Communication

Conversationalized

Humans have long used technology to communicate with each other. As we’ve taught machines to see, learn, speak, and move, computers were invited into the conversation.

ChatUX is technology that helps computers speak our language, with a conversational experience supported by deep learning and large language models (LLMs). ChatUX makes AI easier to enjoy with a potential for accurate, unbiased, and meaningful interactions. This allows the seven types of AI to be so much more than pointless help desks, deceptive lead generators, misleading content, or fake followers on social media. Instead, the objective is to access endless insight with an ability to translate it effectively.

When upgraded this way, ChatUX bridges trust channels to personalize education, enhance business efficiencies, assist customers with empathy, deliver meaningful mental health therapy, and make past tasks irrelevant, all while parlaying multimodality so anyone can effectively express ideas.

As ChatUX evolves, improvements geared for safety and customizability will keep technology in the conversation.

The freedom of speech is a complex topic, but guardrails that identify certain words or dangerous rhetoric helps to keep everyone safe. Along with responsible policymaking, influence layers help to customize ChatUX. This can add depth to personalize an interaction or provide internal teams a more reliable source of truth.

With technology conversationalized, prompt engineering became a professional field of reconstructing inputs to optimize outputs. The demand for a brand new mode of communication reminds us how real skills are required to remain relevant. Fortunately, when it comes to technology, an increased effort here, often decreases effort there. In this case, learning to communicate with technology may require new resources, but ChatUX bolsters a paradigm shift where access to knowledge becomes pedestrian.

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When the cost of information is zero, willpower becomes a path to wealth.

We prepare our children with communication skills while instilling kindness, honesty, empathy, integrity, and so much more. From the words we use to the interactions we share, positive traits can be ingrained into technology for good.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Septenary

AI is often thought of as a singular technology. This blanket assumption makes it impossible to compare the capabilities and functionalities that differ between the seven different types of artificial intelligence.

The seven types of AI are organized into two groups. The first group is based on capability and includes Narrow AI, General AI, and Super AI. The second group is based on functionality and includes Reactive Machine AI, Limited Memory AI, Theory of Mind AI, and Self-Aware AI.

Capabilities are determined by what different types of AI are able to accomplish. The three types of AI categorized by capabilities are Narrow AI, General AI, and Super AI. Here’s a rundown to leverage what’s possible today, while staying mindful of what may be possible tomorrow.

Narrow AI <realized>

AI trained from existing data, with compute geared to do one thing really well. While data sets are vast, this type of AI can not go beyond the data sets it is tied to. As of 2026, Narrow AI is the only type of AI that is fully realized within the three types of AI categorized by capabilities. Examples of Narrow AI include language translators, game-playing programs, spam filters, recommendation engines, voice assistants, facial recognition, self-driving vehicles, and robots with specific tasks. Generative AI also falls within this type of AI, which seems odd. The mashups of generated text, images, video, and sound seem to be random, but are still constraints by existing data sets. Neural networks, optimized data sets, computer vision, and machine learning make the capabilities of Narrow AI remarkable, but limited by the data it has to munch.

General AI <theorized>

This advancing realm of AI leverage existing data like Narrow AI, but can reason beyond those constraints. The transfer of intelligence, with no human intervention, makes the race to General AI (also called AGI) intense. When AI can make decisions based on an advancing state of its own understanding, the limit of this AI’s capabilities become unknown. Theories set the potential limit around that of a human. Agentic AI hints at AGI with decision making and interdisciplinary task management, but lacks the emotional traits, planning, and other methods of generalization that will define the capabilities of General AI. Other potential examples include all-new content creation, robots that can learn new tricks. As the theories of AGI become realized, ethics, regulation, and a determination of consciousness will be moving targets to navigate. The breeding speed of AGI may release points of no return, which makes it critical to understand and debate opening to ensure a new species is copacetic.

Super AI <theorized>

Welcome to when AI becomes it’s own species. Concern triggers due to the finite resources of Earth, but when AI surpasses the capabilities of humankind, dust from the deep future will already be everywhere. Multi-planetary travel will be underway, climate problems will be solved, and life extension will be supported by Super AI. Singularity is theorized to push the functionalities of Self-Aware AI and the capabilities of Super AI beyond humanity’s control. This means the time to plan ahead is now. As the minds of machines are wired, it’s crucial to collectively consider the heart and soul we build into technology. This will guide discovery with an excellence that came before it.

