Welcome to the Workshop: My First Post

Hello all, this is my first blog post for my website. Welcome, and enjoy!

This first post is going to be a bit of a "work in progress" journal. I'm formulating my upcoming demos and talks—one in October and one in November—and I thought I'd bring you along for the ride as I fine-tune the presentation.

The Plan: Fine-Tuning the Performance

You can see my previous Disobey talk on the Disobey YouTube channel. In my memory, the talk had been a massive success and everyone loved it. But watching the performance back was not a very pleasant experience for me; it was not as I remembered it. Watching it back, I realised it wasn't as punchy as I'd have liked.

I'm sure we are all harsher and more self-critical when watching ourselves back than how others judge us. Scathing self-analytics aside, I do think I have a talent for public speaking and for communicating my "expertise." So, I will drive on and use this as motivation to make the next two talks even better. The goal is to make the whole thing more fluid and impactful.

The Gimmick: An AI Companion?

One idea I'm playing with is adding an AI companion to the presentation itself. Instead of just a static announcer, imagine a chatbot or avatar that can interject, ask questions, or even challenge me on stage. It fits perfectly with the "AI deep fake it till you make it" theme and serves as a live, unpredictable demonstration of the very technology I'm discussing. Will it be a helpful co-presenter or a mischievous agent of chaos? We'll see if this idea makes the final cut!

What's Next? Driving On.

With two talks approaching quickly, the work starts now. I'll be using this space to share updates, test out ideas, and document the process of refining this presentation.

Thanks for joining me on day one. Let's see where this goes.