AI or Die

Sean (0:00): Let's change the world and watch your business grow. Welcome to The Ray Edward Show. The Ray Edward Show. Yeah.

Ray Edwards (0:13): Welcome everybody. AI or die. That's the title of today's episode. We'll get to that. That's what Skynet wants.

Ray Edwards (0:22): Yes. For sure. You think we're joking. We are not joking.

Sean (0:30): We find things.

Ray Edwards (0:32): Things that make us go. Another episode that would not have been made today.

Sean (0:38): And a pity.

Sean (0:40): Yes.

Sean (0:40): Well, I actually don't know. We make we we've we've we've reaped a lot of joy from it, but I don't know if it's actually a good episode.

Ray Edwards (0:46): That's true. If I go back and watch it, I might be horrified.

Sean (0:49): Well, yes. Yes.

Sean (0:52): If you know, you know. Alright. So Sean's back. Good to have you back.

Sean (0:55): Perfect. Good to be back.

Ray Edwards (0:57): And we got some exciting stuff to talk about. This is fun times we're living in these days. I mean, peaceful, idyllic, technology has made life better than it ever was. And we're all living the dream, which may for some of us feel like a nightmare, but it's crazy times in the world too. There's a lot of stuff going on.

Ray Edwards (1:18): I'm glad that I don't have as much anxiety as I used to about those things. Bring me up to speed with you. How's how's business?

Sean (1:26): Good. Yeah. We're just cranking away, roasting the beans, serving the coffee.

Ray Edwards (1:30): Tell me about some of the coffee roasts we've got going right now.

Sean (1:33): So we're about to about to release a new Ethiopia natural, which is really floral and fruity. It's got like kind of a peach flavor to it. It's really nice. But we're waiting for some of our other coffees to clear the decks. But it's it's locked and loaded and we got a a washed Mexico on there right now that people actually really enjoying a lot.

Sean (1:52): It's really good.

Ray Edwards (1:53): What does that mean, washed Mexico?

Sean (1:54): Yeah. So I mean, in the in the coffee world, there are, you know, there are different ways to to process coffees and that just means that when the when the coffee's harvested, I don't know how many people know this, but it's actually like a cherry. So the coffee bean that you roast and grind and make your drink out of is actually like the pit of a cherry. And so there's a there's a fruit around it. And so most coffees are wash processed, so they harvest the the coffees and then they put it into a bath solution that washes the cherry off and then they put the the bean or the the the center of the the coffee plant out on beds to dry.

Sean (2:31): That's how most coffees are made and there are other processes too that that a lot of people like though. Like some people they actually just put the whole cherry out. They don't wash it off. They just put it out and they let it sun dry and that generally creates a more flavorful coffee, because the the bean has more time to absorb the sugars and the flavor molecules. But, it can also be more expensive.

Sean (2:55): They can be, it can take it more time. So they are generally more ex they're more expensive. And they're a little bit riskier for the local farmers to do because if something goes wrong, then they lose a whole harvest or part of their harvest. So generally like in the specialty coffee world, people really covet natural processed coffees because they have more flavor. But there's some really really good wash processes that still have a very clean flavor profile.

Sean (3:21): And I think sometimes they can get overlooked because they're not as flashy as some of the other processes out there. So when I say we have a nice wash Mexico, we have a bean from Mexico that's a that's a wash process. But that generally per when it's done really well that that produces a cleaner cup of coffee. Like the the flavors are more are are clearer. They might not be as fruity and the coffee might not have as much body but it will have a a cleaner and clearer, flavor.

Sean (3:48): And so it's got like kind of a citrusy, note and, well, like kinda lemon and honey and melon kinda going on. It's really good.

Ray Edwards (3:57): Yeah. So when you mentioned things like that, lemon, honey, and melon, and you were talking about the Ethiopian having a a fruity Mhmm. Kind of for people who are not familiar, because I forget that a lot of times people don't know what we're talking about. Yeah. There's no flavoring.

Sean (4:10): You didn't like put some artificial stuff in.

Sean (4:12): No. And and it's also not like wine where, you know, someone will drink a wine and for most people, you know, they'll be like, oh, are you picking out the the the tannins and the and the, you know, cherries and and

Sean (4:24): The leptines and Right. I mean

Sean (4:25): I mean, those those flavor notes are definitely in there. But usually, you have to have a very sophisticated palate to pull those out of wine unless you have a really distinctive wine. And most people I think experience is like, I don't know. They say this, but Yeah. Blah blah blah.

Sean (4:39): And when you're dealing with like really good coffee, that is not the case. The flavors are pronounced. They they they it's not like the number of times that that I will I will pour I will give someone a sample of one of our really nice maybe fruit forward coffees to people and they'll try it. I mean, almost without fail. I'd say 95% of the time people go, woah.

Sean (5:00): I can taste it. I think because they're so used to having the opposite experience. Someone's like, oh, this has got these flavors in it and they try it and they go, okay, whatever. I don't really know what you're talking about. Right.

Sean (5:10): And I think that's also hurt by the fact that there are a lot of coffee roasters, especially in The United States out there that that say their coffee have these flavors, but they don't. And so they they either roast them too dark or they're not using high quality enough beans. And so you really do kind of have to go looking for the flavor and otherwise it just kind of tastes like brown bitter water. So I think when when we when we're talking about our flavor notes, people listen to us so like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I I've been to one of those fancy coffee shops and they said their coffee tastes like, you know, blueberries and whatever, but it just tasted like dirty brown water to me. And I hear you.

Sean (5:50): That is definitely, I would say, most of the specialty coffee experience in The United States is that way. But we are not most.

Ray Edwards (5:59): We are different.

Sean (6:00): We are different. And it's like when you've been to other parts of the world or you've because before we roasted our own coffee, we actually imported specialty beans from like Sweden and Berlin and Spain from all these other European countries, then I was recently in Asia too. So we have these like conglomerate, like we know what coffee is like in other parts of the world. And there's this real deficit in The United States that's very distinct. If you go to a nice coffee shop in Europe or Australia or Japan, you're gonna have a very different experience than you do at most quote unquote specialty shops in The United States.

Sean (6:39): And there's a whole reason for that, and I don't have to go into it. But I guess the point I wanna make is like if if you've if you've had if you've been to a coffee shop and they said, oh, this this is gonna be kind of a fruity specialty bean and then you couldn't really taste it, just kinda tasted sour and gross to you. Yeah. I hear you. That's a very normal experience, but and that's not what specialty coffee is supposed to be.

Sean (6:57): Either those roasters don't know what they're doing and they think they're doing specialty coffee because they can talk the talk and they can walk the walk and they have all the nice equipment and stuff, but they've never actually, like, experienced true specialty coffee. Yeah. Then then they don't know what they're doing. They don't know the quality beans they're supposed to be ordering, yada yada yada. Or they they do know and and what they've done is actually like because The United States is is not quite there yet.

Sean (7:24): We're still very much traditionally dark roast country that they've compromised. And in order to make ends meet, they they say they're specialty, but they're they're basically just like they're doing medium and dark roasts because that's what most people are asking for. And I get that. There's there's a market pressure to to go that direction, but I just wish they would stop calling themselves specialty because they're not.

Ray Edwards (7:47): Try some of our coffee out and see for yourself. You can get the beans online.

Sean (7:51): Yeah. Breville77.com. The Nativo Nogales right now is a Mazo process Colombian. It's really, really good. Probably one of the best coffees we have.

Sean (8:00): And then very soon, we're going to have a Gucci natural Ethiopia that's gonna pop up there, and it's really good and flavorful. Like, you'll get it and you you I if someone tastes it and they go, I can't taste the floral notes or the fruity notes, either it was massively brewed wrong. But even then, I I think you're still gonna be able to pick it out or like you've got COVID and your taste buds are nuked. I mean I mean, the it's just like when you have a really high quality bean and you roast it properly honestly, I've even found when you have a super high quality bean, which are hard to find in The United States, that's part of the problem, especially coffee in The United States, it's actually really hard to find these beans. You really have to mess it up in the roast in order to lose the flavor.

Sean (8:44): I think you'd be surprised.

Sean (8:45): Check it out. Does anyone wanna

Sean (8:48): live a life that has long and prosperous spiritual foundations?

Sean (8:52): Okay. So the principle is do not lie.

Sean (8:58): That's a

Ray Edwards (8:59): good one. Lying is wrong, should not do it. And it's hard if you think about it. I think we have it's interesting. I think we have a redefinition problem, which is words change over time.

Ray Edwards (9:16): They mean different things to different people. And somebody came up with this term white lie.

Sean (9:21): And

Ray Edwards (9:23): that makes some of us makes some of us feel like it's okay to tell those kind of lies, white lies.

Sean (9:30): Oh, just a little white lie. It's to make someone feel better. It's to, you know, not to be like needlessly rude.

Ray Edwards (9:37): But I think lying does damage no matter how good your intentions are.

Sean (9:43): Yes.

Ray Edwards (9:45): I agree. And it's hard. Try it. Just I'm not even gonna give you any further elaborations. I'm just gonna say for the next week, just try to not tell a single lie all day long.

Sean (9:58): And I think even just beyond Yes, try it. But like one of the examples that I read one time that I think made this point clear, comes from Ayn Rand, but is the idea that when you lie, it's the concept of whatever you achieve by lying, you can only keep by lying. So you create a prison for yourself. And so if you have to lie to convince someone to, like, go on a date with you or you have to lie to convince someone to invest in your company, then whatever lie you told them, you have to perpetuate in order to keep them dating you or to keep them as business partners or to keep them or whatever it is. And and I think in those big contexts that makes sense.

Sean (10:42): So you've kind of created this web now, this prison for yourself. Like you're not free at that point. Like you may think you have achieved something to the lie but now you're a prisoner to that lie. But even in small things like when you're talking to your friends or something and you know, they have like a piece of artwork or they wrote a song or something and it's not very good. By telling them, oh, it's so good like like for their ego, like what have you really accomplished there?

Sean (11:08): You you in the moment, you might feel like the thing that you achieved through the lie is like this relational, I don't know, lubricant. Like like like you're like you're it's a smooth relational interaction. Yeah. But you haven't helped your friend out. No.

Sean (11:24): And then and then in the future when they're like, oh, look, I have more music. And now you like, what whatever you've done, like, you've just you've you've created a false reality for yourself and your friend. And there are ways to be loving and kind. I think it's actually more loving and kind to not tell a white lie. So, I mean, other people might not feel that way, but it's extremely difficult to not like, because you don't realize how inculcated into the culture.

Sean (11:49): Everyday interactions depend on lying to each other. Yeah. It's really shocking when you really make a vow to like, I'm not gonna lie, like anything about anything ever. How to navigate sometimes just everyday conversations like, wow, I lie all the time.

Ray Edwards (12:06): Yeah, try to do this. And I say tried because I can't do it. I find myself most seemingly innocuous things.

Sean (12:14): Like

Ray Edwards (12:15): people say, how do you think I look today?

Sean (12:19): Right. Oh, you look great. Or just even like basic social, well, like, you're hanging out with some people and they're like talking about a movie that they like or they're talking about a book that they've read and just like little little things, like maybe you only read like the first few chapters or something. Yeah. But you're so used to be like, oh, yeah, I've read that, like to kind of be part of the conversation.

Sean (12:40): Right. You have

Sean (12:40): a little small little thing like that.

Sean (12:42): And you haven't read it. And you

Sean (12:43): haven't read it. You maybe read one or two chapters.

Sean (12:45): Right.

Sean (12:45): And maybe you feel like you have a you have a good grasp of what the book's saying and

Ray Edwards (12:50): But that's different than you read it.

Sean (12:51): Then you read it. And, like, again, you you might be listening to this going, that doesn't seem like a very big deal. Well, it's like it's like a seed. Like if you do that, it spreads every it's like leaven. It leavens the whole lump.

Sean (13:00): And so like trying to really weed that out and be actually really clear about what you mean and what you've done and what you think is actually very difficult.

Ray Edwards (13:08): And that we do we the first person we lie to always is ourselves.

Sean (13:12): Right.

Ray Edwards (13:13): Yeah. There's a man I know who said something recently that made me scratch my head a bit. He said, he was telling a story and he said, well, so this motivated me to go read the Bible. I read the whole Bible from cover to cover in three days.

Sean (13:28): I was like, what? Yeah. Did you do that?

Ray Edwards (13:32): So happen to know this person has a speed reading course he took. It's called photo reading, which is total BS. Because I I've I took the course myself back in the day, and I know it's it's like the premise is you just glance at the page, your subconscious reads the whole page in an instant and you move on to the next page. Woah. They're not even seeing the words.

Sean (13:58): That's crazy.

Ray Edwards (13:59): So that's what he did. I'm like, well, that's a lie.

Sean (14:04): But he thinks he

Sean (14:05): he wrote He thinks he did it.

Sean (14:06): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Ray Edwards (14:07): So we deceive ourselves. Then we deceive other people by spreading that lie that we told ourselves. And then for me, it forces me into a position of having to get really good at telling the truth in a kind way.

Sean (14:22): Yes. And being very clear.

Sean (14:24): Yes.

Sean (14:25): Like like, because it's really easy to just kinda go along with the current of a conversation with people and just kinda like spend half truths to like be in the conversation. Yeah. And again, once you once you like I think some people may listen to this go, well, they lie a lot. Like, no, dude. Dude, my dad said, try for a week.

Sean (14:43): I'm not gonna tell one single lie. Not one little white lie. Not one little spun truth. Not one little little half truth. Not one little exaggeration or embellishment.

Sean (14:53): Not one not one. And just find out how often. Yeah. And and it's crazy because you'll find out how often it's just in your own mind. Like what you're telling yourself.

Sean (15:03): Yep.

Sean (15:03): What you're thinking, how you're how you're thinking. And so I think it really forces you to clarify your own internal world. And then like you said, it it forces you to figure out how do I communicate truthfully and kindly. And so like it really like because I I remember it was I can't remember how long it was like ten years ago or something. Was like, I made the vow to never lie.

Sean (15:24): I really became convinced that whatever you gained through it was not worth it. Like like, whatever you had to give up to gain to the I was not worth it. And so to try to live a life where you don't do that. And yeah. Like, so, like, go back to the art example.

Sean (15:39): Like, someone has a book or a or a painting or, you know, I'd be like in church and they maybe be like, they led worship that day or whatever and, you know, they were super pitchy or, you know what I mean? Like, their book was super boring, you know, what whatever it is.

Sean (15:51): Yeah.

Sean (15:53): In order to not just be like a total jerk, I would have to like, okay, find something about this that you actually like. Because it's not gonna be helpful to this person in this moment when they just got off the stage to be like, you were super pitchy. Like, that's not that's not kind and that's not helpful to them, it's also not kind to lie to them.

Sean (16:10): Right.

Sean (16:10): So, like, if you have a kind of relationship or later, they can be like, hey. So can you give me some feedback on my performance? And then you can find a way to kindly communicate that. But in the moment, that's not appropriate, but also I don't wanna lie. So it's like, oh, man.

Sean (16:22): Well, that, like, that guitar part that you played during that, I really love that. That was really cool. Like, actually forces me to, like, find and then and then you're truthful. You know? It's like, not being deceptive.

Sean (16:34): I'm not lying to you, but I'm telling you something that I really liked.

Sean (16:38): But There

Sean (16:38): have been a few times where people are like, okay. But did you think I was pitchy? Yeah. I have be like Yeah.

Sean (16:42): Then then you're like, well, you're you're asking for it now.

Sean (16:45): And he's like, you know, maybe a little bit.

Ray Edwards (16:48): And then there's the there's there's this there's this wrinkle to that whole equation where I do the same thing, but sometimes I feel like I know in my heart. I told that in such a way that I deflected their focus and made them think I told them they did great. And I know I didn't tell them that.

Sean (17:06): Right.

Sean (17:06): I didn't want to tell them that.

Sean (17:08): Right.

Sean (17:08): Because it wasn't true.

Sean (17:09): Right. Yeah.

Ray Edwards (17:10): But I know that's what they believed. So now the burden to come back and correct that misunderstanding, there's there's some weight of that on me.

Sean (17:20): Yeah. And I do I do think that there's a again, there's like a fittingness, like, you know what? Yes. Like, I I think that there are just some people that you're friends with, that like, in a lot of the context that people would just kinda tell a little white lie because they, you know, they want that kind of relational ease. Yeah.

Sean (17:37): And I think I think there's a way to avoid being the jerk and being incur like, being truthfully encouragingly about something. And if if they choose to interpret that as, oh, they really like everything about it, that's on like, I don't I'm not called to be it's not fitting for me to be a perfect mirror to everyone I'm around. Yeah. Like like the like so I think when people are telling white lies, they're operating maybe they haven't articulated that in their mind, but it's like, it's not my job to, like, coach and correct everyone about everything. And in fact

Sean (18:10): Right.

Sean (18:10): I don't wanna do that. That's mean. That's rude. I don't wanna be that

Ray Edwards (18:13): kind You won't have a lot of friends if you do that.

Sean (18:15): Yeah. Yeah. And so like it's fine to and so what I'm saying is that I do think that there's there's a there's a circle where you're like, oh, I really liked, you know, how, you know, that one piano part or or I really like this part of the book that was a really interesting part. And and then for because it's not your job, you're not their editor, you're not their you know you know I mean? You're not their spouse, you're not the one that's actually fitting for you to give them constructive feedback.

Sean (18:39): Like that's not Yeah. Actually the position that you hold in their life. Now if they specifically ask you, I would like constructive feedback or something along those lines, then I still think there's a way to I think in that context, if you don't give them the truth, then yeah, there's a weight to be like, okay, you asked me for something and I did not deliver it. But I I do think in most contexts, it's fine to just like to not lie, but maybe not hit them with the full truth. Like that's

Sean (19:05): Right. That's Especially if they haven't invited you to

Sean (19:10): Exactly.

Ray Edwards (19:10): They haven't said to you, always give me the full truth.

Sean (19:12): Right. But, you know, there can be some of the unique situations where you're like, well, I know I really feel like I spun that into deceptive way. Yeah. But maybe maybe you should go and clean that up, but that it really again it it it depends on did you really create a big enough mess with that person that warrants you going back and cleaning it up or does it just mean internally you kind of have to repent and and not do that again in the future. Because I'll tell you there are ton of times where I'm like, I kinda lied to that person.

Sean (19:35): But you know, if I went back to them and cleaned that up, that would be more weird and awkward

Sean (19:40): Yeah.

Sean (19:40): Than for me to just go, okay, well, my vow is my vow. So now that I'm aware of that phenomenon, I'm gonna try my hardest not to do that again in the future.

Ray Edwards (19:48): If yeah. If you're if you're just using truth telling as an excuse to go around and be brutal to people Yeah. And leave them scarred and broken, then that's a problem and you're lying to yourself about something else.

Sean (19:59): But I will say, like, it it really does force you to become very clear in your own mind. Clear than maybe you than you even were aware that you can become. When you have to be, when you really it's like, no, I made this vow and I'm gonna keep it. My word is my word and so my yes is my yes, my no is my no. So what do I actually mean here?

Sean (20:18): Like in the past, in this context, in the way I interact with these people, I would say a, b, and c. But if I'm actually being honest, a and c are not true. So it's just it's real like especially the first I say the first six months can be brutal. Yes. Because you're you're you're trenching out, wow, like it's really humbling.

Sean (20:37): I did not realize I was this dishonest. I embellished this much. I was this cut corner I would cut the corner here. It's rough. It can be pretty rough, but it can be very fruitful.

Sean (20:47): I think in how you just internally how you think. It will clear up your mind in a way that I don't I think you'd be surprised by.

Sean (20:53): Just let your yes be yes Yeah. And your no be no.

Sean (20:57): And then and then there is this like this is a spiritual foundation. It's not just a moral philosophy section. Like, you know, we believe God is who he is. He never lies.

Ray Edwards (21:06): Right.

Sean (21:06): He never tells a white lie. If he is all truth and all knowing and all goodness and we're called to be with him and part of him, then there is a grace for us to be truthful. And it's what we're called to be. We're called to be truthful. And if we're truly gonna emulate Jesus and we're truly gonna be like God, then we have to every day war against anything that's not like God within us.

Sean (21:29): And lying is one of those things. Embellishing is one of those things. White lies is one of those things.

Ray Edwards (21:33): This is a question I'm always running up against and always have in my business of marketing and selling things because it's so easy to stray into lying to people when you're marketing and advertising.

Sean (21:44): Well, okay. Can I dovetail into that?

Sean (21:46): Yeah, please do.

Sean (21:47): So I recently had a customer who we have a roast at the coffee shop. It's called the Franken Roast because we're very upfront. It's kinda funny. It's like it's like a little so basically what it is, it's like when we have we get to the yeah. When we get to the end of our when we get to the end of our a batch of coffee that we've ordered, quite often we won't have enough to do a full roast batch.

Sean (22:10): We'll have like two or three pounds left over, and that's not enough to go into a full roast. So what do you do with that? You know, you put it in a bucket and you wait for it to fill up.

Sean (22:22): And thus?

Sean (22:22): And then and then you and then sometimes, you know, we'll

Sean (22:25): be we'll we'll ask for samples from coffee importers. And so they'll send us a bunch of samples. And, you know, that can be a couple pounds in total at the once you get all of them done. And so you take your samples, and there's not really much you can do left with the rest of that. You know, feel like it's not enough to do anything with.

Sean (22:41): So those also go into the bucket.

Sean (22:45): And then and then we just and then we

Sean (22:47): just roast it pretty dark. Franken. Oh, yeah.

Sean (22:51): Franken roast.

Sean (22:52): Franken roast. And so, like, the package is pretty funny. I have I have a gal that she made a fun label. It's like I got a bunch of our other coffee labels, and she stitched them all together, and they got, like, crosshatches.

Sean (23:01): Oh, I haven't seen this.

Sean (23:02): No. And you could see. So it's like you can like, we're very clear on the label. It says a little bit of this, a little bit of that roasted roasted perfectly to doctor Shelley's specifications.

Sean (23:14): Doctor Shelley.

Sean (23:15): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, we're we're so we're very clear. And on the website, it says, this is, you know, this

Sean (23:21): is just This is beans in a bucket.

Sean (23:23): This is beans in a bucket, and we roast it so dark that you can't tell. And actually, a side note, we do say this hopes to communicate in contrast what we are as a coffee shop. That like, if you can't tell that this is eight different, 10 different, 15 different coffees all blended together, if you can't tell that, then that demonstrates that the roast level doesn't create flavor, it destroys flavor. Like, that's that's what this roast should kinda demonstrate. However, we are in a dark roast culture, so if people want that, here you go.

Sean (23:55): It's better than us just throwing these beans away, you know? Like they're still going to some sort of use. Yeah. So we had a guy order two bags of that off of the website. They were like about three weeks off roast, which is honestly we've done a bunch of taste tests and that's fine.

Sean (24:09): There's there's a whole there's a whole thing in the coffee industry world about you want your roast to be three to five days off. You want your coffee to be three to five days off roast, and there's a whole debate in the specialty coffee world, and we did a blind taste test, and we don't think that's true. We actually think your coffee tastes best three to four weeks off roast. Just again, by blind taste testing, we tested coffees, and the ones that had the richer, cleaner flavor were about three to four weeks off, not three to five days. Anyhoo, this guy ordered this Franken Roast and he was very upset that it was like three weeks old.

Sean (24:37): And he sent me this big long email and he was like, this isn't my first rodeo. This is bullcrap and yada yada yada. And my first I just wanted to fire back at him. I was so pissed off. But I cooled down and I and I just went back to him.

Sean (24:50): I was just like, hey, you know what? I'm sorry. I meant to, you know, it's a few is this is what we think about off, like, how long coffee should be and it we're very clear on the page about what the coffee is. So but at the end of the day, we don't want to hold your money hostage. If you don't want the coffee, if you're not happy with it, we'll totally refund you.

Sean (25:09): Just let me know what if you wanna try one of our other beans, if you just want a refund. No problem. And he was after a couple of back and forths, he he he eventually said, you know what? I'm so impressed by this customer service that consider this matter closed. I'm gonna keep the coffee.

Sean (25:22): Nice. And so I was just very honest with him. You know? It's like we were very honest about what the coffee was.

Sean (25:27): Tell the truth.

Sean (25:28): I told the truth. I was very honest with him. And then I didn't pull any marketing shenanigans to try to keep his money. I was just, Hey, you know what? We want you to be happy.

Sean (25:37): And if you don't like our coffee, if this isn't what you want, then we don't wanna keep your money. And I think a lot of people in business, we can get scared because we need I mean, I've done business with people where I bought something from them, I won't say who, and I go, hey, you know what? This piece of equipment or whatever doesn't work. I'd like to get my money back. And they're like, oh, sorry, the money's already spent.

Sean (25:54): You know, or they have some sort of excuse why they can't. Yeah. You know? And that's slimy. Like, that's feels slimy.

Sean (26:00): But when you're if even I think it can be really easy in the business world to be like, I need this sale, I need this revenue, so I'm gonna kinda spin a half truth to not give this person their money back.

Sean (26:11): I've never done that. Oh, wait a minute. That's a lie.

Sean (26:14): But if at the end of the day, you're just honest and upfront with people and I you know, like I said, I don't wanna hold your money hostage. He kept he didn't, Yeah. It that in that instance, the honesty was rewarded, you know, and the upfrontness was rewarded and the transparency was rewarded. And I think most people want that. And you're actually marketing your business will do better if you're just honest and upfront with people.

Ray Edwards (26:34): So morally, it's good to not lie and business wise in the long run, it's good to not lie, but also God said, don't lie. So don't lie because it's wrong. In today's marketplace where everybody seems to be talking about AI all the time.

Sean (26:52): AI never lies.

Sean (26:54): Okay. That's a different we'll

Sean (26:55): get to that.

Sean (26:56): We'll get to that. But

Sean (26:58): AI is totally moral and doesn't lie.

Ray Edwards (27:01): I I've got a problem lately with there's so many people out there pushing the idea that you can make a This is gonna sound funny to you. A digital video version of yourself and fool people with it is beginning to really rub me the wrong way. And I know I was guilty of this for a while. I won't say guilty. I didn't realize I was doing it until I did realize I was doing it.

Ray Edwards (27:28): Then I'd stopped. Because I told people, you can make a digital clone of yourself and you could duplicate yourself and do hundreds of thousands of times as much work, customer interactions, all these things. Well, I don't actually believe that's true. Don't think it's appropriate. So I think what I've started doing is I'm very, I'm going, our policy at our company is we go overboard to disclose when we're using AI and how we used it.

Ray Edwards (27:54): Right. Yeah. I'm gonna go further into detail than most people want. Right. So I like for the summit we're doing on AI coming up, we made a couple of promotional pieces.

Ray Edwards (28:07): I don't know if you've seen these, but here's one of them that ran on Instagram and still running on Instagram.

Speaker 5 (28:12): Welcome to the AI Accelerator Summit. We brought together 14 of the greatest minds in business and AI for one free three day summit.

Ray Edwards (28:24): So people keep asking us, how is this free? We assembled 14 of the greatest minds in business and AI, and the truth is people started talking. That is that looks real. That's me talking on video.

Sean (28:38): That's look real.

Sean (28:38): I didn't say any of those things. Really? Yeah. That's all AI.

Sean (28:42): That's actually really impressive.

Sean (28:43): There's more of it. Keep saying there has to be a catch. There has to be a hidden cost, but there's no catch. And we wanna make sure none of you miss this.

Sean (28:55): Gonna have to have

Sean (28:55): a We wanna make sure none of

Sean (28:56): you are left behind. Is an audio recording.

Sean (28:58): Right? What's

Sean (28:59): that? This is an audio Yeah. Podcast, so it has to have a link to the

Sean (29:02): We're gonna put a link after the video.

Sean (29:03): It's impressive. You gotta check it out.

Ray Edwards (29:05): Yeah. And then this this video is on our website. When you sign up for the summit, you can buy a membership into this program. This is also totally AI. Hi.

Sean (29:15): I'm Ray Edwards, cofounder of the AI Accelerator Summit. You just made a brilliant move by joining us.

Sean (29:22): The voice is a little off on that one. I'm not gonna lie.

Sean (29:25): People that know me say that. People that know me say that, but most people don't, they don't know.

Sean (29:32): Yeah. But whatever you used on that other video, that's the voice you should use.

Ray Edwards (29:36): Yeah. That's the one we're using on the other. This came before that. So this is because the power of these tools is changing so rapidly that it gets better and better. And that's a cause for concern as a consumer, because not everybody's gonna be as disclosing as we are.

Sean (29:53): No, most people aren't.

Ray Edwards (29:56): And I think this goes for writers too. I think if you're using AI in your writing, you owe it to your reader and to yourself to admit you're using AI. And I think it's best to explain how did I use it.

Sean (30:10): I mean, I don't know if you're doing this, but the idea that just came to mind to me is like, you're a writer or whatever, even to have a couple of screenshots of to be like, this is what I wrote, this is what the AI did, and this is what I ultimately ended up with. Yes. And so that people can see, oh, okay. I can see what you're doing.

Ray Edwards (30:24): That's definitely what we're doing now. And because I think it's necessary, I think right now we're in what I would call a, there's a cynicism tax. Yeah. And it's it's everywhere because we don't know what was real. I mean, I don't know if you hear these conversations in the coffee shop.

Ray Edwards (30:40): I hear them and then I

Sean (30:41): see them like, I saw someone I wish I could remember this. There's a real cynicism. And and, you know, it's like I can have a foot on either side of this argument. Let me get into that. But that oh my gosh.

Sean (30:52): This like the NBC or something did a poll Yeah. Of how optimistic they were about things, and AI was in between two terrible things. It was like the war in Iran and I can't god. Wish it like, oh my god. That's how like the the people responded how optimistic I don't know.

Sean (31:13): It was something bad. Yeah. And I and I wish this is a very uncompelling point, but it was it was to demonstrate that, like, the common perception amongst the everyday people is they don't like this technology because of how deceptive it can be. They're not excited about it. And I think that's unfortunate.

Sean (31:30): I think that's, now I think there are two sides of that. I think that's definitely true, but it doesn't have to be true. Like it's a very powerful tool and it can be very misused.

Ray Edwards (31:38): Yes. And it can be used well and you can do it with a good conscience

Sean (31:43): and

Ray Edwards (31:44): you're serving other people and that's great. But I think for those who are trying to think your way through this, if you're a business owner, it doesn't matter if you're a business owner or not. You're just a human, you're gonna be tempted to use AI in wrong ways. It's not because AI is bad, Because like money or like cars or like sex or like relationships, none of those things are bad in and of themselves. But we humans find a way to pervert and make those things bad

Sean (32:12): Yes.

Ray Edwards (32:12): By our intention and our behavior Right. And how we color outside the lines. By which I mean, we break the law of God and man and do something wrong.

Sean (32:20): So

Ray Edwards (32:22): it's just I think the way to get past in my business, selling things, marketing, I see lots of people just panicking and freaking out there like, oh, AI is killing all the copywriting jobs, all the creative

Sean (32:35): Right.

Ray Edwards (32:36): Jobs. And that's not true, but it's a lot of people are losing their jobs because people who are good at the craft. Right. People who are good at the craft of writing are using AI to write more and better copy and therefore they're more productive.

Sean (32:53): Right.

Ray Edwards (32:53): But they're doing it the right way. And I think if you're not disclosing about it, you will be found out. Be sure the truth will find you out. Right. And you'll be sorry.

Sean (33:02): Yeah.

Ray Edwards (33:02): So one way or another. So I think that's that's what's important. There's you know, in building a business, I've had some painful lessons.

Sean (33:11): Well, before we know Okay.

Sean (33:12): Go ahead.

Sean (33:12): Fix I know your outline. I wanted to and and maybe this edited out.

Sean (33:18): No. Roll with it.

Sean (33:19): But one of the use cases, and I think we've talked about this before, I thought maybe we could bring it up here. This is a unique case. Most people can't, I would say, probably fortunately, don't have this issue, but like you have Parkinson's. Yeah. And so, I mean, it's been very helpful to use since getting the DBS because you're you're more on than you used to be, especially before you got the DBS, like, there'd be there'd be times that like your drugs, if they weren't taking effect or they'd worn off or wherever they were, like like you had a really difficult time speaking or you had a really difficult time Yes.

Sean (33:51): Whatever it was. So in my mind, like and maybe we maybe we can talk about this a little bit. In my mind, it doesn't seem inappropriate for someone in a situation like that to to train an AI model to do what they can't do anymore. Absolutely. Kinda like, know, it's like a it's like a much more advanced version that, oh, come on.

Sean (34:13): Who's the physicist that talks to the computer?

Sean (34:14): Stephen Hawking.

Sean (34:15): Stephen Hawking. You know? It's like he had to use that computer to talk. Like, fortunately, you're not anywhere near that, but it seems like a similar concept to me. It's like, well, I'm actually not capable to do what I used to do.

Sean (34:27): Like, used to be able to I mean, were a disc jockey. You were standing behind a microphone talking like for six hours, eight hours a day.

Ray Edwards (34:33): Yeah. And I could stand up and teach an eight hour class with no notes and be very fluent

Sean (34:38): and very

Ray Edwards (34:39): coherent and I can't do that now.

Sean (34:41): You're just like physically not able to do that because of the Parkinson's disease.

Sean (34:44): Right.

Sean (34:44): So it doesn't seem dishonest, especially if you're disclosing it to be like, hey, I actually still wrote all these words, know, this is still my stuff, but sometimes, man, I just can't articulate. Like, my mouth doesn't do what I'm telling it to do. Exactly. And my face isn't doing what I'm telling it to do. I'm making weird facial expressions and, like like, it's just easier for everyone because these tools are so powerful now for me to make a video that that looks like how I would look if I didn't have Parkinson's.

Ray Edwards (35:08): Yes. I've got a client right now who runs a a million dollar business, building medical equipment for hospitals, and he coaches doctors and hospitals about how to use technology to get people through the intake and release process faster so they're not stuck taking six hours to get out of the hospital when they've had a major surgery. They can get out and go home. So he teaches all that. Well, he developed muscular dystrophy.

Ray Edwards (35:36): And he's on a ventilator now all the time.

Sean (35:39): Oh man.

Ray Edwards (35:40): But you forget that after you talk to him for a little while, because he's so articulate, so ingenious. But the point is, it's okay for somebody in that situation. I think it's totally okay to use technology to allow yourself to communicate your ideas, just be disclosing about what you're doing. And I think there's some amazing things on the horizon like look at this video from Elon Musk's Neuralink company. This this amazed me.

Speaker 6 (36:05): Just smooth process. You would have never known sort of two days down the road that anything had ever happened. We stayed in Dallas for a time after the surgery.

Speaker 4 (36:15): We just did our second voice participant surgery last week. Today will be our first day with BCI. We'll go in, show him how to use his charger, how to use his app, and

Ray Edwards (36:28): This guy has ALS and it's progressed so fast, he can barely speak. It requires huge effort. I mean, one thing this video did for me is made me grateful I have Parkinson's and not ALS. It's just such a horrible disease, but this is amazing what they're doing. Let's move forward because I skipped a bunch of the video, it's worth watching.

Ray Edwards (36:46): We'll put a link in the

Speaker 4 (36:47): We will guide him for some sentences to attempt to say, and we'll use that data to try to map neural intent to the actual words.

Sean (36:58): Yes. This is it. This is

Sean (37:02): him I'm

Sean (37:03): so they have that.

Speaker 4 (37:05): So when a user gets a brain computer interface, it's sometimes important for them to play around with their behavior to see what works best. What we did was Kenneth slowed down a little bit and tried to enunciate kind of the individual sounds of his sentence. And really, like, out of nowhere, we went from zero to a 100 with the model.

Ray Edwards (37:26): This is just a training process.

Sean (37:28): My brain in Spain says mainly on my brain. So this is this is him physically speaking?

Ray Edwards (37:41): Yeah. He's doing the best he possibly can to say the marine in Spain stays mainly on the plane.

Sean (37:48): Okay.

Ray Edwards (37:48): And he's read it to the computer and it's mapping the computer. He's got a chip in his brain Mhmm. Which I can relate to. And it's talking to the computer and the computer's mapping his neural activity, seeing what does he do in his brain to make these words come out. And then

Speaker 7 (38:06): The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plane.

Sean (38:12): Wow.

Sean (38:13): That's that's him doing the early. That's not just a recording? Yeah.

Sean (38:17): Yeah. So he gives a little more explanation here. Watch this. February.

Sean (38:25): Nice to see you, Charlotte.

Sean (38:26): Nice to

Sean (38:26): see you guys.

Sean (38:27): Good morning. Come on in. Good morning, Kenneth. Good to see you. We're still in an early phase here

Sean (38:35): Woah.

Sean (38:35): But Kenneth is helping us build

Sean (38:37): He's not moving his lips. That's crazy.

Ray Edwards (38:39): It's going from his brain to the computer

Sean (38:41): That's awesome.

Ray Edwards (38:42): And speaking for him.

Sean (38:43): The future. We'll start with some data collection just to collect some sentences. After that, we'll train some models and and get going. We'll do these at half speed with nothing.

Sean (38:55): We'll just continue in that.

Sean (38:56): Putting more effort in, more intention. It's it's modulating your

Sean (39:00): Here you go.

Speaker 7 (39:03): Siri, turn on lights in every room.

Ray Edwards (39:10): So just by the way, when I was watching this video the first time, she heard and turned

Sean (39:14): on all the lights in That's her so annoying.

Speaker 7 (39:16): Yeah. I think this is awesome.

Speaker 4 (39:19): The goal is like, we want him to be able to simply just intend to move his mouth and for our BCI to decode his speech.

Sean (39:28): I mean, come on.

Sean (39:29): Yeah. It's pretty impressive.

Ray Edwards (39:30): Yeah. So that's if you've if you've been wondering what's the real world application of this technology of AI Yeah. It's a key component of how this works. Yeah. And there's case studies in situations in which I think it's This will empower people who thought they'd lost their business.

Sean (39:46): Right.

Ray Edwards (39:47): Because my client I was telling you about, his primary way of getting business used to be traveling around every other week, flying all over the country

Sean (39:56): Right.

Ray Edwards (39:56): Going and spending all day and have being in the presence of these physicians and hospitals and teaching him how to do the stuff he's good at. And he can't do that anymore.

Sean (40:05): Right.

Ray Edwards (40:05): But now because this technology, he's growing his business again. That's a legitimate use of the technology.

Sean (40:11): Absolutely. That's impressive.

Ray Edwards (40:13): So some of these things that we're talking about here, we're gonna be talking about at our summit coming up. It's about using AI in your business. And we're focusing mostly on ways you can use it legitimately. Not promising you you're gonna make a fortune, you're gonna make a whole big pile of money off AI.

Sean (40:27): I mean, this is yeah. I mean, it's kind of something you alluded to earlier is like just the we've all seen on Instagram and TikTok everyone claiming how you can get rich instantly by using AI tools. I mean, that's just that's just a new spin on an old thing, you know, it's

Sean (40:38): like get rich

Sean (40:39): get rich quick with this new gimmick. And that's that's not the way to

Ray Edwards (40:44): No. But if you want tools that can make your life better and easier, you can do more and better work, Not so you can make the grind harder and just work twelve hours a day and just get more stuff done. That's that's stupid.

Sean (41:00): Yeah.

Ray Edwards (41:00): You need to build in margin in your life. This can let you do that.

Sean (41:04): Right. Yeah.

Ray Edwards (41:05): That's been our experience. We'll be sharing that on the summit. We got other people gonna be on the summit as well, teaching you. People like Michael Hyatt, Pat Flynn, Stu McLaren, Blake Erickson from scaling.com, who works with Doctor. Ben Hardy.

Ray Edwards (41:20): There's so people who are doing incredible things with AI that I think will be beneficial to you and it's free. So it's totally free. Just go to rayeedwards.com/rsvp.

Sean (41:33): Nice.

Ray Edwards (41:33): And you can get in for free. We love to spend three days with you and teach you how to use AI. So get your free ticket and come and learn how to use AI to make your life better, easier, and more fun. I mean, me, Sean, I think you've seen this. This got me interested in my business again.

Ray Edwards (41:51): Yeah. And I got excited again, and I started playing with the tools

Sean (41:55): Yeah. Absolutely.

Ray Edwards (41:55): Making things happen, and it's been so much fun. It's also been I've run into some problems because I did things too quickly. I'll talk about some some of the things you some of the some of the stupid things you don't wanna do done them. Be careful who you listen to online.

Sean (42:10): Yeah.

Sean (42:10): I mean, seriously.

Sean (42:11): Totally. Absolutely.

Ray Edwards (42:13): Okay. Well, so I'm gonna we talked about man.

Sean (42:19): We just need to wrap her up.

Sean (42:20): Yep. Time to go get some of that delicious coffee. Yeah. 77. I need my morning news.

Sean (42:26): There we go.

Ray Edwards (42:27): Alright. Alright, everybody. We'll be back again next week. We'll tell you more about the summit, what's going on there. Until then, remember, I love you very much and not in a weird way.

Sean (42:36): Not in a weird way.

Speaker 8 (42:41): Thank you for listening to the Ray Edwards Show.

Sean (42:44): Find the complete archives of all episodes at rayedwardspodcast.com, or subscribe for free through Apple Podcasts and never miss an episode.

Speaker 8 (42:54): This program copyright Ray Edwards International Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Sean (42:58): Each week, we bring you a message of prosperity with purpose and freedom. Remembering the true freedom is available to all. Through Jesus Christ.