I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!

Well, it's very shiny. And the heading includes "for everyone everywhere", which is nice. Right next to "Skills England", which is confusing, as there are other places than England. Anyway. Onward!

"we’re focusing on key skills for those in small and medium-sized enterprises, where AI adoption lags behind larger organisations". Does it? All of them? Well, I'm a Fractional CTO who specialises in SMEs, so this should be very useful for me then... Let's go! aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboos...

"Earn a Foundation AI Skills Boost badge!" I mean, what grown professional adult wouldn't be enticed by a badge, right? None of the courses on this page is less than 20 mins, but I can view a wider range of courses if I register. There's one which IS 20 mins though - Mastering Prompting!

aiskillshub.org.uk/course-catal... It's by Accenture for some reason, rather than something crazy like a university or something, but I'm sure it's fine. Let's find out! Oh, I have to sign up anyway. Bear with... <hold music>

Friendly note for whoever built the registration system - if my "Display Name" needs to be unique, it's not a display name, it's an identifier. Don't do that. Maybe there's a course you could take? Anyway. Onward!

Bugger me, there's another form for me to create a learning pathway - they want a skills assessment before they can tailor the material. I clicked on a course! I have 20 minutes! I want that one! Sigh. Select your learner persona... I can select all of them? Really? Ok then.

I'm going to say I'm a beginner anyway, because I'm more interested in what "everyone" will theoretically see, and... select my technology stack? Hmm. At least there's a "No Preference" - let's see how that goes. Oh good grief, it's offered me three pathways, each of which has multiple modules...

...by all kinds of different providers, many of which are fee payable. Some of this is just links to Coursera, or the OU. Some of it is from Nvidia. Where. Is. My. 20. Minute. Course?! ,Ok I'm logged in though, I'll just back-button my way to the original place and try again.

We're in! Or at least, there's an Enroll Now button for "Accenture - Mastering Prompting". National Training, eh? With a corporate spin! What's not to like. It's got 2 reviews already! One star. Ah. Well, let's see if I think it's better than that! After all...

...there's no way a minister would have gone on national TV and trumpeted a press release mentioning 20-minute courses if the only one was utter cobblers, is there? Is there? Oh dear. Enroll me, Accenture! Ooh, there are actually five courses here, but at least Mastering Prompting is one of them.

It has taken me to somewhere called Skills to Succeed Academy, though. And... I need to sign up for this, too. Yes, I definitely want to give my personal information to Accenture! Why not, right? That makes signing up to the main portal just now seem even more pointful! Yay!

And... you need an access code to sign up. Guess what those one-star reviews were for?! I guess our journey is at an end... Or is it?

No! Because! If I click a link to access their free training it... puts "ACCESS" in the code box? That's not what links are for. Or what security is. Oh well. Oh, and an opt-out communications preferences setting. Let's hope the ICO don't see that, eh?

We. Are. In! Although I'll be honest, I've lost the will to live, let alone Master Prompting. What's the prompt for "bring me a cup of tea and then feck off"? Probably in a later course. Oh well, I've started so I'll finish. It's time for the course!

Editorial Note: It has taken more than 20 minutes to get this far, including at least one point at which most people would have closed the laptop and gone outside. I'm not suggesting that government infects any IT it touches with incompetence, but I'm not NOT suggesting that either.

Ok, we're into the intro video, and we've been told that "you'll learn why crafting clear, precise prompts is essential to getting accurate, helpful results from Generative AI". Which strongly implies that accurate results are possible, and if they're not, that's your fault.

For an extra layer of fun, we're being told this by a generated avatar. I guess as a preview of the fact that "presenting" is one of the jobs you won't have in the future? Nice! Anyway, what's next... Well, more victim-blaming - sorry, importance of crafting prompts properly. Let's get started!

Sorry, that last bit was semi-shouted by the uncanny generated avatar at the end of the intro. Spooked me a bit there, apologies. Next video! Ooh, "prompt engineering". I don't know how real engineers feel about that? Not sure it matters, presumably they'll be replaced by Ai soon anyway.

