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BOOT SEQUENCE: INITIALIZING AI_101 · SYS.READY
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— A 60-MIN HANDS-ON SESSION —

AI 101

From Understanding to Action

◦ DESTERY HILDENBRAND ◦ LEARNING TECHNOLOGY & AI 2026
01 / 31
MU/TH/UR 6000 · ONLINE CREW MANIFEST · ACCESS LVL 3
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══════════════════════════════════════════════ MU/TH/UR> QUERY CREW_MANIFEST --ID HILDENBRAND_D ────────────────────────────────────────────── NAME........ DESTERY HILDENBRAND DIVISION.... ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE ROLE........ INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER SPECIALTY... LEARNING TECHNOLOGY & AI INTEGRATION EXP.........: 20 YRS ACTIVE SERVICE STATUS...... CLEARED · MISSION-READY ────────────────────────────────────────────── MU/TH/UR> QUERY CURRENT_MISSION OBJ......... AI 101 — FROM UNDERSTANDING TO ACTION DURATION.... 60 MIN · HANDS-ON SESSION CLEARANCE... ALL CREW AUTHORIZED ══════════════════════════════════════════════ MU/TH/UR>
02 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE ENCOM OS-12 · GRID ONLINE · TRON (1982)
02 / // MISSION BRIEF
You already have an idea of what AI is.
Today is about what to do with it
on a Tuesday at 10am.
MISSION.SH
$ ai --mode practical --audience credit-union
✓ Session initialized. 60 minutes. No fluff.
Focus: real tasks. Real workflows. Real results.
03 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE DEEP THOUGHT · PROCESSING · HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE (1978)
04 / // ROOM CHECK
Who here is already using AI
somewhere in their life — right now?
💬
Chat / Assistants
Siri, Alexa, ChatGPT
🎵
Music / Streaming
Spotify, Netflix recs
✉️
Email / Writing
Copilot, Grammarly
🗺️
Maps / Navigation
Google Maps, Waze
🛒
Shopping Recs
Amazon, Target
📸
Photos / Search
Google Photos, Lens
🏦
Banking / Finance
Fraud alerts, chatbots
⚕️
Health / Fitness
Apple Watch, MyFitnessPal

↳ You're already using it. Today we just make it intentional.

04 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE WATSON ASSIST MODULE · IBM · JEOPARDY! 2011
03 / // EXPECTED OUTPUTS

What you'll leave with

01

Apply it

Use AI on one real task from your role

02

Prompt it

Get clearer, more useful output on demand

03

Spot it

Find where AI saves time without replacing judgment

04

Connect it

Tie AI use to a measurable workflow win

05 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
04 / // FLIGHT PLAN

The 60-minute run

00:00 System boot What AI is, what it isn't, and where trust goes
00:12 Practical applications Emails, notes, meetings, job aids — the boring-useful stuff
00:28 Prompting strategy Role, audience, constraints. Small tweaks, big lift.
00:44 Your one task Pick one thing to try back at your desk
00:58 Questions Everything you were afraid to ask
06 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE JOHNNY 5 IS ALIVE · INPUT REQUIRED · SHORT CIRCUIT (1986)
§ 01 — SECTION

System Boot

Clearing up what this thing actually is before we use it.

07 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SKYNET RESEARCH DIV · PRE-JUDGMENT DAY · T2 (1991)
06 / // DEFINITION
AI is a very fast, very confident
assistant that has read a lot — and
still gets things wrong.

It's a tool. A good one. Not a wizard, not a search engine, not your coworker.

08 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
08 / // THE BLACK BOX

It's not a filing cabinet.
It's a prediction engine.

// THE ANALOGY

You hear the first line of a song you know.

"I can't get no..."

Your brain predicts the next word instantly — not because you looked it up, but because you've heard the pattern thousands of times.

That's exactly what AI does. Pattern → prediction. Every single time.

// WHAT THIS MEANS

▸Input goes in. A prediction comes out. That's it.

▸No folder. No memory. No storage between sessions.

▸Confidently wrong is possible — just like singing the wrong lyric with full conviction.

