Transcript: PODCAST SERIES: Tech Talk with TrackFly
S6, Ep 4: Tech Talk with TrackFly
2024, Marvin S. Cash
The Articulate Fly
http://www.thearticulatefly.com
Transcript
Marvin:
[0:04] Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly, and we're here with the first episode of Tech Talk with TrackFly, with TrackFly CEO, Stephen Baird. Stephen, how are you?
Stephen:
[0:14] Marvin, I'm doing great. And as always, I'm super excited to be here with you today.
Marvin:
[0:19] Well, I appreciate you taking a little bit of time away from packing for your whirlwind tour, where you will spend more days probably on the road in the next six weeks than you will at home. But, folks, Stephen and I put our heads together late last year and thought it would be helpful.
We've gotten a really positive response to the shows that we've done to create a short series like I've done with lots of other folks where the focus of this one is going to be to discuss tech topics that apply to anglers, reps, retailers, and manufacturers.
And so that's, you know, we're going to kind of have multiple topics.
It's going to be a short series just like we've done, you know, with Mack Brown and other folks. But, you know, to kind of jump things off, I kind of had something, you know, everybody's getting ready for 2024 and everyone wants to talk about AI.
And one of the things that has been driving me nuts here at the end of the year is people are a little sloppy with the definition.
So I thought Stephen could kick us off and kind of break down the three flavors of AI ice cream for us.
Stephen:
[1:13] Yeah, absolutely, Marvin. You know, it's exciting. I'm really looking forward to this series of conversations where we're digging into technology.
You know, with TrachFly, we obviously we're a technology company and we've been working with a lot of these brands and reps and retailers, obviously, in fly fishing.
And every time we get together, Marvin, I know we have wonderful technology talks.
And I'm just excited to be able to bring this information to everybody as they're navigating all the different tools out there.
And 100% AI is tip of the tongue for most businesses right now.
Now, anyone that is trying to navigate a social media or influencer presence to your online storefronts, to your ERP systems, and you're different, obviously, with TrackFly, getting data points and market intelligence reports, all of that is becoming really relevant in the world of artificial intelligence.
And so to kind of break down the different definitions, obviously, you've got what we we call the machine learning or deep learning vein of artificial intelligence that has actually been around for a long time and is when you really start to look at.
[2:25] Um, really just kind of your core algorithms, uh, especially when you get into the cyclical algorithms that are feeding into each other's and into each other and are allowing you to process data a lot faster.
Uh, machine learning is something that we use heavily at TrackFly and we'll continue to build on to, uh, including in getting into the deep learning realm, whereas you've got, um.
[2:48] Uh, really just kind of your, your neural networks of information that is, is, again, feeding into a way to process information a lot faster.
So that's an area of artificial intelligence that maybe isn't talked about as broad as it is as other topics today, which is really getting into the generative AI.
And that's really a really hot topic because that's what we're seeing on the commercials on TV.
[3:13] Get old Matthew McConaughey with his Salesforce, his deep, beautiful voice showing this generative AI on the television.
When you're looking at photo generation, content generation, that GPT, all these different platforms that everyone's looking at right now that is actually using cognitive functions to create content out of an information database.
And really, when data is starting to synchronize to this generative AI technology, that's where you want to be cautious in knowing what data you're giving to that generative AI database basically because that's what's feeding these different programs and applications to be able to grow and create content virtually from nothing.
Marvin:
[3:58] Yeah. And to just sort of back up sort of the machine learning and deep learning, I was just trying to think of some examples to kind of help people.
I guess some of it would be, I guess, you know, how maybe your iPhone is a little bit smarter than you think it is.
So maybe it's, you know, if you've got, I think iOS 17, you see an an autocomplete function now in emails and in text that's pretty similar, I think, what's been in Google Docs for a while, right?
Stephen:
[4:22] That's exactly right. I think the prompting text in your iMessage, G Suite or Gmail actually has been doing this for a long time when it's predicting the next words that you want to put in your sentence.
And actually, very interesting, I don't know if anyone out there has done this.
I know I've done this occasionally.
You can actually click on that and give suggestions to Gmail that says, was this predictive text correct? Could it be better? Could you improve it?
And any time you're giving that feedback into the machine learning type capabilities or that deep learning, it's feeding into that cyclical algorithm that has now made that algorithm smarter.
Farther so the next time it goes to process that predictive text, it has that foundation to give you a better result.
Marvin:
[5:12] Yeah, it's interesting too. I would say in the podcast world, you know, one tool that I use a lot is a graphics tool called Canva.
And they've just built in, you know, new generative AI tools.
But one of the things that I use it for a lot is by putting out a podcast, I need an image in multiple formats.
And, you know, that machine learning is generally probably probably 95% of the time, pretty good at giving me well-cropped images.
Stephen:
[5:37] Yeah, that's exactly right. And really, it's a foundation of information that's been there for a long enough time or has a wide enough, what we like to call a training set, a training set that allows that system to reference past behaviors or past data points to make that recommendation.
