Hello and welcome to another edition of AI versus Marshy!

The newsletter that keeps tabs on AI trends and translates it for you.

My career has been built on understanding tech for clients and making it usable for clients so here we are!

This week covers:

• A crash-course on AI security - via HarrietHacks
• Using AI to challenge your thinking
• Finance worker releases $25m to a deepfake

Lots to noodle on so let’s make last pasta and spaghetti to it 🍝

-Marshy

A crash-course on AI security via HarrietHacks

Heard via HarrietHacks.

When a friend says “you should meet/look up X” I nearly always zero in and pay attention.

That’s what happened when my cybersecurity friend mentioned HarrietHacks.

Harriet started a YT channel on AI security last year and has released a steady stream of content since.

I love hearing about this kind of stuff as it’s early days for Harriet’s content but as with any new thing it just takes time and consistency.

The ingredients are there:

✅ Woman in tech

✅ Booming area (cybersecurity)

✅ Booming trend (AI)

I reached out to Harriet and explained what I do with this newsletter and asked what are the main things people should considering when using AI in regards to cybersecurity.

Harriet kindly shared four (which I’ve edited for brevity):

The term AI is still foggy and often used inappropriately

There have been a mixed bag of terms over 70 years for what AI is and is usually considered “cutting edge”. The other trap is sensationalisation about it taking over. ISO (the International Organisation of Standardisation) gave it a much simpler definition last year - something that can do what a human might have done, but using a model. So think about AI as a goal, rather than a technology.

AI security is important but no one is talking about it

It deals with the technical and governance practices that aim to secure AI systems from disruption, deception, and disclosure of information. There is a lot of talk about safety (what if its misused?) and not enough about the threat of bad actors/adversaries.

AI security is different to cyber security

Being cyber secure isn’t the same as AI secure and there are dozens and dozens of threats if an AI system is dealing with access to information, input, video, transactions etc. Most organisations aren’t aware of what’s necessary to protect themselves.

The AI security threat is real

Attacks are rising and the numbers are a bit blurry because organisations blend AI safety and security together. The threat is probably higher than reported (and it’s already high).

Thanks Harriet!

I think what blows my mind is the human element. When it comes to security the human is always the weakest link - so having ever-improving capabilities for deceiving humans is terrifying.

Just over the weekend a Hong Kong finance worker paid $25m to fraudsters who imitated the company CFO using a deepfake.

AI as a thinking companion

Via One Useful Thing.

Heuristics, frameworks, rules of thumb - I love them and have a number of recipes saved in my notes folders.

Frequently referenced One Useful Thing author Ethan wrote a quick guide to using AI for challenging your thinking.

We all carry biases and blindspots and one of the examples I liked best was asking AI about opportunity cost - it’s frequently the blind spot that affects us the most.

It’s the cost of what we miss out on by picking something now.

As someone that lives in the moment a lot - I feel seen.

A few other sources of this style of thinking:

• ​A chat GPT for Socrating thinking - a guided question process for getting to a clearer answer
• You can also ask GPT to help with Byron Katie’s The Work - four deceptively simple steps that help you let go of stressful thoughts

If you want to read more about this I highly recommend Shane Parrish’s Clear Thinking - a book that summarises a lot of the blindspots we all carry and shows you how to navigate past them.

AI nonprofit community and training

Heard through Kaz McGrath.

Microsoft are now offering a raft of training and materials for people/organisations interested in learning more about AI.

All the training a nonprofit leader could ask for is available here off the back of their global leader’s summit.

There’s also a train the trainer toolkit if you’re looking to teach others.

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That’s it for this week.

On a personal note I am tired! The boys are struggling with satiety and teething still and we’re thinking we might need to start feeding them butter or ghee or something calorically DENSE as they keep growing 🤣

I should be able to share more about the AI venture I’m involved with soon and there’s also a research project on growth marketing I’ll mention soon too.

Lots on the boil.

As always thanks for reading and if you’ve got a question about AI just email me back or drop in big fast value calls.

You can also see a video version of this newsletter each Friday on YouTube or my LinkedIn.

We’ve got this!

-Marshy

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