Some good news for once

For once, I’ve decided to write an email that doesn’t include Donald Trump. It does include AI, though. Sorry, Mum.

The other day, I was listening to a BBC Radio 5 Live phone-in about teenagers and their future, and it got me thinking about something that’s been bothering me for a while.

You’ll have heard me bang on about the 10-80-10 rule. You do the first 10%: decide what you’re trying to achieve and give AI some decent direction. AI does the middle 80%. Then you do the final 10%: check it, question it and take responsibility for the result.

That last bit requires judgement... ideally, expert judgement. But expert judgement comes from experience. Which presents a fairly obvious problem for someone who hasn’t had the chance to get any yet.

Ah, yes. NEETS.

If AI starts doing the work we traditionally give people at the beginning of their careers, how do teenagers get their first foot on the ladder?

Anyway, as I was listening, I decided to have another go at building an app. Of course I did... I'm an entrepreneur with ADHD. Obvs!

Now the last time I tried this was about three and a half or four years ago. It took ages. It was bl**dy difficult. Even with AI helping.

This time?

I built version one in a day! It’s called The Teenage Tutor, and I’ve now got it on my iPhone and have been testing it.

It’s a practical life-skills app for teenagers, with short lessons and activities around things like money, relationships, cooking, entrepreneurship and using AI. The wider plan covers everything from gaming and hobbies to wellbeing, languages and travel.

Things they’re actually interested in. Things they’ll actually need in life. Things they might quite reasonably prefer to explore without a parent turning it into a 40-minute conversation in the car!

And this is what gets me sooooo excited about AI. An idea prompted by something on the radio can become a working first version that people can try.... in one day!

So I’m looking for 15 teenagers who have an iPhone and would like to try the app and give me some honest feedback.

I appreciate that asking teenagers to tell an adult what he’s got wrong may not be the hardest sell of my career… but if you have a teenager who’d like to take part, reply to this email and I’ll send you the testing link and instructions.

The pilot is free, and my aim is to keep the app free for teenagers as it grows. I want it to help them build confidence, navigate life and develop the judgement they’ll need in a world full of AI, and I want the teenagers using it to help shape what it becomes. Actually, they can put it on their CV and help them get on that ladder after all.

Anyway… some good news for once, but I'm sure Big Don will be back next week...