Every week, I write a deep dive into some aspect of AI, startups, and teams. Tech exec data storyteller, former CEO @Textio.
Share
Murder, She Prompted
Published 5 months ago • 3 min read
Workplace drama, but make it murder
Fact: I have seen every episode of Murder, She Wrote at least five times. This includes the full-length direct-to-TV movies. If you do the math, this means I have spent 55 entire days of my life watching Angela Lansbury solve murders. I feel you judging me! But what can I say, I started out an old soul in a young person's body, and I have progressed to being an old soul in a middle-aged person's body.
Murder, She Prompted
ANYWAY! All this is to say that, for an entire year at Textio, four of us were on a Slack channel where we posted new AI-generated episodes of Murder, She Wrote featuring ourselves as characters.
I see you thinking, oh jeez, there were four of you like this? For real, in 2023? What can I say, Textio just hired people who were cool (for some value of cool).
At one point, we noticed that our coworker Adam kept getting murdered over and over again in these AI episodes, so we asked the system why Adam was always the murder victim. The answer came back:
"By consistently featuring Adam as the murder victim, it allows for exploration of different facets of his character and backstory in each episode."
Talk about a perfect illustration of AI in real use: This is a literal and reasoned answer that makes absolutely no sense. Like, is it episodic TV that AI doesn't understand, or is it murder? Turns out it's both, since some of the episodes didn't contain a murder at all.
That said, the AI did try to tailor its episodes to our particular backgrounds and interests. For instance, the plot summaries would often include characters saying things like this:
"I've been studying linguistics and its application in sales. Perhaps we could develop software that analyzes communication patterns within teams to improve collaboration and productivity!"
I gotta be honest, I don't think Hollywood is greenlighting this one any time soon. Showrunners, your jobs are safe for a while.
Eventually, we moved on from strictly text-based summaries and started generating episode posters featuring ourselves as characters. We made the images below last year, before the release of good off-the-shelf image generators. But we were delighted with the output anyway.
Why did the AI give some of us (only some of us) elf ears instead of human ones? Not clear! This styling choice was not related to any particular murdery plot point so much as a random act of whimsy on the part of the AI.
Some of us are randomly elves!
Why did the AI decide to show off my cleavage and place us inside a 1970s nightclub? Also unclear! It was in no way related to the plot of the episode, which took place at a corporate retreat.
Elves and murder, but make it disco
Why is there a random apple on the ground? Why is there is a cruise ship in the sky? Why is that guy passing out on the right side of the deck? Where is Jessica Fletcher, anyway? No one knows!
Is that guy sitting on the right ok? Does he need that apple?
If I've spent 55 days watching repeats of Murder, She Wrote, I've reinvested a sizable chunk of that generating AI MSW fan fiction with my coworkers. I've worked on many more impactful projects with my coworkers, but few as fun to do after hours.
Congratulations! You've reached the end of this piece. I know you're used to seeing this newsletter offer a takeaway about workplace AI use or management or communication, and next week, we'll get back to that. But technology isn't just about being efficient. It's also about connecting people together.
I'm the coworker that writes AI Murder, She Wrote fan fiction at night. I'm the coworker who uses AI to update your selfie to make you a Game of Thrones character. I'm the coworker who generates AI dance-pop anthems to celebrate end of quarter.
Sometimes, it is not about work. It is about making work more fun.
Kieran
I’m a former founder and CEO who helps ambitious leaders operate like one, whether or not they have the title. My coaching clients include startup CEOs, C-suite execs, and ambitious leaders inside large organizations, all leading with founder-level clarity, urgency, and ownership. Ask me about becoming a client!
📣 PSA: If you're a parent with teenagers, please take my anonymous survey on kids and entrepreneurship! 📣 Results coming soon to a nerd processor near you. Thank you and on to this week's nerd processor! Three Minutes of Fame Back when he worked at Microsoft, Jensen Harris (Textio's current CEO) used to do this thing with his monthly all-hands called Three Minutes of Fame. The idea was simple. Every month, he chose five people in his organization at random. A few days before the all-hands, he...
Welcome to the AI job fair A few weeks ago, I published new data showing that AI job posts vary significantly across different tech hubs. No one talks more about responsible AI than Seattle, while SF spikes highest on AI hype language. NYC is enterprise central. This week, I'm analyzing AI jobs through another lens. We're looking at how AI job posts have changed over the last year, and what that tells us about how businesses are evolving their approach to AI. AI transformation by any other...
Call me maybe Over the last 12 months, I've gotten 48 different job reference calls about 41 different people who once worked at Textio. I don't know if people are especially actively looking for jobs this year or what, but this is almost twice as many as I've received in any prior year. I love doing job calls for Extios. If someone spent a long time doing great work building my company, they have me in their corner forever. This year, I've found it striking that, among all the people I've...