.
• The limitations of AI when rolling out a campaign across multiple formats.
• Why he had to buy tubes of tomato paste to fix an issue AI couldn't.

Chris also talked through some of his work with Gary and Christina:

• The Allianz eagle, where Chris retouched the AI-generated images so they were suitable for Sydney's largest out-of-home advertisement: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSJQCthkkUK/
• Mutti's Muttiholics campaign, taking the original AI concept so it was suitable for large format advertising: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRQmnIVklYc/

Chris' insight shows that even when a concept is strong, a human hand is often needed to bring the AI vision to life.

• Soc•AI•l Skylines is a Social Hills production.
• Hosts: Christina Vetta and Gary Andrews.
• Producer: Peter Northcote.
• Videographer: Imogen Mabin.
• Guest: Chris Hall.

Has AI made the copywriter redundant? It's a topic that causes a lot of anxiety in the content marketing industry. Why pay for a professional when ChatGPT can churn out hundreds of articles in minutes?

Leanne Shelton had the same anxiety. As a professional writer and content marketer she quickly saw the threat and the opportunity from AI, so she made it her mission to become an expert in AI, and then turned her knowledge into training businesses to harness AI, while keeping the human. And yes, she still writes.

In this episode, Leanne talks through:

• How she pivoted from copywriting to AI coaching.
• Why creative expertise is worth more when AI is involved in the production process.
• Demonstrating the value of copy and content experience to clients.
• How to partner with AI to enhance copy rather than churn out slop.

Leanne's interview is an in-depth analysis that's a must for anybody working in copywriting or for non-writers trying to use AI for content.

• Soc•AI•l Skylines is a Social Hills production.
• Hosts: Christina Vetta and Gary Andrews.
• Producer: Peter Northcote.
• Videographer: Imogen Mabin.
• Guest: Leanne Shelton, founder of Human Edge.

Jimmy Wong is a fixture on Sydney's foodie scene. As a two-time Masterchef contestant, food blogger, content creator, chef, and president of the Surry Hills Business Precinct, Jimmy is a busy man. So it comes as no surprise that Jimmy's embraced AI as a way to save time and make his life - and his business's life - more efficent.

In this episode, Jimmy covers AI from three angles.

1. How he uses it professionally as a chef.

2. How AI enhances his content creation without compromising his authenticity.

3. How he's seen small businesses in Surry Hills use AI to help them with everything from budgeting and costs to marketing plans.

4. Where to get the best Bahn Mi in Sydney.

Restaurants might not seem the most obvious sector to embrace AI, but as Jimmy tells Christina and Gary, a good AI assistant is as essential as a good chef's knife.

Credits:

• Soc•AI•l Skylines is a Social Hills production.
• Hosts: Christina Vetta and Gary Andrews.
• Producer: Peter Northcote
• Videographer: Imogen Mabin
• Guest: Jimmy Wong

The creative industries are undergoing a rapid change due to AI. Non-creatives are using Large Language Models to generate images, video, copy, and music. So what can marketing and social media professionals do to stay one step ahead, regardless of whether they're a creative, strategist or generalist marketer.

In this episode of Soc•AI•l Skylines, creative strategist and Tomas Haffenden demonstrates to Gary and Christina how creativity and AI isn't just as simple as "just getting AI to do it." In this episode, Tomas talks about:

• The importance of linguistics in prompting.
• What are super tokens.
• How to generate the outputs from AI that match what's in your head.
• Where AI ends and humans have to take over.
• Where to start if you're looking to upskill on AI.

Credits:

• Soc•AI•l Skylines is a Social Hills production.
• Hosts: Christina Vetta and Gary Andrews.
• Producer: Peter Northcote.
• Videographer: Imogen Mabin.
• Guest: Tomas Haffenden.