BeyondPrompt

Free · In person · Plain English

Pull up
a chair.

An unhurried introduction to AI for people who would rather understand it than be sold on it. Bring your questions. We'll take our time.

Ask about a session → Read on first

The idea

You may have tried one of these tools already. Maybe it gave you a wrong answer, or an odd one, and you closed the tab and thought, well, that settles that. Fair enough. A five-minute first impression rarely does anyone justice.

Most introductions to AI assume you're in a hurry. This one assumes you have questions. We sit down together, in person, and use the tools on things from your actual week: a letter you've been meaning to write, a form you've been avoiding, a recipe you want in larger print. Honest talk about what these tools do well, and where they fall flat on their face.

You leave knowing enough to decide for yourself. That's the whole ambition.

“No jargon. No sales pitch.
Nobody watching the clock.”

The centerpiece

Questions that come
to the table

“Is it listening to me through my phone?”

Asked over coffee

“Where do the answers actually come from?”

Asked twice, rightly

“Can I trust what it tells me?”

The big one

“What happens to the things I type into it?”

A very good question

“Is using it for my letters cheating?”

Worth a real answer

“Is it coming for my grandson's job?”

Asked quietly

Every one of these has actually come up. Every one gets a straight answer, and none of them is silly.

A session

What an afternoon
looks like

1

Coffee first

Then a plain-language look at what these tools actually are. Where they came from, how they work in ordinary terms, and why they sometimes sound so sure of themselves when they're wrong.

2

You drive

You try one yourself, on your own task. Not a canned demo. The letter, the meal plan, the thirty-page document you'd rather not read twice. It behaves differently when the task is real.

3

Judgment

The part most introductions skip: what to trust, what to double-check, what to keep private, and how to say no thank you to the parts you want no part of.

That's the whole session. No homework, unless you ask for some.

AI is a tool. Like the printing press or the family car, it will do good or harm depending on the hands that hold it. Learning to hold it well seems worth an afternoon.

How it started

With folding chairs and a projector

The first sessions ran free at Chris's church, for people he has known for years. Friends asked next. Small businesses will likely follow. Wherever it goes, the terms stay the same: free or close to it, in person whenever possible, and honest about the limits.

Who's across the table

Chris Howe

Chris has spent his career building software and works with these tools every day. Around here, he's mostly known as Julie's husband, which suits him fine. He would rather show you than impress you.

The kettle's on.

If a session like this would suit your group, your family, or your shop, write and say hello. There's no list to join and nothing to buy. Just ask.

Say hello →