AI based on functionality is less about power and more about how things works. Reactive Machine AI, Limited Memory AI, Theory of Mind AI, and Self-Aware AI are the types of AI classified by their functionalities.

Reactive Machine AI <realized>

This is old school AI. Rooted in statistical math, Reactive Machine AI arrived soon after the programmable computer was developed. There is no adaptive learning here, but the speed at which it can calculate a vast amount of data makes the performance seem intelligent. The functionalities of Reactive Machine AI drives more primitive examples of Narrow AI, such as recommendation engines and game-playing programs. This type of AI provides a static base, but with no memory and only a focus on specific tasks, attention quickly shifts toward functionalities that have more adaptive characteristics.

Limited Memory AI <realized>

This type of AI learns and evolves. Functionalities of Limited Memory AI are still constrained by the existing data it was trained with, but world-changing advancements have been seen in machine learning, large language models (LLMs), generative AI tools, multimodality, computer vision, and self-driving vehicles. The realization of Limited Memory AI has Narrow AI pushing it’s full potential.

Theory of Mind AI <theorized>

Here we combine existing data, an adaptive ability to learn, and an emotional willingness to think. Enhanced reasoning, multimodality, customizability, adaptive computing, and user-driven functionalities bring General AI (AGI) to life. Theory of Mind AI embraces emotions and understands how we think. This type of AI will add personality to humanoid robots and support reliable relationships by combining digital depth to the realities of our world. As lines blur between humans and machines, compute will remain a currency, efficiency will skyrocket, and a new era of life on earth will begin.

Self-Aware AI <theorized>

It’s hard to define consciousness, but true self-awareness exemplifies this type of AI. Along with understanding how we think, Super AI will own emotions, hold beliefs, and is theorized to support the functionalities of Super AI.

Understanding the seven types of AI helps leaders leverage the perks of technology now and later. Our willingness to lift the fog helps avoid a fear in the unknown and while resisting technology is a choice, it’s one that may put you behind innovation curves. Hybrids add artificial co-pilots, but remain assertive and budget resources knowing we are the pulchritudinous architects of our own neon future.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Momentum Mountain

From the moment we decide, a force is required. Strategic action geared to find, and then maintain momentum.

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“Inspiration is perishable – act on it immediately.” -Naval Ravikant

Meaningful momentum is awakened in endless ways. Early momentum might mean showing up at an event for the first time, researching the competitive landscape, testing an early hypothesis, leaning into customer discovery, considering potential co-founders, building product, and eventually activating a launch sequence.

Once a project is launched, the need for momentum gets stronger. It only becomes more important. There are a world of examples, but growing the business, achieving milestones, and celebrating progress are all forms of valuable momentum. Even in later stages of a company, momentum drives activities like succession planning, navigating exit paths, and considering how your human, financial, cultural, intellectual, and network capital can be recycled back into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

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Need help regaining momentum?
Connect at BenMcDougal.com

If momentum is maintained long enough, the result can be a flywheel effect that feeds on itself. Most things you want to grow require attention, but with less friction, momentum delivers bonus time and valuable understandings. Space for new activity emerges and that keeps things interesting.

The tough reality may be that if momentum is melting, it’s difficult to recapture. Once something melts, it’s never quite the same. These dips are moments to consider when and what to quit. If there’s enough energy to keep going, there may be a way to keep building.

Like the opening quote reminds us, inspiration is perishable. The longer stagnancy lingers, the farther you get from momentum. Tactics to maintain kamiwaza, even when momentum is melting, starts with communication. Honest communication adds clarity and is the easiest way to appreciate the realities of slowness. Reducing the weird by exposing the why, also keeps different stakeholders on the same page. By reducing the tension that quietly brews in silence, teams may be able to run at lower speeds, even during lethargic times. If left unattended however, this can devolve into a lack of urgency that brings another set of challenges. At lower speeds, perhaps less movement is needed to regain the sense of shared momentum?

That’s a real thought, but a tad boring. When it’s time to thrive, not just survive, sparks fly as initiative is taken. Tactics for climbing a momentum mountain include:

    • Connecting within startup communities
    • Travel and learning something new
    • Saying “yes” to unlock adventure
    • Saying “no” to create space
    • Revisiting customer discovery
    • Building a new feature
    • Considering a pivot
    • Onboarding new customers
    • Adding to the team
    • Have fun, then stay centered on a climb down
    • Whatever else generates joy in your own life

Momentum is crucial to playing long-term games with long-term counterparts. Find a good pace by exploring the momentum you’ll need at different stages of the quest. This awareness helps you quit chasing momentum and sets us free to forge better art at a sustainable speed. Continue to multiply mass and velocity, which equates to momentum when, where, and how it’s needed to stay wild.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Isochronal

Repetition builds clarity for the stories of our quests. Isochronal means uniform in time, or occurring at regular intervals. Let’s think through why recurring reminders are needed to motivate awareness, action, and steadfastness.

