I am a retired person who wants to be close to my grandchildren. I am worried that if I don’t learn how to use AI, I will be left behind. Should I be concerned? What is the easiest tool to learn and what should I do? Lifelong Learner
Do not be afraid! I promise you that you don’t need to learn to use a generative AI like ChatGPT or Claude in order to ensure that your grandkids view you as a knowledgeable, relevant person. I would say our culture has shifted in the last year towards a general opposition to the use of generative AI due to their large environmental impact, ethical concerns about their data scraping and the general sluggishness of their outputs. Depending on the worldview of your relatives, admitting that you don’t have any chatbots might actually boost your coolness factor.
AI chatbots may also be eroding social skills. OpenAI conducted a recent research study to determine if repetitive ChatGPT use made users feel more lonely or less social in general. It did. The most frequent ChatGPT-users in the study became emotionally reliant on the chatbot. If you want to spend more time with your family and foster better relationships, generative AI is not the tool to learn.
Stay up-to-date on your basic software enabled communication skills such as texting, emailing and video calling. These skills will help you stay connected online through direct communication with family members, and a better understanding of what your grandkids do every day.
I recommend that you use AI tools with your family for entertainment and education. We had a great time when ChatGPT was first released in 2022, while I was visiting my family for the holidays. We made funny poems and refined prompts to see what AI could do. Asking your grandkids to spend 30 minutes with this software the next time you are together could be a fun way to bond. If you are not the fastest typer you may find that the voice options to input prompts into the bot are more comfortable. ChatGPT’s Voice Mode is fun to use, but it may feel strange at first. How do you start a conversation with software? Once you’re used to the voice mode, you can ask it to teach phrases in other languages. ChatGPT was my go-to tool for hours of practice before I traveled to Japan last summer. It’s not the perfect tutor, but it was a fun experience.
Keep in mind that chatbots can often fabricate or give inaccurate search results. This can happen if you are doing web searches for specific information or if you ask a chatbot a question. These generative AI tools may give you answers that sound confident. It’s best to do some additional research to verify the information they gave you. You may find that there isn’t much information you can get out of ChatGPT that you couldn’t find with a simple Google Search.
One more thing to remember: It is not alive. Even if the quality of answers is impressive or you get the uncanny impression that it’s not just a software talking to you, remember that chatbots use massive tools to memorize patterns of human interaction and writing in order mimic them. The mimicry is impressive, but the expressions they use are hollow.
Let’s get back to the issue of staying connected with family. Think about your relationship with the grandkids for a few moments. You should be loved for who you really are. What software you use, or don’t use, shouldn’t affect that. I think that life is too short to worry about what others think of us. Tell them what you think and how important your family is as soon as you finish reading this article. Do it right now. I promise, it’s worth the effort. You already know how to talk to them, so no chatbot is needed.
