Writers' Morning Out - Discussing AI with BJ Magnani and Josh Cottrell

Our guest speaker prefers not to record this event, so it will not be available afterward.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. BJ Magnani and Josh Cottrell to a podcast-style discussion on the rather hairy topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it pertains to writing. Catherine Duncan will be our host. We would like to recommend two related links to explore prior to the discussion:

https://the1a.org/segments/what-ai-authored-books-mean-for-the-publishing-industry/

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tYSi5pwImow?app=desktop&ra=m

Dr. BJ Magnani's fascination with toxicology led her to a career in pathology and laboratory medicine. She is currently Professor of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Emerita at Tufts University School of Medicine and writes the Dr. Lily Robinson series about a poison-savvy physician recruited by the U.S. government as an assassin. She currently serves on the board of the Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE) and the New England Chapter of Mystery Writers of America (MWA-NE). You can learn more about Dr. Magnani at https://www.bjmagnani.com.

Josh Cottrell, PMP, is a lifelong learner with a passion for technology and for finding new ways of doing things. After earning a biochemistry and molecular biology degree from Marquette University, he spent the first five years of his career developing tests that detect diseases like HIV and West Nile virus in blood donations. He went on to become a project manager and product development leader for a range of biotech and consumer tech startups, working on everything from cancer diagnostics to Fitbit, AI-powered massage tables, and solar generators. Today, Josh spends his days driving AI-forward projects at Labcorp and his "off hours" helping small companies bring their products to life. One of his newest obsessions is using AI and "vibe coding" to build bespoke software applications aimed at specific problems—including this group's own Writers' Morning Out website and community page. Another such application, www.ripple-vms.com, is a volunteer management platform built for groups that support voter protections, healthcare access, and community outreach.