Marvin:
[5:57] Yeah. And then I guess to kind of, you know, jump to the generative AI stuff, you know, what we're really talking about is, I guess, what the cool kids call a prompt, right? That then generates an output.
Stephen:
[6:08] Yeah, that's exactly right. It's what's got, you know, teachers on their heels because students now can go and say, hey, this was the prompt my teacher gave me for my social studies essay.
And, you know, your chat GPT or your other system can take that prompt and look across different data sources, whether it's any information across the Internet or the World Wide Web, you know, as us older guys like to call it, the Internets.
Marvin:
[6:37] It starts to look across information sources to be able to piece things together and to actually create content from its own cognitive abilities yeah it's pretty neat i've been kind of playing with the generative ai stuff i love the deep learning stuff because that i think you know when we did the full-blown interview was something we talked about where i love things that basically watch how i already do things and then just do them for me Right.
Stephen:
[7:04] Right.
Marvin:
[7:32] To-do list to become more friendly with it. And folks, as I always say, we love questions at The Articulate Fly.
You can email me or DM me on social media, whatever's easiest for you.
And if we use your question on the show, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag.
And Stephen and I, we're lucky to have some really great industry partners.
And it wouldn't surprise me if coming down the road, we were able to talk about some great drawings and giveaways related to people that send us questions.
What do you think, Stephen?
Stephen:
[8:02] You know, I think you're absolutely right, Marvin. And I'm excited to be a part of this as well.
You know, as we've had the discussions we've had on the articulate flight, a lot of great questions have already come in.
But it's become just very apparent that, you know, if you're planning for 2024 and beyond, if you're looking to implement technology, there's a lot of interest out there into making sure that you understand it.
So yes, send us your questions, continue to send them, come find us at the upcoming shows.
And as we're getting more involved, we're going to be able to give away some awesome stuff through our partners and really just from ourselves as well because it's your questions that keep this content and these conversations going.
Marvin:
[8:43] Yeah, and you know, another thing too, folks, if you're a rep, you know, Steven and I have partnered together.
I'm going to be in Denver. I'm also going to be in Edison at the Fly Fishing Show, but we've got two days where we've set aside 30-minute sessions that are free of charge charge for reps to basically sit down, you know, if you're in the middle of working on your 2024 goals, to talk to us because, you know, we do consulting at the Articulate Fly.
You know, TrackFly is a great product. They're, you know, rolling out a module to help reps be better reps.
And so if you want to sit down with us in Denver and kind of talk about, you know, your goals for 2024 and tools and tactics to help you get there, I'm going to drop a link in the show notes and you can sign up.
Those are going to be on Friday and Sunday at the Fly Fishing Show in Denver.
Just sign up. And if you're one of the first 10 people that sign up, you may get an invitation to a happy hour on that Friday.
And Stephen, before I let you go to finish packing and hopefully not get stuck in a snowstorm on your way to the airport, where can folks find TrackFly on the show circuit this season?
Stephen:
[9:48] Yeah, we're excited not to just be doing these sessions with you, Marvin, and the Articulate Fly, but we're making our way around to as many of the shows as possible.
Specifically, myself, I'll be at the Denver show, as Marvin talked about, doing these wonderful sessions. We'll be also in Edison.
We'll have some members from our TrackFly team at the Atlanta show, and then I'll also be at the Bellevue show up near Seattle this year as well.
And obviously, we're really excited to be supporting the industry and bringing advanced technology to be able to support each of you.
To navigate your relationships between brands, reps, retailers, and make sure that as we navigate what's, you know, as the supply chain changes, as demand consumer behaviors change over the next couple of seasons, we want to be there to support you guys and give you the tools and technologies to do so. So please come find us.
We love questions, as we've already talked about. Ask us any questions you have, and we'd love to get everybody involved to be better connected together to optimize our industry as a whole.
Marvin:
[10:51] Yeah, there you go. And, you know, if I remember correctly, you are not going to have a booth at any of these shows, but you're going to be hanging out with the folks at AFTA, right?
Stephen:
[10:58] Absolutely. I mean, you know this, and anyone that's been following TrackFly knows that we are very tight partners with our good friends at AFTA.
They've been very supportive and also just excited about bringing the industry together in this way to be able to access the type of insights that TrackFly has.
And so we are going to be there with our friends at AFTA at their booth at these upcoming shows, again come find us talk about we'll be able to answer any questions or talk more about the partnership between AFTA and TrackFly some of the exciting things coming up there with enhanced reports new industry reports new sessions peer-to-peer discussions all these types of great things to look forward to for come after the year 2024 yeah and before I let you hop you You want to let folks know social media handles and all that kind of good stuff?
Absolutely. You can always find us at TrackFlyFish on Instagram or TrackFlyInc on Facebook and TrackFly on LinkedIn as well. And always reach out with any questions.
You can find us at info at TrackFly.com.
Marvin:
[12:02] Yeah, well, there you go. Well, listen, I want to wish everyone a happy 2024, and I will see you guys on the show circuit.
Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines, Stephen.
Stephen:
[12:12] You too, Marvin. Thanks again.