You, Me And AI: The Uses And Abuses Of Artificial Intelligence

A Community First Yorkshire event

You, Me and AI: the uses and abuses of Artificial Intelligence

AI presents both opportunities and threats for our sector.

Wouldn’t you like to spend less time writing reports and funding bids—and more time being people-focused where it matters?

This live, interactive training introduces the basics of text-based and image-creation AI tools. It demonstrates freely available (and free!) online resources, showing how they can be applied in practice, while highlighting the importance of using them carefully to ensure AI works for you—not the other way round.

The session will also cover the risks of working with AI, from unintentional misuse through to deliberate scams that could affect your organisation. Recommendations for policy and practice will be provided, with time for questions and answers at the end.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with practical training on cutting-edge technology.

What will you learn?

By the end of the session, you will understand:

Basic, free, text-based AI tools (with some consideration of other AI applications)
How to use AI to enhance your writing for different audiences and purposes, including funding bids, case studies, and reports
The risks of relying on AI to complete written tasks without careful checking
Why policy should include consideration of AI, and how to keep your organisation safe in an AI world—spotting scams and managing other risks

Who should attend?: Volunteers, staff, and trustees of organisations who are responsible for producing written material and may benefit from the use of AI in their work. This includes anyone responsible for creating social media content on behalf of their organisation.

It is also suitable for anyone interested in both the opportunities and the threats that AI presents for the voluntary and community sector.

Please note this training is aimed at voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations and groups based in North Yorkshire or delivering services within North Yorkshire.

About the trainer: Michael Fletcher is Community First Yorkshire’s digital project lead. He also has extensive experience of using AI in the VCSE sector producing policy and project documentation.

Andy Shield, our Community Anchor Support Manager, uses AI to improve VCSE sector operations. He uses AI to create compelling content and to demonstrate real world uses of AI in a way that maximises its impact and benefits for the VCSE sector.

Cost: £35 (including VAT)

Concessionary places

Thanks to funding from North Yorkshire Council, we have free ‘first come, first served’ places if you meet either of the criteria below. You can self-select a free place during booking.

Criteria:

You are from a North Yorkshire VCSE organisation with an income of up to £5k

OR

You are from a North Yorkshire VCSE organisation with an income of up to £25k that is experiencing financial hardship and would struggle to pay.

These spaces are limited so if a free place is not shown when you go to book, you can ask to be added to the waiting list for a free place on a future training session.

See our  Terms and Conditions  for more information.