▸Your data is not saved to train the model. The session ends. It forgets you.

09 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE WOPR ONLINE · GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR ANALYSIS · WARGAMES (1983)
09 / // AI TOOLS LANDSCAPE

Know your tools

GS PREFERRED
Microsoft Copilot
Embedded directly in Microsoft 365 — Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel.
✓ Drafts emails in Outlook
✓ Summarizes Teams meetings
✓ Rewrites docs in Word
✓ Works inside tools you already use
★ Data stays within your M365 tenant
STANDALONE CHAT
Claude · ChatGPT · Gemini
Browser-based tools you access directly. Good for drafting, brainstorming, and learning.
✓ No Microsoft required
✓ Fast for one-off tasks
! Check your org's data policy
! Free tiers have limits
SPECIALIZED TOOLS
Built for one job
AI baked into specific tools — Grammarly, Canva, Notion, transcription tools, etc.
✓ Purpose-built, easy to use
✓ Often already in your stack
! May not be approved yet
! Verify before using for work

↳ Same prompting principles apply to all of them. Learn one, apply everywhere.

10 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE HAL 9000 DIAGNOSTIC · ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL · 2001 (1968)
10 / // CLASSIFICATION

It is / it is not

▸ IS
A drafting partner
A summarizer
A brainstorm buddy
A pattern-spotter
▸ IS NOT
A final author
A record-keeper
A decision-maker
A fact-checker
11 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE COLOSSUS MONITORING ACTIVE · THE FORBIN PROJECT (1970)
11 / // TRUST CALIBRATION

The trust dial

Drafting a member newsletter? Crank it up. Responding to a fraud dispute or loan denial? Keep your hands on the wheel.

Your judgment is not optional.
It's the whole job.

12 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE ENCOM SYSTEM v12 · USER RECOGNIZED · TRON (1982)
§ 02 — SECTION

Practical Applications

The boring, useful stuff that saves you an hour a week.

13 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
12 / // USE CASE MATRIX

Where it actually helps

✉
Emails
Drafts, revisions, tone adjustments
≡
Summaries
Long docs, meetings, recordings
☑
Job aids
Checklists, FAQs, quick-references
◷
Agendas
Meeting prep and follow-ups
⌕
Patterns
Recurring requests, bottlenecks
✎
Policies
Drafts, plain-language rewrites
14 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
13 / // DEMO · EMAIL TRIAGE

The clunky email, rewritten

✕ BEFORE

"Per our previous correspondence and in accordance with Regulation E dispute resolution procedures, I am reaching out to touch base regarding the aforementioned transaction dispute which was submitted and is currently under review pending further investigation..."

→
✓ AFTER

"Hi — we received your dispute for the $47.00 charge on May 3rd. We're investigating and will follow up within 10 business days. Questions? Call us at 800-555-0100."

15 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
14 / // DO THIS NOW — ACTIVITY

Rewrite an email

PROMPT.TXT // COPY + PASTE INTO YOUR AI TOOL
> Rewrite the following message for clarity and professionalism.
The audience is credit union members.
The tone should be clear, warm, and member-focused.
The final output should be no more than 150 words.
[ PASTE YOUR EMAIL HERE ]
TIP: Grab a real one from your inbox. The boring the better.
16 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
15 / // DATA · TRANSFORM

Messy notes → usable job aid

→ MEMBER ONBOARDING CHECKLIST
  • ☐ Verify two forms of photo ID
  • ☐ Inform member: 5-day hold on new accounts
  • ☐ Business accounts: escalate to branch manager
  • ☐ Get wet signature on beneficiary form
  • ☐ Scan to imaging (do not email)
17 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
16 / // MEETING OPS

Meeting prep, faster

▸ BEFORE
Agendas
Turn a topic dump into a timed agenda with owners and desired outcomes.
▸ DURING
Live summaries
Feed in notes partway through to check what you've missed or glossed over.
▸ AFTER
Follow-ups
Turn raw notes into a clean recap with decisions, actions, and open questions.
18 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE JOHNNY 5 IS ALIVE · MORE INPUT · SHORT CIRCUIT (1986)
17 / // PATTERN RECOGNITION
If you answer the same question
every Monday, that's a pattern.

