By Peter Scott
As I prepare for interviews and publicity for my new book on artificial intelligence, I find myself thinking about the beginning of this journey. The end of February, 2020, was a watershed for the world, of course, but even more so for me, after my TEDx Bear Creek Park / Surrey talk, “How to save us from being left behind by AI.” It marked a transition for me from an era of speaking with one eye on myself and wondering how I was doing, to delivering sessions focusing only on what the audience deserved to receive. The coaching and stage experience pivoted me from amateur to professional speaker; not speaking as a way to prove something to myself, nor to see what I could make from it; but because I have a message that a great many people need to hear, and it’s my responsibility to find them and deliver it to them. Nerves and imposter syndrome need not apply.
Of course, the next two years turned out not to present opportunities for speaking in person, but there were many invitations to speak live to remote audiences in size from dozens to thousands. I launched a podcast and interviewed top experts every week; and I found that the most important skill I learned from TEDx wasn’t about speaking, but listening.
TEDx preparation is nothing if not hard, often solitary, work, and that cued me for thinking that I could once again write a book about artificial intelligence. Newsflash: It’s always more work than it looks like going in. But post-TEDx, I was infinitely more prepared to get the book to the people who would benefit from it. I now had a platform of a thousand listeners, but far more importantly, I now lived my identity as a communicator with an important message.
TEDxSurrey is the place to enter the big league. There are TEDxes… and there are TEDxes. This is the latter. And while I’ve got you here, you can find out how artificial intelligence is changing your world, get a real, practical understanding of what it is, and find out what’s in store, through my podcast and July 2022 book, both called “Artificial Intelligence and You”. If you like TEDx, you’ll love those.
Link to talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_j_scott_how_to_save_us_from_being_left_behind_by_ai
Link to book: https://www.amazon.ca/Artificial-Intelligence-You-Survive-through/dp/096798744X/
Link to podcast: https://aiandyou.net