Learning AI After 50: How I’m Using It in Real Life
When I was in the corporate world, I used to receive AI updates, shortcuts, and demos from one of the people leading the AI charge at work. And there was one consistent truth—I had little to no idea what he was talking about. It was like another language, even though at the time, I was aware of prompts and had tested the waters with ChatGPT.
Fast forward a few short months and I now have subscriptions to both ChatGPT and Claude, which I use daily.
As I’m figuring out how to build a business, I’m realizing I have to be a lot more than a writer, speaker, and educator. I have to be a designer, web-coder, photographer, and then some. So a few weeks ago, AI designed a web page for my site, wrote the code for it, and then created a social media guide. It’s been invaluable.
Many of you know, I launched a Saturday morning newsletter earlier this month. I was excited and anxious all at the same time. In the first issue, I shared a recent adventure with one of my girlfriends during a sip & shop at a local wine store. But in order to get that newsletter out into the world, I had to learn email software, write and design the newsletter, and then actually send it. Were there technical hiccups? You betcha. But it landed in inboxes!
Now that I semi-know what I’m doing, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter for even more book recommendations, thoughtful life anecdotes, as well as general foolishness.
I’ve learned more in the last three months than I did the last six plus in the corporate arena. I’m developing skills and expertise I never would’ve imagined. Now please know, I never want to be a coder. And while I may eventually get the hang of this photography thing—it is also not my forte. But I’m learning and doing.
I’ve also been studying French for about two years. It. Is. So. Hard. I’ve tried online community college classes. A tutor from Preply. Duolingo. Rosetta Stone. Then I paused. And had AI create a complete learning curriculum, including: Specifics on what to read, write, and watch in order to be fluent in conversational French by the end of the year. The biggest surprise—ChatGPT will actually have conversations with me in French. I genuinely did not see that coming.
Maybe learning a foreign language isn’t on your to-do list. But taking care of our bodies is usually on everyone’s. I have successfully bullied my older brother into doing a 10k in October. (More on that in an upcoming post. And fear not, he’s excited.)
I haven’t ‘run’—and I use that term loosely—in over a year. I have arthritis in both knees and a lot of weight to lose. But AI has managed to take all of that into account and create a training plan for my race that incorporates weight training and using my at-home, faux Peloton bike. I will be ready!
And of course there’s travel. I think most people have tried AI for trip planning, and for good reason. It’s helping me find the exact Grecian cruise itinerary—Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, and Dubrovnik—for myself and one of my girlfriends for later this year.
I don’t think AI is going anywhere. And as it gets smarter and more sophisticated, I think we can use it to our advantage—in our everyday lives and at work—but thoughtfully.
AI won’t think or write for me. But I will never be a web-coder and I will always have strategic questions. And those are just some of the areas where AI will continue to help me learn and do.
Are you quietly intimidated by AI? Or already using it in ways that surprise you? Leave a comment so we can help each other figure it out.
