I’m working on the needs assessment → development pipeline with the midwest food hub group. I’m working to publish that workflow ASAP but you can ask David about it or I’m happy to hop on a call and show you. Will be using it also (hopefully!) in the next few months with a FarmOS community as well.
Quick update here, - I just sent this email out to everyone who’s previously indicated some level of interest in this discussion - if you didn’t get this email, and would like to be added to the invite for the the first intro session next week on May 11th (May 12th in Aus) ping me with your email address and I’ll add you - looking forward to seeing some of you next week - cheers!
Hi everyone,
If you’re receiving this, it’s because you previously expressed interest in the [u]OFN AI Community of Practice working group[/u]. We’re kicking off this process with our first Introductory Call on May 11th. This call will offer a chance to get a better sense of what this 2-month initiative is all about, meet Greg Austic, our facilitator, review our proposed agenda for the next 8 weeks, and field your questions, concerns, and interests via dedicated Q&A time. This session is meant to help you determine whether this opportunity is a good fit for you - so no need to feel committed just yet. Bring your curiosity and questions, and we’ll take it from there!
Zoom details are in the calendar invite. We did our best to find a time that works for everyone - no pressure if this one doesn’t! We’ll record the session and share it widely, along with short updates on Slack and Discourse.
To make this initiative as accessible as possible and accommodate a wide range of timezones, Greg, Emily, and I are planning to offer two sessions per week: one at 9am EDT and one at 4pm EDT (days TBD). You only need to commit to one session per week, plus roughly one hour of independent work outside of it. If your timezone allows you to attend both sessions and you’re inclined to, that would cover your full weekly commitment - but there’s absolutely no expectation to do so. Two timeslots a week is simply our attempt to include as many interested people as possible.
What we’ll cover in our Intro Session:
Overview of the experiment | Can OFN power users meaningfully contribute to development using AI coding tools? How do we plan to measure and evaluate this?
What’s in it for you? | New skills, community, peer-to-peer learning, potential stipend
What’s expected? | 8 weeks, ~2 hrs/week, at least 4 sessions attended
Funding | There’s a potential $400 USD stipend for participants; Greg will share details on how to apply
Ethical considerations around AI use | How do we do this well, in a way that aligns with our values?
What’s this going to look like in practice? | A look at the 8-week arc ahead
Q&A | Time to ask questions and decide if this project is a good fit for you
For a little more background on what we hope to cover, feel free to consult the full session [u]agenda[/u].
A note on tools: We’ll be recommending Claude Code as a starting point, but actively welcome use of other AI coding tools, including open source alternatives like Open Code.
Feel free to reach out to Greg, Emily, or me directly with any questions ahead of the session. Looking forward to it!
Cheers,
David, Greg, & Emily
gregaustic@pm.me | david@openfoodnetwork.ca | emily@openfoodnetwork.net
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Agenda for the first ‘intro session’ accessible here. For those that don’t use google drive, here’s the gist of it:
*Goal for the meeting : Each person has all the information they need to answer the following question: What’s the opportunity, do I want to participate?
*
AgendaWhat’s this all about?
See David’s post describing the program and opportunity.
This is a test! Our hypothesis is:
Can OFN Power Users meaningfully contribute to the development of OFN? (beyond the issue queue and feature testing which some already do today)
Success will be defined by the following:
Can participants complete and push to production code for at least 2 issues that are important to them.
Do their contributions accelerate OFNs development (are more issues closed faster)?
Does this degrade code quality (is lower quality code on average pushed to production)?
Is the increase in value delivered by the community offset by a reduction in value delivered by the existing product team (devs, product owners, designers, etc.) due to more code review, more discussion, etc. (are devs unable to complete their normal tasks, given their available hours)?
Ultimately: Is the value to OFN as a platform a net positive or net negative (more good code solving more real issues with equivalent real cost, sustainably)?
What do I get out of this?
Learn how to use Claude Code (or AI assisted coding agent of your choice)
Learn how to pick up and solve OFN issues (and issues you care about!)
Learn how to be a good OFN contributor
Become part of a co-learning contributor group!
What’s expected of me?
Meetings: 8 weeks, 1 hour a week (2 options per week). We expect participants to attend one meeting per week.
Non-meeting Work: 1 - 2 hours of additional work per week
Report Back: Be available to provide feedback for our reporting back to the OFN community
Is my time / effort reimbursed?
We can’t directly pay people for their time. However, if you’d like, you can apply for a small grant using this link.
This opportunity comes via Our Sci, who received a grant from the FLOAT fund to help agricultural tech providers get meaningful work done in their communities. When filling out the application, link to specific GitHub issues you plan to tackle over the coming weeks and describe how resolving them will benefit your work and/or your user community.
What to expect:
Successful grant applicants can expect a stipend of approximately $400 USD, based on full participation in the 8-week course (~16 hours total), with compensation for half that time at $50 USD/hour
A match funding requirement applies, but an in-kind contribution (i.e. your time) is likely acceptable
Funding is not guaranteed! Our Sci will review all applications before confirming awards, and you’ll be notified of the outcome before the official start date. If you have any questions, Greg is happy to answer them during the call.
Finally, other funding ideas are very welcome. If you know of funds or funders that might support this kind of work, let us know - we’d be glad to help put together a proposal.
Playing with Fire: Ethical considerations
Please READ THROUGH THIS for Greg’s perspective on how to use AI safely and thoughtfully. This is Greg’s list, not necessarily an exhaustive list; feel free to find other relevant resources and share them with the group.
We will be using and teaching Anthropic’s Claude Code (very closed source supported by billionaires). Why!?
Using the best tool will help us best test our hypothesis
Open source options are available and will catch up soon (check the Bibliography sections for some e.g.s, along with other resources). We will jump as soon as possible
We will use non-Anthropic specific plugins and features as often as possible so that transition is smooth.
If you want to use alternatives, especially open source alternatives, we welcome and encourage that! It would be great to compare, co-learn, and find better options together.