AI workshops for media and publishing businesses: which training fits your editorial workflow?

Your team writes the same things every week. Article summaries, cover copy, catalogue entries, media releases, contributor briefs. The work is repeated, but the drafting still starts from nothing each time. For a media or publishing business, the training that works is built around one repeated editorial task, your own source material and a reviewable output. That is how we run our four-hour Sunshine Coast workshop and our private onsite sessions.

We teach business owners and teams how to use AI on the work their business repeats. We build the training around your business tasks, your source material and the output you need. Bring one task that wastes your time.

Key takeaways

• Bring one repeated editorial task. Your task determines the training example, not a generic demo.
• The workflow is written as five inputs: Context, Task, Source, Rules and Output.
• Every draft is checked against the material you supplied before anyone signs it off.
• The public workshop runs four hours in person, costs A$495 including GST per person, caps at 15 paid attendees, and the date is to be announced.
• Private onsite training is scoped around your team's tasks, experience and location across South East Queensland.

Which repeated editorial task should you bring to an AI workshop?

Bring the one you do most often and dislike most. Your business task determines the training example, so the work you bring is the work you leave with instructions for.

Pick a specific piece of work: a summary for one article, a blurb for one title, a reply to one contributor question or a weekly rundown for one section. Bring the information needed for that task. Real notes, the approved facts, the style points you already apply.

If the job runs through several stages, choose the drafting step first. You can build the instructions for that step without connecting every system in your business. We help you build and test a workflow you can use again.

How do five inputs turn an editorial job into a workflow you can run again?

The five inputs describe the job in a form the assistant can follow, and they give you the basis for checking what comes back. They are Context, Task, Source, Rules and Output.

• Context describes the business, the customer and the situation.
• Task names the job the AI assistant needs to do.
• Source supplies the notes, documents or approved facts for that job.
• Rules set the limits and identify the missing information to flag.
• Output describes the format and the information the finished draft needs to contain.

For an editorial job, Rules is where your house style, your legal limits and your do-not-invent line live. Keep supplied figures unchanged and flag missing information. Output is where you say the length, the structure and the fields every draft has to carry. Write the five inputs before you paste in your source material, and the same instructions run on next week's job.

How do you check an AI draft against your own editorial sources?

You check the output against the information your business supplied. Nothing else counts as a check.

Compare names, dates, figures and claims with your source. Recalculate totals. Check that the draft answers the request and stays within your scope. The person responsible for the work approves the final version.

When the draft carries something your source does not support, point to the unsupported claim. Supply the missing fact, or ask the assistant to leave it as a question for you. Check the next draft for the same problem. In the workshop, you test the workflow on a safe example and check the result against your own source material, so you practise the review before it matters.

What happens in the four-hour Sunshine Coast AI workshop?

You spend four hours on one repeated business task and leave with a workflow you have tested. You build on your own laptop with hands-on help, and you keep the instructions and the example you tested during the session.

If your business sits outside the region, you can travel to the Sunshine Coast for the public workshop. Join the waitlist.

Can you run private AI training for a whole editorial team onsite?

Yes. We bring private AI training to your workplace and build workflows your team can use together.

We help your team agree on the source material, the instructions and the review process for a repeated task. That agreement matters more in an editorial team than in a solo business, because several people draft against the same style and the same approved facts. We scope private training around your team's tasks, experience and location.

Private onsite AI training is available on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Noosa, Moreton Bay, Logan, Redlands, Toowoomba and Gympie. Sunshine Coast onsite training covers Maroochydore, Caloundra, Mooloolaba, Buderim, Birtinya, Nambour and Coolum.

Training takes place at your workplace. Sessions are scoped for roughly 4–20 people, and larger teams can be split across sessions. Each person brings the laptop they will use afterwards, and we confirm tool and account requirements during scoping. People from other areas can travel to the Sunshine Coast public workshop instead. See private AI training for how we scope it.

