Botspeak
Empowering individuals through the transformative power of AI fluency, fostering effective human-AI collaboration. An innovative program that combines theoretical frameworks with practical skills to enhance your ability to work with AI systems.
About the Project
Botspeak is a comprehensive AI fluency framework that transforms you from an AI tourist into a fluent native. Through our YouTube series, books, and articles, we cultivate your ability to think alongside AI, distributing cognitive tasks strategically, communicating intentions clearly, evaluating outputs critically, and using these powerful tools responsibly.
Led by Dr. Nik Bear Brown, Associate Teaching Professor at Northeastern University, our show-and-tell approach demonstrates these skills through practical AI project development, giving you both theoretical understanding and hands-on experience.
The Nine Pillars of Botspeak
Our framework is built on nine essential pillars that will remain relevant as AI technology continues to evolve:
1. Strategic Delegation
Thoughtfully distributing tasks between human and AI based on comparative strengths.
2. Effective Communication
Crafting precise prompts with clear intent and context for optimal AI response.
3. Critical Evaluation
Systematically assessing AI outputs for accuracy and bias through multiple sources.
4. Technical Understanding
Applying appropriate prompt patterns and understanding model behavior.
5. Ethical Reasoning
Maintaining accountability and managing privacy boundaries in AI collaboration.
6. Stochastic Reasoning
Understanding the probabilistic nature of AI outputs and embracing variability.
7. Learning by Doing
Building intuition through deliberate practice and systematic analysis.
8. Rapid Prototyping
Accelerating ideation through quick cycles of AI-assisted generation and refinement.
9. Theoretical Foundations
Understanding the science behind AI systems and recognizing their fundamental epistemological boundaries.
Three Modes of Interaction
Automation
AI performs specific tasks based on explicit human instructions.
Augmentation
Humans and AI collaborate as thinking partners, each contributing unique strengths.
Agency
AI works independently within parameters established by humans.
While AI technology evolves rapidly, the core challenges of human-AI collaboration remain consistent. Botspeak provides lasting cognitive tools rather than temporary techniques, helping you develop the skills necessary to thrive in a future where human-AI collaboration becomes the new literacy for the age of artificial intelligence.
The Botspeak lessons are primarily given as YouTube videos, but in person and Zoom workshops are available upon request.
Key Features
Cognitive Skills Development
Learn essential task decomposition techniques, develop accurate mental models of AI capabilities, and master metacognitive monitoring to evaluate and adjust your interaction strategies based on results.
Communication Mastery
Perfect the art of precise language, contextual framing, and iterative refinement to craft prompts with minimal ambiguity and clear intent that consistently produce superior results.
Critical Thinking Framework
Gain systematic approaches for output evaluation, source triangulation to verify factual claims, and bias recognition skills to identify skewed perspectives in both prompts and responses.
Ethical Reasoning Capabilities
Develop sophisticated reasoning around responsibility attribution, privacy boundary management, and impact assessment to ensure responsible and effective use of AI technologies.