Local Relationships: The Key to Thriving in an AI World

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“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.” – Mahatma Gandhi

I was out walking Cooper last week when a neighbor stopped me and asked me what I thought about AI. She and her partner are retired therapists. They have a brilliant young son who works in high-tech so I think she was looking for reassurance more than she wanted information.

In my middle class neighborhood in Seattle, there’s a lot to worry about these days. The layoffs at Microsoft and Amazon have hit hard. They are posts in the grocery stores about eco-anxiety groups. The school district is worried about measles outbreaks. Folks are wondering if Seattle is on the short list for an ICE surge.

But amidst all this uncertainty, I witness concrete examples of people offering to help, creating systems to protect the vulnerable, coming together to make life easier, and celebrating the things when things go right.

As an engineer, I can think of many ways AI will change things but I am not a prognosticator. This moment with AI feels a lot like when the Internet was new to businesses. Everyone raced to get a public facing website up and use all the new HTML codes as they were released. Kinda like all the AI offerings and proliferation of bots we see now.

But as the 2001 Internet bubble burst attested, no one really knew how the Internet would be used. It has come to showcase some of the best and worst of humanity. I suspect AI will do the same.

As we carried our portable chairs away from the Seahawks parade last week, Miss O said to me, “I love our community.” I asked if she meant Seattle. “No, Seattle is good but I meant all the people we met at the parade.” In the three hours we spent waiting and waving, we formed bonds with others by sharing our space, snacks, and footballs.

So I told my neighbor that I think that AI doesn’t change the fact that our biggest impact is rooted locally and in the here and now like it was for us at the parade. We can find our inner peace, cultivate our faith in God and others, and keep showing up. I believe that it’s important to work to advocate for the environment, businesses and government we want. But what makes an immediate difference in our lives and in the lives of others is creating relationships, showing kindness, and doing the next right thing. And AI doesn’t change that.

P.S. One thing that keeps me hopeful is the amazing podcast conversations I’m lucky enough to have with people whose stories reflect their struggle – to survive, to understand, to thrive – all while sharing what they’ve learned. In tough times like these, episodes like these keep me believing that love will win.

(featured photo is a red heart that provides a beacon of hope in our neighborhood)

65 thoughts on “Local Relationships: The Key to Thriving in an AI World”

  1. I can resonate with what you said, Wynne. I think the birth of AI is the same as the birth of the Internet. It’s how we use that matters, and still, we are here–we can still do something for the humanity. Beautiful reflection, Wynne!

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  2. So much hope and positivity in your post Wynne which is well received by me. Sometimes though it all gets a bit much and dependent on how much time we have left on this earth, I do wonder whether I will be around to see “their fall”. I hope so but perhaps it will be through my children’s eyes.

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  3. Decades ago in the financial world, a hypothetical model showed the bank could double and even quadruple the insufficient-check fee. Given the customers’ needs, they would still pay. I recall how the corporate attorney deemed unconscionable the idea to dupe vulnerable people into paying more. On that day, good overruled evil.

    The harm caused by AI shows executives have made unconscionable choices. Search the legal actions against the AI industry to gain a sense of the many mothers and fathers who grieve for their children. Check out why prominent workers have left the AI industry. Look into how the AI developers never put in place protective guardrails to protect both children and adults. Find out how executives reversed prior promises and now allow AI to create pornographic images of people based on faces stolen from social media.

    Evil called good, duping vulnerable people, young and old. Scary!

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    1. I agree that it’s scary, Grant. I write as many letters as I can to tech execs and call my representatives. But it’s my interactions with the people in my life that really helps me remember where I can make the best impact. Thanks for the comment.

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      1. You’re welcome, Wynne. Even those with high-tech knowledge keep running into life-changing problems. Why is it that so many people ignore the hundreds of news articles describing these issues? I guess they’re like hungry baby birds, willing to take whatever Big Tech stuffs down their throats with little discernment for the consequences.

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  6. Oh, Wynne…so much to love in this post. Especially this:
    …”our biggest impact is rooted locally and in the here and now…”
    That’s the stuff that’s keeping me sane, or relatively so. Being reminded that there are plenty of like-minded folks banding together in communities all across the country. 💝💝💝

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    1. Yes — that’s the stuff that keeps me going too. Otherwise I get frozen in overwhelm! Thanks for doing all you do because knowing what you do helps inspire me!! ❤ ❤ ❤

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  7. “Our biggest impact is rooted locally and in the here and now.” Yes, yes, yes!! I view AI as a tool that, when paired with human ingenuity, can leverage and launch us into bigger and better endeavors. But, as you so aptly highlight, I also believe community should be the central hub around which all new technologies and developments revolve. Brilliant!

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  8. I appreciate your upbeat attitude and helpful suggestions Wynne. I also have a hard time being engaged when I feel powerless and wonder how to save our democracy. We seem to be at a tipping point with greed, authoritarianism, and corruption of our systems.

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    1. I agree, Brad. When I listen and read the news, I feel the overwhelm. But when I engage with the people in my neighborhood, my hope is restored. So many people doing great things – one small act at a time. It helps keep me going!

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  10. I love Miss O’s definition of community! She’s wise beyond her years. And I suspect you’re right about AI: it will bring about both good and bad. Most people focus on the latter right now, and I don’t blame them, but the optimist in me believes there’s plenty of the former to look forward to, as well.