Paste a month of your recurring requests in and ask what's repeating. The answer is almost always a one-pager you should've written a year ago.

19 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE VIRTUCON AI RESEARCH · DR. EVIL PRESIDING · AUSTIN POWERS (1997)
§ 03 — SECTION

Prompting Strategy

Small tweaks. Much better output. Every time.

20 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SHODAN UPLINK ACTIVE · SYSTEM SHOCK (1994)
17 / // STRUCTURE

Anatomy of a good prompt

Act as [ROLE].  The audience is [WHO].
Do this task: [WHAT].  Constraints: [LENGTH, TONE, FORMAT].
Input: [CONTENT].
21 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
20 / // THE BIG THREE

Role. Audience. Constraints.

ROLE
"Act as a Member
Services rep..."
Sets the voice and what expertise to draw on.
AUDIENCE
"...writing to a first-time auto loan applicant..."
Controls tone, vocabulary, and what to assume.
CONSTRAINTS
"...in under 120 words, as a numbered checklist."
Locks format, length, and edge cases.
22 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
21 / // SIGNAL QUALITY

Before / after

● ● ●   LOW-SIGNAL
> write an email about the new rates
↳ output: generic, wrong tone, wrong length
● ● ●   HIGH-SIGNAL
> Act as a Member Services rep at a credit union. Write a 100-word email to existing members announcing updated CD rates. Warm, plain language, with one clear call to action to visit the branch or call in.
↳ output: useful. Usually on the first try.
23 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
22 / // DO THIS NOW — ACTIVITY

Give it a role

PROMPT.TXT // COPY + PASTE INTO YOUR AI TOOL
> Act as a Member Services representative at a credit union.
Create a short checklist for responding to common
member questions about account access and online banking,
using plain, professional language. Aim for 5–7 items.
TIP: Then re-run it WITHOUT the role. Compare. That's the whole lesson.
24 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS MODEL 101 · FULLY OPERATIONAL · T1 (1984)
§ 04 — SECTION

From Experiment
to Workflow

One task. One win. Take it home.

25 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
24 / // TARGET ACQUISITION
What do you do every week
that you didn't have to?

That's your candidate. Repeatable + low-stakes + annoying = ideal first pilot.

26 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
25 / // METRIC DEFINITION

Measuring an efficiency gain

TaskThe recurring thing you actually do
AI roleWhere the assistant fits (draft? summarize? review?)
Effort beforeRough time per instance
Effort afterWhat AI knocks off the top
Efficiency gainMinutes saved × frequency = your number
27 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
26 / // DO THIS NOW — ACTIVITY

Your one task

PROMPT.TXT // COPY + PASTE INTO YOUR AI TOOL
> Given this recurring task I do every week at my credit union:
[ DESCRIBE — e.g. answering member loan status questions,
writing branch update emails, preparing meeting recaps ]
Suggest one way AI could support it. Identify:
— the task
— the AI role
— a potential efficiency gain (in minutes/week)
TIP: Write it down. That's the thing you're going to revisit next week.
28 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SHODAN SECURITY PROTOCOL · LOOK AT YOU HACKER · SYSTEM SHOCK (1994)
25 / // GUARDRAILS · SECURITY

What not to paste

✕ DO NOT UPLOAD
  • Member account numbers or SSNs
  • Loan applications or credit history
  • Staff HR info or performance notes
  • Anything subject to BSA, NCUA, or GLBA rules
↳ WHEN IN DOUBT

Redact names, scrub identifiers, or describe the situation instead of pasting the document.

The AI doesn't need real names to draft a real email.

29 / 31
STATUS: ONLINE SYS.AI_101 · V2026
29 / // NEXT ACTION
Pick one task.
Try it this week.

Not five tasks. Not a whole transformation. One thing. Report back at the next team meeting.

30 / 31
◦ INPUT MODE: ENABLED AI_101 · SYS.READY
Destery Hildenbrand

Questions?

↳ DESTERY HILDENBRAND

— THANK YOU —

31 / 31
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