Lazy Sunday Conversations About the Future (and AI)

This morning, Bob and I had a conversation about the future of humanity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). You know, your typical lazy Sunday morning pondering.

To be fair, “conversation” might be generous. It was more like dueling monologues—two people taking turns sharing opinions while pretending to listen. But our communication habits are a topic for another day.

I don’t want to get into the complexities of AI’s potential impact on politics, finance, or society. And I certainly don’t plan to give the big tech broligarchy any more attention than this one sentence. Today, I’m staying in my lane as a slow living strategist—just setting the stage for AI as a tool to make life easier, not scarier.

In the corporate world, there’s a favorite phrase that gets tossed around like a beach ball at a staff retreat:

“AI isn’t going to take your job. But someone who knows how to use AI will.”

That’s probably 80% true, depending on your line of work. Over the past six months, I’ve gone from never using AI at all at work to using it every single day—for writing, brainstorming, summarizing, even rewording awkward emails. It’s not replacing me; it’s just helping me work faster, cleaner, and with fewer exasperated sighs. This tech is moving fast, and it’s shockingly good at the kinds of tasks we humans used to think were uniquely ours.

Outside of work, though, you get to decide how much (or how little) to use AI. And that’s an important distinction. You can absolutely opt out of it—though it’s worth noting that many of the businesses you already interact with (banks, hospitals, airlines, your local library catalog) are quietly using AI behind the scenes. That doesn’t mean you need to become a robot whisperer overnight. But it does mean it’s worth getting familiar enough that it doesn’t feel like magic—or menace.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share a few simple, real-world ways to use AI tools that make everyday life easier. No tech degree required, and no evangelism here. You can take what’s useful and skip the rest. I’m not here to convince you; I’m just offering you a peek into what’s possible.

To start, a quick level set: there are many kinds of AI, but the one you’re most likely to meet is called a large language model (LLM)—that’s what powers chatbots like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and X's Grok.

These tools let you interact in natural language—which just means you can talk to them like you would talk to a reasonably polite coworker or your favorite barista. Ask questions, brainstorm ideas, or get a summary of an article you didn’t finish reading. The “generative” part of generative AI simply means it can create new content—words, images, code, even songs—based on what you ask for.

Most platforms have a free version and a paid version. You can start with the free one. Seriously. Don’t overthink it. Between now and next week, take a few minutes to explore one (Google them!) that fits your comfort level and curiosity. Think of it as meeting a new tool, not a new overlord. (I use ChatGPT at home and Microsoft Copilot at Work, both paid versions.)

Next time, we’ll talk about the art of prompting—how to ask AI for what you want in a way that actually works. (Hint: it’s not about being nice, but nice doesn’t hurt.)

In the meantime, take a breath. Humanity’s going to be okay. AI can’t garden, walk your dog, or make a decent raspberry milkshake—yet.