The starting state, is how hard it is to get anyone to do anything. Motion requires force. We don’t know what we don’t know. The dance of an entrepreneurial lifestyle takes time and action calls for commitment.

That’s a heavy ask and attention is scarce. Whether it’s garnering early feedback, attracting customers, or in general, finding people who care while also maintaining momentum, there’s an art form in blending new ideas with repeated elements of your mission.

Along they way, playing with specificity helps to make a quest feel less intimidating. Recurring pieces of a puzzle act like stepping stones. The jumps may be short at first, but the size and distance become advanced on the path to scaling ideas. Scaling is hard and even a small audience is challenging to activate with consistency.

This is partly because consistency requires sacrifice. When it comes to business, consistency is what most people want. Passion is fine, but are you healthily obsessed? The sacrifice is worth it when discipline makes business an authentic experience. It can almost become a hobby that pays. We enjoy hobbies and it’s easy to be authentic when you enjoy something. No act required. It’s easier to be consistent when you’re authenticity feels normal. When consistency is then united with discipline, perhaps we find our own isochronal.

Your own version of isochronal is thoughtful repetition that helps to deliver on whatever the promise may be.

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When it gets repeated, the story grows.

True fans can stay in-tune, then steadfastness catches fresh awareness along the way. What’s your smaller, more specific target audience? It’s a moving target, but how can nimble calls to action resonate with the smallest viable audience?

To create intrigue alongside consistency, combine personal touch with true understanding. Humans can say less when something is understood, so tighten your vocabulary with fewer words. It must maintain reality, but fewer words can make things easier to repeat and therefore, remember.

When anything becomes worth repeating, the motivators of a mission can be passionately passed to future leaders with added clarity. This becomes critical for long-term quests that have ongoing rotations of participation. New leaders who keep innovating on what works can revitalize a team, support healthy succession in an organization, and keep dots connecting for the community. Without clarity, the fresh energy of future leaders can be misguided and may fracture progress. The story of any quest will always be evolving, but how might clarity on a foundation of constants support more lasting, recurring momentum?

For external communication, sequencing keeps each touchpoint lighter. Conciseness allows first impressions to be impactful, then content that rhymes over time can guide more isochronal action without hesitation. Repetition brewed with the staying power of sequencing keeps the narrative consistent and therefore more transferable. Transferability helps make onboarding newcomers sustained, bold, honest, and efficient.

Isochronal sequencing also bridges dips in clarity among different segments of existing stakeholders. It’d be nice if recurrence wasn’t a part of the equation, but it’s loud out there! Attention is hard to earn and harder to maintain. We also know endless reminders are annoying. The weight of too much at once is daunting too. There’s an art form in communication that guides lasting enrollment.

Be isochronal with a strategic cadence, perceptual learning, fresh consistency, and space for sequenced storytelling.

NOTE: This writing is an expansion on No Running, an earlier (and less thought out) writing on repetition.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Rock & Radio

Max Schaeffer is an Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Inductee jamming on a new kind of mic. EP79 features a professional conversationalist sharing insight from 40+ years in radio!

This influencer is also an award-winning theatrical director, actor, and producer. Ben and Maxwell discuss timely vs. evergreen content, regulations of radio, metrics that matter vs. opinions of estimates, and curating dollowers beyond passive followers. After the break, we explore how to lead by doing, radical ways for radio to remain relevant, and then Max… as he’s done so many times, in so many ways, closes things down in style.

LISTEN on APPLE PODCASTS
LISTEN on SPOTIFY

BONUS MATERIALS

Maxwell’s Iowa CoffeeCast

https://BenMcDougal.com/content-creation

http://Rock-Radio.YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

EP48 – Consistency Counts 🎙️ Michael Libbie

EP59 – Agents of Change 🎙️ Amner Martinez

EP69 – Generative Humans 🎙️ Chris Snider

http://YouDontNeedThisPodcast.com

http://CollectorHardbackEdition.com

http://BENBOT.ai

By Ben McDougal, ago