Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Hello, friend, and welcome to Imagine the Possibilities.
[00:00:14] Thanks for joining me today.
[00:00:17] Over the course of my lifetime, I've watched technology evolve at an incredible pace.
[00:00:23] I was there when mainframe computers were used mostly in business, science and banking.
[00:00:29] Apple started in 1976 with Apple One.
[00:00:33] They released the Macintosh in 1984.
[00:00:38] In between those two dates, IBM announced IBM Personal Computer or PC.
[00:00:44] August 12, 1981 was the actual date, and IBM made that announcement at New York's Waldorf Hotel.
[00:00:53] With those announcements, computer technology moved from something that was generally unavailable to most people to something that began showing up in more and more households, along with small businesses and maybe most importantly, schools.
[00:01:11] There was another evolution going on that revolved around portable phones.
[00:01:16] First was the bag phone.
[00:01:18] But the evolution didn't stop there. It continued through the cell phone. And now that technology is available to all of us. We call it a smartphone, and it's quickly become something that most of us carry around in our pocket.
[00:01:35] I need to tell you a little story about Mr. Technology and my new smartphone.
[00:01:42] It was the first one I owned and I went to the AT&T store and a young lady waited on me and explained all the features and functions of each phone available. And I settled on a Samsung model.
[00:01:56] We did all the paperwork and all that stuff, paid for it, and I was off with my new smartphone.
[00:02:05] It probably took me all of 20 minutes, maybe a little bit longer after leaving the AT&T store to manage to lock mine up to the point I couldn't use it at all.
[00:02:20] Now here I was, had this new phone and all this new technology in my hand and I couldn't even make a phone call with it.
[00:02:30] So it was back to the AT&T store.
[00:02:34] I walked in and found the lady who sold me the phone. I told her my issue and handed her my phone.
[00:02:41] And about, I don't know, 10 seconds later, she fixed it and handed it back to me.
[00:02:48] Asked her to show me what I had done wrong. It seems that I had somehow managed to put it in airplane mode.
[00:02:56] She went on to say, people that are new to smartphones do that all the time.
[00:03:02] Now I, I appreciated her saying that, and I don't know if it's true or not, but it did make me feel a little less of a dummy.
[00:03:15] Even after that, I was still having a hard time using it. And again, all this technology, all these things it could do, and I didn't know how to take advantage of it.
[00:03:27] I was talking to my son that evening and he said, you know what? You're looking at it wrong. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, you need to think of it as a computer that's able to make phone calls.
[00:03:41] Problem solved.
[00:03:45] Here's just something to think about.
[00:03:48] The smartphone that we carry around with us on a daily basis has more technology and computer power than all that was available to NASA when they put a man on the moon.
[00:04:03] Now, on to buying my first personal computer.
[00:04:09] It had a 64k motherboard. 64k of memory.
[00:04:15] The computer I use today has 32 gigabytes of memory.
[00:04:20] That difference is almost impossible for me to comprehend.
[00:04:25] I watched Internet connections evolve from telephone modems to fiber connections capable of moving huge amounts of data.
[00:04:36] I've seen bag phones become cell phones and cell phones become smartphones. And now we find ourselves talking about artificial intelligence.
[00:04:51] Some people are excited about it, some people are concerned, and a lot of people are both.
[00:04:59] And honestly, I understand why, because every major technological advancement seems to bring both opportunity and uncertainty.
[00:05:14] Before I moved into the IBM PC division, I was on a temporary assignment working in the support center that helped IBM dealers solve technical problems.
[00:05:25] After work, it seemed like several of us would go out to dinner together, have a bite to eat, and then head back to either the office or to one of our rooms to talk about our day.
[00:05:36] Sometimes those conversations were about calls we had taken and what the actual resolution was. Kind of a mini training session. But generally, at some point, those conversations would turn into a session about where personal computers might take us.
[00:05:55] Now, none of us doubted the business applications. That seemed totally obvious.
[00:06:02] What fascinated us was the home market.
[00:06:05] We realized that IBM was about to place computing power in the hands of people who had never used that type of technology.
[00:06:15] And we wondered, what would that mean?
[00:06:19] And how would it change people? How would it change the way they worked?
[00:06:24] How would it change the way people learned and the way people communicated?
[00:06:31] Shortly after getting our first PC, my son told his mom and I that someday we'll be able to communicate with other people using it.
[00:06:41] He also said that while doing that, we'll be able to see them on video in real time.
