Welcome to the Out of The Box Series — where I test how far curiosity and AI can take you in 30, 60, or 90 minutes using today’s best no-code and low-code tools. No studio. No production team. No advance training. Just exploration to see what we can do — right out of the box. 🎧 Finished Song*: I Got Your Six Little Girl 🎬 This Episode: Suno.com – AI Song Creation 🕒 Time Limit: 90 Minutes 📂 Category: AI Music & Personal Creativity 🎶 What Is Suno? Suno is an AI music generation tool that can create songs from prompts, lyrics, and style direction. In this case, Suno did the musical composition. I uploaded my original lyrics. 🎧 Finished Song*: I Got Your Six Little Girl Because rights and ownership matter, I started with lyrics I had written myself and kept the words original. With Suno Pro, you can publish what you create, so I wanted to be thoughtful about what I uploaded and refined. 📝 Backstory In February 2020, I wrote a poem for my daughter called I Got Your Six Little Girl. It was written from the perspective of a father looking back on all the firsts: - first heartbeat - first breath - first steps - first bike ride and moments in between The poem was already written. But I cannot sing. I cannot play instruments very well. I was never in the band. So I wanted to see if I could use AI to help turn the poem into a song to give her as a graduation present. ⏳ What I Built in 90 Minutes: Within one focused session, I: 🎼 Uploaded my original lyrics into Suno 📝 Converted the poem format into a song lyric format 🎚️ Used Suno’s interface presets to guide the style 🔁 Generated multiple versions 🎧 Listened for tempo, transitions, hooks, and continuity 🎵 Created a strong working version of the song 🎧 Finished Song*: I Got Your Six Little Girl The prompt was less of a traditional instruction and more of a music style descriptor.

We just crossed 600 members in AI Bits & Pieces. Consistent growth from day one, fueled by people trying to understand what AI actually means for their work and day-to-day life—and how it can help them stand out in the workforce, business environment, or executive ranks. That’s been the goal from the start. A place for: 🔵 AI Curious — figuring out what this all is 🟢 AI Enthusiasts — using it regularly 🟠 AI Practitioners — applying it to real work 🟣 Enterprise — thinking about scale across teams What’s been interesting isn’t just the number—it’s the mix of people and the conversations starting to take shape. Members are building small things. Members are asking in-depth questions. And members are starting to connect the dots between tools and outcomes. A special shoutout to each and every member, and the people who have supported me from the beginning: @Michele Wacht @Dena Dion @Debra Schmitt @Patti Hoekstra @Mark Zayec @Matthew Sutherland @Jason Hagen @Usman Mohammed @Nick Mohler @Eduard Friesen We have some exciting updates and new offerings for the community designed to help you win the AI game in life, at work, as a business owner, or as an agency. A heartfelt thank you. Michael

I had a conversation with a friend recently that stuck with me. “I asked ChatGPT how to keep a conversation going.” 💬 What? Why? “Small talk,” they said. They’re the kind of person who shows up, listens, and pays attention. But when there’s an opening to jump into a conversation, they don’t always take it. Not because they don’t have anything to say. More because they’re not always sure where to go next. So they tried something different. 🌱 A few years ago, that probably would have sounded unusual. Now it doesn’t. What stood out wasn’t the question itself. It was what it replaced. This is the kind of thing people used to: - Ask a friend about - Talk through with a mentor - Work out over time through trial and error Now they’re opening a phone or a laptop and starting there instead. 🔄 We talked through a simple example. Someone says: “I went golfing yesterday.” ⛳ Most people go here: - “What did you shoot?” Which is fine. But it often ends quickly. Instead, ChatGPT suggested shifting the direction: - “How did you get into golf?” - “Do you play regularly?” - “What do you enjoy most about it?” Same moment. More momentum. 🏌️‍♂️ They told me the difference wasn’t dramatic. They didn’t suddenly become outgoing. They just didn’t get stuck. They stayed in conversations a little longer. Asked a few better questions. Moved past that pause where things usually stop. And that points to something bigger. 💡 People are using AI for the kinds of personal conversations. Not to replace human input. To prepare for it. They’re using it to: - Think through problems logically - Remove emotion before responding - Practice conversations before they happen - Get quick advice It is not for final answers. It is to gain clarity - and confidence. And that’s the shift. 🎯 AI isn’t just helping people produce. It’s helping them process. ✨ That's AI in Real Life.

I read an article titled “how much do students at Yale actually use AI for school work? There was a study done using Fizz, an anonymous polling app. So, the question was presented and thousands of students responded and the results were remarkable to anyone who has preconceived ideas about the way Yale students learn. 75% reported using ChatGPT. More than 1/3 admitted using it to write essays. 25%reported using it to complete half their academic work. Later they polled an additional 400 students about whether they knew about Yale’s official artificial intelligence guidelines, which can be found on the website of the university’s Porvoo Center for Teaching and Learning. Eighty-eight percent were unaware of them. In the process of researching the story, they found more Fizz polls other students had conducted. In one of them, more than 3,000 students, or nearly half the undergraduates at Yale, responded. Eighty-four percent reported using ChatGPT, an even higher percentage than my earlier polls suggested. I use ChatGPT to edit my stories for my book, so I found this article interesting and wanted to share it.

We’re planning upcoming live sessions and want to make sure it’s focused on what you want most. - What topic would you like us to cover? - Drop real use cases — we may build around them. 👉 We’ll run sessions on the top 2 choices first.