How does a hands-on workshop compare with online AI courses for media?

They answer different questions. Online media programmes teach you the field. Our workshop builds one working process on your own task.

The Independent Publishers Guild runs a six-part series of AI short courses from its Place for Publishing Excellence. 1 Those short courses build on the IPG's existing AI training and assume a level of knowledge and experience. 2 They are led by George Walkley, an independent strategy consultant and an expert in publishing and AI, 3 who in 2023 developed the first independent, CPD-accredited training course on generative AI designed specifically for the publishing industry. 4

Coursera's AI in Media specialisation covers three courses, spanning AI applications in media with practical insights and a high-level strategic overview of the field. 5 It is designed for media professionals, business leaders and anyone interested in how AI is changing the media industry, 6 and focuses on practical concepts, real-world applications and strategic thinking rather than coding or technical implementation, so learners from all backgrounds can take it. 7 Learners complete three applied, peer-reviewed projects: an algorithmic recommendation strategy for a streaming service, a generative AI integration plan for TV production, and a business and compliance strategy for a media startup. 8 Each task develops critical thinking, ethical evaluation and practical innovation for real-world media contexts. 9

Our four hours run on one task you brought, with your source material on your own laptop. You leave with instructions and a tested example, not a certificate.

What do published AI-in-media programmes say AI changes across publishing?

They describe change across the whole chain of work, from data analysis to discovery to boardroom accountability.

The Coursera specialisation states that the media sector is undergoing a profound transformation driven by artificial intelligence. 10 Its participants start by deconstructing recommendation engines and understanding how organisations like Netflix and YouTube use data to maximise engagement, 11 then move into the creative side of generative AI and the tools used for synthetic imagery, video and audio, alongside debate about the nature of machine creativity. 12 On completion, learners can analyse how AI is transforming every stage of the media value chain, from development and production to distribution and monetisation. 13 They understand how recommendation algorithms drive personalised content delivery at platforms like Netflix, Spotify and YouTube, and how to use generative AI tools strategically across text, image, video, music and games. 14 They can also assess AI's impact on creative roles and employment, identify the risks of disinformation and bias in AI-generated content, and make informed, risk-weighted decisions about AI adoption. 15

The IPG short courses split the change by function. One 90-minute session, led by publishing technology expert George Walkley, is aimed at anyone wanting to analyse sales, marketing, audience and operational data without becoming a data scientist. 16 It is tailored to the needs of independent publishers and designed to help them see their data more clearly and make decisions with confidence. 17 Another 90-minute strategic briefing, also designed for independent publishers, covers how AI-driven discovery is reshaping websites, metadata and marketing, and what to do about it now, 18 with Walkley explaining how AI-powered systems work and how to approach Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). 19 A third 90-minute session is aimed at directors and senior governance leaders, on how AI is changing strategy, risk and accountability in publishing and what to do about it now, 20 led by Walkley as an experienced company chair, non-executive director and publishing technology expert, grounded in the specifics of independent publishing and real boardroom practice rather than technical theory. 21

Who runs the workshops and what AI work have they built?

We work with business owners and teams across industries, and we build the same kind of workflows in our own work.

We helped automate Radiant Roof Repairs' internal processes using AI. In our own business, Searchmaxxed, we built AI workflows for creating blog posts, doing SEO and preparing custom proposals. We used AI to automate SEO, enquiries and admin for Glen House Homoeopathy.

The pattern holds across trades and services. See the work by sector on our industries pages, including roofing, plumbing and electrical, real estate and accounting and bookkeeping.

How do you book AI training for your media or publishing business?

Send an enquiry, then we talk before anyone quotes a price.

After your enquiry, we discuss your team's tasks, location and experience. We agree on the training scope and prepare a fixed quote. Team size, session length and travel determine the price.

For the public workshop, the date and exact venue are to be announced. Join the waitlist at Sunshine Coast AI Workshops and we contact you when the date is set.

Frequently asked questions