Former Microsoft content safety director and journalist Shaun Davies has turned entrepreneur, launching The AI Training Company, in a bid to close the gap between AI intention and workplace execution.
Davies said that while executives may be enthusiastic about the transformational prospects of AI, there’s a a lack of practical skills and clear governance that’s both hindering progress and creating significant business risk.
“I’ve been working on AI for many years. I’ve noticed there’s a big gap between what businesses hope to achieve with AI and the reality for their employees on the ground,” he said.
“It’s not enough to write a policy and purchase some licenses. Your teams need training in AI fundamentals like prompting, safety and testing to move past the beginner stages of AI to more impactful use cases.”
Davies has been at the forefront of major technology shifts over the last two decades. At Microsoft, he led AI safety and quality for a content feed for more than one billion viewers. More recently, he worked with Google and Bastion Digital to train newsrooms across Australia and the Philippines in how to use AI. He is also the independent reviewer for the Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation.
“I’ve run multiple surveys to understand how businesses feel about AI and I hear three themes over and over: confusion over which tools to use, a desire for more training, and an equal measure of worry and excitement,” he said.
“A lack of training and clarity on AI creates a double-sided problem. On one hand, you have enthusiastic employees who are keen to get started, but do so on personal accounts, creating a ‘shadow AI’ problem that’s undocumented and risky. On the other, you have ‘AI avoiders’, underconfident employees who freeze up and avoid AI altogether. Both get in the way of a business’s journey to AI maturity.”
His experience with disinformation and content safety makes him “keenly aware of the harms that AI can cause” he adds, saying he’ll also focus on teaching the responsible use of AI through thoughtful design and rigorous testing.
“Beyond practical, industry-specific training, we also help with needs assessments, experimental pilot programs, policy development and more,” Davies said.
“Our goal is to give teams the confidence and competence to use AI effectively,” Davies says. “To ensure that, I’m working with a handpicked team of senior consultants who are leading experts in their fields, from marketing to AI video. It’s about providing clarity, building practical skills, and creating a safe, productive environment for AI innovation to flourish.”
More at aitrainingcompany.com.au
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