In our office hours call last week, @Trisha Kirby asked about a project she is working on. I suggested doing a side by side test to see which outcome she liked better. I challenged @Chris Derboven to "play" with AI video and her cats. (See her post below, it is so good) Here is an example that I did today. Same prompt. 2 different tools. "Create a kids YouTube animated short Guess the Animal! Show 3 clues quickly: “I’m black and white. I eat bamboo. I can climb trees.” Then reveal: “PANDA!” Bonus: add a funny panda clip or animation." Which one do you like better? Two very important lessons..... 1. Always play. Never stop learning by playing. 2. Not all tools are created equal and you may like one and someone else may like another. Both are ok!

When Lindsay suggested I create a video podcast with my two cats, I loved the idea — but I made a little deal with myself: If I was going to spend all that time creating two talking cats, it also had to count towards some of my homework for the animal behaviour course I’m taking. So I turned the assignment upside down. Instead of humans studying animal behaviour, my two cats decided to start studying human behaviour. The result is a 4-minute mini video podcast called “The Animal Is Always Right” - humorous and slightly absurd, but built around real ideas from what I’m learning about understanding and working with behaviour. And somewhere between creating the cats, writing their conversation and trying to make the educational part actually work, this stopped feeling like “AI practice” and became a really fun way to translate something I’m learning in one world into something creative in another. My favourite part is probably the reversal: What would our animals conclude if they were the ones studying us? And the thought I wanted to leave at the end: They studied us. Now it’s our turn to understand them. Because understanding behaviour makes life better - for animals and the people who love them. So Lindsay… you asked for two cats doing a video podcast. I may have taken the assignment a little too seriously. 😂🐾 Here it is - I’d love to know what you think.

Quick history lesson, because I think it'll change how you use AI this week. 1956: a room full of researchers coins the term "artificial intelligence." 1997: a computer beats the world chess champion. 2012: AI learns to actually see images. 2022: ChatGPT is introduced 2026: it's in your inbox, your calendar, your content, and your kid's homework. Seventy years of breakthroughs. And the lesson hasn't changed once: the tools keep getting better, and the person using them still has to know what they want. That's you. AI doesn't fix a blurry identity. It broadcasts it. If you don't know who you are, who you're talking to, and where you're going, AI just helps you be unclear faster and at scale. Confession time: I made this image with ChatGPT. It's gorgeous. It also has mistakes on it. DALL-E didn't exist in 2018, and there are a couple of typos hiding in there. Go find them. That's the whole point. AI is the brush. You're still the artist, and you're definitely still the editor. Your turn: When did AI first click for you? Drop the year and the moment below. I want to see where everyone started.

This is a fun trend. What is your personality mascot. Use this prompt, upload a photo of you. Share yours below 👇🏻 Give my personality a mascot using what you know about me and the uploaded photo for my appearance, invent a funny cartoon mascot that represents my personality. Feature a glamorous cartoon version of me posing beside the mascot as if we are an iconic duo. The mascot can be an animal, creature, object, or completely imaginary character. Give it one small accessory or detail that connects it to me. Add its name and one short tagline explaining its energy. Keep everything else minimal. White background, clean composition, polished colorful cartoon artwork. Do not ask me what the mascot should be. You decide.

Here is the full recording of our June 24 build, plus everything you need to use your tool and keep going. We built personalized carousel makers, in our own brands, in under 60 minutes. @Molly Dowdy even posted hers to Facebook before we finished. That is how fast this is. Watch the replay, then use the quick reference below so you do not have to scrub back through the video to remember a step. In this lesson - The full workshop recording. - Your tool file, attached. Download it, open it in your browser, never in an AI. - Your How To Use It guide, the SOP, attached. The key things to remember These are the moments people forget. Bookmark this lesson so you can come back to them. + Use Duplicate, not Add. This is the speed secret. Duplicate carries every setting forward, your colors, layout, and toggles, so you only change the words. Add gives you a blank slide and makes you start over. Duplicate almost every time. + Set your brand, then keep your tool the right way. Set up your brand once. The tool now remembers it when you reopen the same file. For a permanent copy that opens in your brand on any browser, click Download my tool, open that downloaded file, and bookmark that one. That is your real studio. + Download the moment you love a design. Your slides are not saved until you export. If you refresh or close before exporting, unsaved edits are gone. When a slide looks right, Export PNGs and save it. Aim for 5 to 7 slides. That is the sweet spot for Instagram carousels. Long enough to teach, short enough to hold attention. + Logo tip. A transparent PNG looks cleanest. But if your transparent logo looks odd, upload the regular version and let the tool place it in a box. Sometimes the box looks better. Use whichever fits your logo. Fewer than 4 brand colors? Fill the empty slots with black or white. They go with everything and keep your slides clean. Repurpose every carousel across platforms One build, many posts. Use your exported PNGs for: