Why I do this

I've spent forty years watching people meet intimidating new technology for the first time. The technology keeps changing. What people need in that moment mostly doesn't.

Patrick Curry smiling at his desk, arms crossed, bookshelves behind him

I've started three companies — First Resort Software, Blue Tent Marketing, and FootSteps Marketing — and before any of that I was a professional tennis player, which is its own kind of preparation for learning things slowly and in public.

What connects them is that I've spent my working life at the point where new technology meets people who didn't ask for it. Sometimes that goes well. More often it goes badly, and usually not because the tool was bad.

Sopris.ai is my attempt to make it go well this time. If you're curious about AI but not sure where to start, you're exactly who I built this for.

The Roaring Fork Valley beneath Mount Sopris

What I believe about all this.

Nobody has AI figured out, including me — and I'd be careful with anyone who tells you otherwise. What I do believe is that this should start with you rather than the technology: what you're trying to learn, make, or solve, and only then whether AI is any help. I believe you should bring more of yourself to the work, not less, because your judgment and your voice are the parts worth keeping. I believe you learn this by trying things and watching some of them fail. And I believe the point isn't to become good at AI. It's to become more capable at whatever you were already doing.

What I won't promise you.

I won't promise overnight mastery, sell you tools you don't need, or pretend AI is magic. I won't tell you it'll do your job for you, and I won't tell you it can't. Mostly I'll tell you what I've seen work, what hasn't, and what I'm still unsure about.

What to expect

You bring the work

Not a hypothetical exercise. A real project, a real problem, a real question you've been carrying around.

We try things

Some work right away. Some don't, and figuring out why is usually where the learning happens.

You leave with something

Not just notes. Something that works, and enough understanding to do it again without me.

Occasional notes on using AI well.

Practical ideas, what's working, what isn't. Every couple of weeks. Unsubscribe anytime.