[00:06:47] I thought it was a bit of a stretch, but it wasn't long before it was true.
[00:06:52] How about the way people live?
[00:06:56] Looking back, those were pretty good questions.
[00:07:00] And as I think about artificial intelligence today, I find myself asking similar questions.
[00:07:08] Most conversations I've been involved in about AI seem to revolve around questions like, is it good?
[00:07:16] Is it bad?
[00:07:18] Can we trust it?
[00:07:20] Will it replace jobs?
[00:07:23] Those are all reasonable questions, but I wonder if they're not the most important question.
[00:07:29] Sometimes we ask one question when another question is really driving the conversation.
[00:07:35] The question behind the question.
[00:07:40] And for me, that question became, what are the strengths and limitations of this tool?
[00:07:47] Because every tool has strengths and every tool has limitations.
[00:07:54] One of the strengths of technology is its ability to help us accomplish things that once seemed impossible.
[00:08:02] I know that personally.
[00:08:04] My cancer journey included robotic surgery.
[00:08:08] Radiation treatments, MRI scans, PET scans, and recently a DNA test that was designed to look at genetic markers that might help identify treatment options at the molecular level.
[00:08:24] The technology behind those advances are remarkable, and for that, I'm grateful.
[00:08:32] But technology has limitations.
[00:08:36] The MRI didn't decide what treatment I needed.
[00:08:40] The PET scan didn't explain my options.
[00:08:44] The robotic system didn't care about my future.
[00:08:49] People did.
[00:08:51] Doctors did.
[00:08:53] Families did.
[00:08:55] Friends did.
[00:08:57] Technology provided information.
[00:09:00] People provided understanding along with their wisdom. It helped guide my decisions.
[00:09:08] Which brings me to something I've thought about often over the years.
[00:09:14] Information, understanding, wisdom.
[00:09:20] They're not the same thing.
[00:09:23] Information gives us facts.
[00:09:26] Understanding helps us interpret those facts.
[00:09:29] Wisdom helps us decide what to do with those facts.
[00:09:35] Artificial intelligence can provide information at an incredible speed.
[00:09:42] Understanding still requires effort.
[00:09:46] Wisdom still requires experience.
[00:09:50] And that leads to another question.
[00:09:53] How will this tool change us?
[00:09:56] Calculators changed how we perform math.
[00:10:00] GPS changed how we navigate.
[00:10:04] The Internet changed how we access information.
[00:10:09] Smartphones changed how how we communicate.
[00:10:13] Artificial intelligence may simply be the next chapter in that story.
[00:10:20] And yet there's things that technology can't fully replace. It's impossible.
[00:10:27] Empathy, Compassion.
[00:10:32] Relationships.
[00:10:34] Success and failure, Growth and reflection.
[00:10:40] Love and faith, sacrifice.
[00:10:45] Artificial intelligence can discuss those things, but from my perspective, it does not experience them.
[00:10:56] There's a difference between describing a sunset and standing on a beach and watching it happen.
[00:11:04] There's a difference between explaining grief and losing someone you love.
[00:11:11] There's a difference between talking about faith and leaning on faith during the difficult moments of life.
[00:11:19] So can the two really exist?
[00:11:22] Technology and humanity.
[00:11:25] Capability and responsibility.
[00:11:28] Convenience and connection.
[00:11:31] I believe that's one of the defining questions of our time.
[00:11:35] As I think about artificial intelligence, perhaps the most useful thing we can do is what we've done with every major tool that's come about.
[00:11:46] Learn what it does well, understand where it falls short, and be thoughtful about how we choose to use it.
[00:11:58] Over the years, I've learned that the challenge was rarely the technology itself.
[00:12:03] The challenge was usually understanding its strengths, recognizing its limitations, and learning how to use it wisely.
[00:12:14] Perhaps the most important question isn't what AI will become.
[00:12:20] Perhaps the most important question is what will we become.
[00:12:27] AI may be able to imitate conversation, but it can't replace wisdom, compassion, lived experience, or the human soul.
[00:12:42] Until next time, stay humble, be kind, love unconditionally, and laugh often.
[00:12:51] Remember that your future belongs to you.
[00:12:54] And never forget this. You are enough, you are worthy and you are seen, and you will accomplish remarkable things.
[00:13:06] As always, I wish you much success.
[00:13:10] Have a super day and may God bless you in a super way.
[00:13:16] Thanks again and God bless.