Ooh, we've met Paloma - someone wanting a more stable job, doesn't know much about AI, and wants to know how to start! Don't worry about Paloma, though, she's fine. Well, AI-generated. Couldn't they find a real job seeker to help?

Oh no. She needs to update her CV. But she doesn't know what skills to add! So she asks ChatGPT, and... three very generic skills. But wait! She knows that! So she asks what skills she should add for working in customer service at a tech co. with limited experience! And...

...it gives her three much more relevant and useful skills for that. This is held up as an example of how being clear and specific gets better answers. Yay! Except... I can't help noticing...

Are we going to wonder if she actually has those skills? Because, with my employer hat on, receiving a CV full of relevant skills that a candidate doesn't have is, ummm... Less than great. Or, put another way, lying. Hallucinating? Nope, just lying. Don't do this! Oh well, back to the prompt mines.

Next bit is about learning new skills for a role transition. Actually, a bit better! Although questionable advice, but we'll overlook that for now. I can't help feeling that people needing training on "how to ask a question properly" is indicative of something broader going on here.

Being specific? Adding context? Including relevant information? Would you not do this all the time, whoever you are? Now, whether GenAI can actually be helpful to you isn't related, but aren't these just... things people do? The last section (please, please) is getting help with interview prep.

And again, yeah, ok, she asks for a breakdown, structure, tips to prepare, etc. And the output isn't too bad, except... None of it is her. I'm not interviewing her, I'm interviewing ChatGPT (which, incidentally, is prominent and branded throughout). If everyone gets the same "how to answer" tips...

...then everyone sounds the same. Which means interviews become meaningless, and we enter the next phase in the arms race of "how do I evaluate these people in a way they can't fuck about with using AI"? But sure. My weakness is that I'm a perfectionist, right? Next!

We need to talk about the tips, by the way. There's a few, but this one: "Write neutral prompts to avoid guiding the AI towards a biased response, such as, "Why is renewable energy the only way to save our planet?" Use open questions to receive information from different angles." Well.

The next section is, in a sense, not bad. Considerations, things to know! Such as: "Gen AI tools can sometimes produce "hallucinations" or incorrect information that appear factual. Always double-check the accuracy of content, especially for critical or sensitive topics." Yes! But. Always a but.

How? How do you double-check the accuracy, if you're not already an expert? Ask a different GenAI? Or do you, you know... Have to go and do the research you would have done anyway, pre-AI? Because I'm buggered if I can think of how you do that in a way where the GenAI saved you time.

The next tips are pretty much marketing - stay informed! Keep up to date with the latest things! Sure, thanks, ChatGPT. Protect Privacy! I've given my personal data to two random organisations just to take this course,e and that's your take? Ship? Sailed. Horse? Bolted. Training? Pointless. Ahem.

All is not lost, though. There's a Quiz! It... was not hard.

The course concludes by... prompting* me to sign up for a ChatGPT account. I hope Accenture got paid by ChatGPT, and the govt. got paid by Accenture, and... nobody's paying me are they? No. *see what I did there? I got ChatGPT to write that**. ** nope.

We're done! There's a "celebration time" video, where a woman in denim dungarees refers to me as a "future rockstar". Obviously, she's AI-generated, but the sense of accomplishment is... well, that's also AI-generated. Thanks, Accenture! There's a summary PDF. I'll get ChatGPT to summarise it.

Ok, I'm going to have to write something less sarcastic about this, but this is... not wonderful. More importantly, in the longer term, this isn't going to help anyone. This is volume over quality, rapid-slop. This is Thorium Toothpaste - let's use this for everything before we understand it.

This government clearly don't really understand the complexity or the danger of the situation. They show no sign of beginning to understand, and every sign of asking the monorail salesman how public transport should work. It's going to be an uphill struggle, but don't leave this to politicians.