AI, AI! Where art thou? I’m here – ready willing and able to have my life improved!
When we were kids, we were promised a fantastic future! Experts said 2025 would bring flying cars, robot maids and machines that would do all the work while we relaxed in shiny silver jumpsuits.
Instead, most of us are sitting in recliners trying to figure out why the television suddenly began speaking in Spanish only!
Young people talk about AI like it’s magic. “AI can change your life!” they say. Well, so can prune juice!
The experts say AI can make our lives easier, healthier, and more organized. A personal assistant can help seniors remember appointments. Wonderful!
But I already have a system for that: sticky notes and my friend Carol calling to ask, “Weren’t you supposed to see the podiatrist today?”
I admit I would like a self-driving car but I don’t trust them. I don’t think all their systems work yet. Besides, most of us call Uber if we’re stuck.
Of course, AI can answer questions instantly and that part is impressive. You can ask just about anything like:
1. How long should I bake salmon?
2. What causes hiccups?
3. Why did I walk into this room?
Sadly, even artificial intelligence cannot answer that third question. But they do offer health monitoring.
Smart watches now track our heart rate, sleep, oxygen levels and number of steps. Mine recently informed me that I slept “poorly.” I didn’t need a watch for that. I was there!
The truth is that seniors have lived through enough technology changes to remain calm about all of this AI stuff. We survived rotary phones, cassette tapes, VCR programming, and passwords requiring one capital letter, one symbol, one number, etc., etc.,
We can survive AI.
So yes, maybe AI will eventually help us live longer, safer and easier lives. Maybe one day robots really will vacuum the house, organize medications, and remind us where we left our glasses.
Although, judging from current technology, the robot will probably first ask us to update its software.
