AI for the Rest of Us
Kauaʻi, Kapaa, Hawaiʻi, 2024
By now, most or probably all of us have heard of AI.
The concept is at once impressive and useful, yet also unsettling and, at times, a bit frightening. Some have dabbled. Many are using it extensively. Others are staying away completely. Whether we love it, fear it, embrace it, or avoid it, the writing does seem on the wall, as they say. For the good and bad of it, AI seems here to stay. Hopefully, a lot of smart people are working to ensure AI develops in ways that ultimately benefit humanity and does not become the existential crisis many are worried about. The stakes are clearly enormous. Only time will fully tell where all of this is heading.
It would be impossible to write about AI without acknowledging the controversy surrounding it. Worries about privacy, misinformation, job displacement, and even fears that AI could someday pose a threat to humanity seem to be everywhere. Many of those concerns feel entirely legitimate to me. In fact, part of the reason I became interested in AI was because I wanted to better understand what all the fuss was about. Rather than ignore it or form opinions from a distance, I wanted to try to understand firsthand.
So despite uncertainty and a bit of fear, I began dabbling with ChatGPT as a bit of an experiment. I quickly discovered enormous utility I wasn’t expecting. I slowly started going to ChatGPT for things I’d normally Google. I was intrigued by the depth of information in the responses. Then I decided to see how it would do at helping me create a home workout plan. That process taught me a great deal about its strengths and shortcomings. At that point, I was beyond fascinated by the capabilities. In chatting with friends, I felt both behind the times and ahead of the curve. Many I spoke with had already been using these tools for some time. Meanwhile, others had no idea what all the fuss was about or how AI might be useful in their lives.
By then, the idea of writing a blog had been kicking around in my mind for a while. I couldn’t quite pull my entire vision together. Writing about travel. Learning new things in retirement. Adventure. Curiosity. As I continued utilizing this new tool, I felt increasingly drawn to share what I was learning with my cohort. AI seemed like a potentially interesting layer onto what I’d already been considering writing about. The problem was I had no idea how to get started. What better way to put this new tool through its paces than to see if it could help me create a blog and build a website? The process was not without flaws, as I learned how to ask for the right information, but overall, the results astounded me.
As I’m sure is true for most people, I waded into use of this intriguing tool in a very organic way. I didn’t start with a course, tutorials, or any grand plan. When I needed help researching something, or had a question I might normally type into Google, I’d open ChatGPT instead and ask in the most natural way possible, much as I’d approach an expert on a particular subject. What became clear is that this wasn’t just another app. It wasn’t a search engine. It wasn’t software in the traditional sense. It felt like an entirely new category. Something interactive, adaptive, and conversational. That said, I’m careful not to lose sight of the fact that I’m interacting with a computer system, after all. This is not always easy. Wording, suggestions, and the AI Agent’s “memory” of things we’ve discussed before can make it seem like more than a machine.
One thing I’ve struggled with is what to call it. Chatbot doesn’t seem quite right. Assistant implies it’s doing the work for me. Agent sounds like it’s acting on my behalf. Search engine doesn’t come close to describing the experience. Whatever this is, it feels like an entirely new category. A tool, certainly, but also something that encourages learning, exploration, and discovery. For convenience, I have named it Gepetto, but again, I’m careful not to humanize it.
Gepetto is there on my iPhone and MacBook to help me find answers, sort through information, and think out loud on ideas. I don't feel worried about asking too many questions, taking too much time, sounding uninformed, or lingering too long on a topic. If something doesn’t make sense, I circle back and ask again, without worry about sounding silly. That freedom allows me to focus entirely on learning, exploring, and understanding.
The more I started utilizing Gepetto, the more uses seemed to emerge. I’ve researched questions about Medicare, travel planning, product comparisons, gardening, and blog ideas, often getting answers to questions I hadn’t even thought about. It became a place to sort through information, organize thoughts, and often save me from disappearing down an internet rabbit hole. One question often leads to another. One discovery leads to several more. Instead of ending the learning process, in my experience, AI has taken my learning further. Many people worry that tools like this will replace human thinking. That has not been my experience so far. The more I’ve used AI, the more questions I’ve asked, the more I’ve researched, and the more curious I’ve become.
If your Facebook feed is anything like mine, my interest in AI has resulted in a flood of promotions to my newsfeed. But much of what’s out there to help people learn and understand these tools doesn’t seem aimed at people like me. The articles, videos, courses, and tutorials are often focused on business applications, productivity gains, coding, automation, marketing, startups, and making money. That’s all well and good, but what about the rest of us? What about retirees, empty nesters, lifelong learners, curious people, and those simply trying to grasp how this technology might affect our world and how it might actually be useful?
At this stage of life, curiosity may be one of the most valuable things we have. Aging can sometimes be associated with fewer risks or less willingness to tackle new things because of the learning curve, but I think many in our generation are misunderstood. Learning new things expands our horizons and deepens our engagement with the world. For me, AI falls into this category…learning something new and fascinating. A tool that can explain, research, organize, challenge, brainstorm, teach, and open a door to possibilities, all within the same conversation.
This article isn’t intended to convince anyone to use AI. Nor is it intended to minimize the legitimate concerns surrounding it. Those concerns are real, and many of them deserve serious attention. But if AI is going to be one of the defining technologies of our time, I’d rather understand it than ignore it. I’d rather explore it than fear it. I’d rather learn where it helps, where it fails, what it can do, and what it can’t. For now, I plan to keep exploring.
With curiosity.
