Dear friends & family… we need to talk about artificial intelligence – AI.
…because some people feel like AI just crawled out of a swamp carrying a flamethrower and a credit card scam.
People are terrified.
I literally saw somebody online declare:
“AI is going to destroy civilization!”
Really?
Because last week the same person asked Facebook:
“Does anybody know a good 30-minute casserole recipe?”
Ma’am… civilization was already hanging by a thread.
Can we be honest here?
Human beings have a LONG history of awfulizing and panicking over new technology.
When automobiles first appeared, people thought they were dangerous, unnatural, and would destroy society.
Which, to be completely transparent, after seeing people drive through Walmart’s parking lot… maybe they had a point.
Then electricity showed up.
People were scared of that too.
“Don’t trust it, Earl! Invisible power in the walls? That’s witchcraft!”
Meanwhile today, if the Wi-Fi goes out for six minutes, grown adults start wandering through the house like pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
“No signal… OMG, tell my family I loved them…”
Then came computers.
Ohhhh, people LOST THEIR MINDS over computers.
I remember when personal computers first arrived. I sold, or attempted to sell, Apple computers to people saying the exact same things about personal computers then that they say about AI today.
People said:
“I’ll NEVER use one of those things.”
“If I ignore them, they’ll just go away.”
Now those same people post:
“Sent from my iPhone”
while sitting on a toilet ordering vitamins from Amazon.
Technology always starts scary.
Then eventually your grandmother is using emojis incorrectly at 2 a.m.
“Love you sweetheart ”
No idea what any of it means.
But somehow it feels threatening.
Oh wait! I am that grandmother!
And now here comes AI.
Everybody’s either terrified…
or asking it to turn their dog into a pirate, make me look younger, or to animate Grandma’s black & white 1910 photo.
There is no middle ground.
Some people talk about AI like it is an evil genius plotting world domination.
Friends…
AI cannot even consistently understand what I meant in a “prompt”.
I typed:
“Please summarize my notes.”
It replied:
“Certainly. Here is a gluten free lasagna recipe.”
That, my friends, is not a supervillain.
That is an intern.
Now listen carefully because this part matters:
AI is here to stay.
That ship has sailed.
Actually, the ship has Wi-Fi now and AI is helping navigate it.
The question is not:
“Can we stop AI?”
The question is:
“Will we understand it well enough to use it wisely?”
…and “Will we make the effort to make certain it is safe and beneficial for all?”
…because throughout history, the people who learned new tools and got involved usually did better than the people playing Don Quixote and fighting windmills with swords.
Imagine standing outside in 1985 screaming:
“COMPUTERS ARE EVIL!”
Meanwhile your neighbor quietly learns spreadsheets and retires early.
You are still balancing your checkbook with a pencil and emotional damage.
And look, I understand the concerns.
AI CAN be misused.
Absolutely.
But so can literally everything.
Cars can cause accidents.
Computers can be hacked.
Phones can spread misinformation.
And Facebook comments can destroy your faith in humanity before breakfast.
The answer has never been:
“Ban everything!”
How well did prohibition work out for us?
The right answer is to:
Learn.
Adapt.
Create safeguards.
Use wisdom.
Hold people accountable.
That is adulthood.
Some communities are protesting data centers.
And I understand asking hard questions.
We SHOULD ask hard questions:
How much water are they using?
What about the environment?
What protections are in place?
How does the community benefit?
Those are intelligent questions.
Hold those in charge accountable.
Trying to completely stop AI now is like trying to stop teenagers from making TikTok videos in Target.
That train has left the station.
Filmed itself dancing.
Added background music.
And gone viral.
A smarter approach is partnership.
Instead of screaming:
“NO DATA CENTERS!”
What might be different if instead, you said:
“Okay… if you’re coming here, how do we protect our environment, strengthen our infrastructure, create jobs, and make sure our community benefits too?”
Be part of the solution.
…because if good people refuse to participate in shaping the future, guess who shapes it instead?
People who should absolutely not be left unsupervised.
And honestly, one of the saddest things I see is older adults believing AI is “for younger people.”
No.
Absolutely not.
Listen…
if you survived rotary phones, asbestos ceiling tiles, station wagons with no seat belts, lead paint, secondhand smoke, polyester leisure suits, and cooking casseroles from recipes involving canned tuna and potato chips…
YOU can thrive on AI.
Frankly, you are the toughest generation alive.
AI can actually HELP seniors tremendously.
I should know; I wrote a book titled Artificial Intelligence for Seniors: From Rocking Chairs to Self-Driving Cars, A Beginners Guide to Using AI to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Daily Life
AI can help:
Organize medications.
Detect scams.
Reduce loneliness.
Help with writing.
Research health questions.
Translate languages.
Preserve memories.
Keep people mentally active.
And yes, AI can also occasionally hallucinate nonsense. Or send you down a useless rabbit hole – ask me about my AI and me website build experience.
Which honestly makes AI seem more human.
One time AI confidently gave somebody six historical facts that were completely fake.
I thought:
“Oh good. It already qualifies to argue on the internet.”
This is why education matters.
We do not need blind trust in AI.
We need informed understanding.
Informed understanding with tools is one reason I wrote the book,
“Artificial Intelligence for Seniors: From Rocking Chairs to Self-Driving Cars, A Beginners Guide to Using AI to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Daily Life.”
…because I do not want good people intimidated by technology they could actually use to improve their lives.
The future belongs to the curious, the willing, the critical thinkers.
Not to the fearful.
And maybe this moment in history is not humanity’s “first date” with AI.
Maybe it is more like moving in together.
At first it seems exciting.
Then one day you realize:
“Oh my goodness…
this thing knows all my passwords and finishes my sentences.”
That is when boundaries become important.
So here is my challenge to all of us:
Do not respond emotionally.
…instead, respond intelligently – think critically. (The new buzz word for people not wanting to be Sheeple.)
Learn enough to protect yourself.
Learn enough to benefit.
Learn enough to help guide the future ethically.
…because AI is not going away.
Yet, human wisdom, compassion, humor, ethics, and discernment still matter enormously.
Artificial intelligence may be powerful.
…but authentic human intelligence, combined with heart, responsibility, and common sense…
still matters most.
Thank you, friends and family.
And please…
be kind to robots.
We are all praying they remember that later.