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  11. This – “I told my neighbor that I think that AI doesn’t change the fact that our biggest impact is rooted locally and in the here and now” – is an excellent point. As we get inundated with this and that bit of horrible news, it’s hard to remember that everything starts locally. I guess we have to start remembering the mosquitos – even small things have large impacts.

    Great post.

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  12. I don’t think I’ve got a lot to add, Wynne. AI is one of the many things I can’t control – but I can control how I respond to it – and will seek to do so with consideration and care. I can also retain the priorities that I keep in my life – which as you suggest relate to people – family, friends, community – and to God.

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  13. Be a rebel and develop friendships and relationships in the community instead of living life online!

    While some jobs will be outsourced to AI and go the way of the old telephone operator or elevator operator, other jobs do much better with the human touch. Yes, many businesses try new ideas to see if they can save a buck or 3 million, some are reverting back to former ways once consumer feedback came in. Self checkouts were being brought in at a fever pace, but many stores are quietly removing them and bringing humans back in. I prefer to deal with a human, AI support can be frustrating in that it often misses the mark entirely, and one still needs human help.

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      1. Many people are already refusing to use AI, so we’ll see how that all works out. It may become ubiquitous in a few years anyway.

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  14. Well, I’m happy to know an optimist like you, Wynne. Today in the Reader I browsed an article about how to make my articles more AI optimized. What did I learn? I learned that simple and quotable should be my goals. (those two sentences were examples of “how to write for AI”) I’m not writing for AI, yet ; )

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    1. Isn’t that interesting? I suspect that search is going to be one of the biggest impacts – creating those summaries so that people don’t read the whole thing. And then places like WordPress where people still write and read in long-form will become all the more valuable!

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  16. Miss O is such an amazing young person in her observation. 💞 What you told your neighbor is so spot on, we can advocate for the world we want, but our relationships are what get us through in this moment. (I’m sure I ‘knew’ you were an engineer but for some reason I’ve been thinking of you as a counselor. Your words wisely guide us and lift us up like a good counselor would.) ❤️

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  17. I can see the advantages and disadvantages of AI. It’s not a black-and-white issue to me since I think there are many shades of gray. That said, it’s a bottle we’ve opened, and I don’t see the genie fitting back in. I just finished an excellent fiction read from Oprah’s Book Club. If you like psychological thrillers, I can highly recommend it. https://www.amazon.com/Culpability-Novel-Bruce-Holsinger/dp/1954118961/

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      1. I didn’t even clarify the main point. Mostly, it revolves around AI, including a fatal car accident where a young man is texting while “driving” the car that his mother helped develop.

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  18. “…what makes an immediate difference in our lives and in the lives of others is creating relationships, showing kindness, and doing the next right thing. And AI doesn’t change that…™

    AmenWynne! AI can never replace AR – Authenic Relationships

    Keep Looking Up ^ … His Best is Yet to Come!

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  19. I like your take on AI, Wynne. It is how I feel about it. We’ve this before with the Internet age and then social media. A lot of buzz, controversy and noise and ultimately taking a human and community-centred approach is what will bubble up to the top. I see a lot of good in it and also the need to address the challenges and concerns.

    I sure hope Seattle will not fall prey to the surge of ICE. They seem to be targeting the blue communities. But you’re a strong, outspoken and resilient community! 🙏

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    1. Love how you say we’ve seen this before. It’s interesting to me to think that it’s because we have the Internet that we get to express so many opinions about it. 🙂 And it feels like the stress of our overall situation is coloring how we feel about AI.

      Thanks for your good thoughts and wishes. As with everything – we’ll get through this together! Hope you had a great Family Day! ❤

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  20. I think that you and miss O are a brilliant team for understanding the power of community and neighborhood and things at the local level. this is the heart of things and where things really happen. I’m hopeful for the good of ai and know that it can be a double edged sword, the good with the bad. hopefully we’ll figure out a way to put some fair limits on it as we move ahead and form a peaceful coexistence-

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  21. I like Miss O’s response to you, Wynne. My 8-year-old granddaughter told her 5-year-old sister that, “It’s AI. It’s not real.” To an 8-year-old, AI is part of life already. I remember my daughter and I resisted cellphone for a long time. After we bought the phones and told our friends, one of her friends congratulated her. AI is a large and complex issue. It’s a tool and it has its limitations.

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  22. While I was reading this post, I was thinking precisely at what you shared during the parade. This is irreplicable by AI. And the quote from Gandhi is absolute true, even though in difficult times like those we are living now it is hard to think like that.

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  23. You have made the important distinction between hoping things will turn out well and making it so. The latter is not always easy and we know that many sit and wait and hope, but fail to act. I have a feeling Miss O will take things in her hands and not be passive. Thanks, Wynne.

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  25. The parade story says it all. Community isn’t a city — it’s the people you shared snacks with for three hours.
    The Internet comparison feels right too. We’re in the “everyone put up a website” phase of AI. What it becomes will reflect the humans using it — the best and worst of us.
    Local relationships have always been the anchor. AI doesn’t change that.

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  27. This is so true, “But what makes an immediate difference in our lives and in the lives of others is creating relationships, showing kindness, and doing the next right thing. And AI doesn’t change that.”

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