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Paul McCutchen's avatar

You are totally correct. An example is my 95-year-old mother. She lives in the country and the nearest town has about 800 people and that town is 10 miles from her house. She also likes her sports but couldn't always get them on an antenna, so she got a satellite dish. When she runs into trouble, she will call the customer service and there is always someone that will take her step by step on how to fix it so she can continue to watch her sports.

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David Marlow's avatar

That's awesome to hear. Little things in life can mean so much, especially to older people whose world gets a little smaller.

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Peter Stipan's avatar

I love it when a plan comes together… plan A, plan B, etc. It helps us in our relations and that is the human part of adjusting to changes and meeting new people. The coffee cup that I bought my wife years ago has this saying on it: Today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. - it all comes together.

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David Marlow's avatar

It all comes together...indeed!

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Teri Adams's avatar

Nobody has commented on the fact that the theater had two accessible areas for seating! When I was a kid, there was zero intentional accessible seating.

Then there were new laws, protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities. And class action lawsuits to enforce those laws. And still more lawsuits to ensure that people with disabilities can order tickets as easily as non-disabled customers.

The work of lawyers and advocates, for decades, this has come to fruition.

Will the Orange Menace overturn these rights with the stroke of a pen? How far will he take us back?

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David Marlow's avatar

True. Of course still a long way to go. I recall damaging a wheel on her wheelchair trying to push her on the crumbling sidewalk in Milwaukee before we could get to the brand new wheelchair ramp on the curb. The very nice ramps aren’t much good when the sidewalk itself was impassable.

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Teri Adams's avatar

Have you encountered the random power pole right in middle sidewalk, preventing all wheelchair passage? More than once I have to go around an impassable sidewalk by using a driveway to get into the street to get past the sidewalk gap, to get to a place where I can get back on the sidewalk.

Choose your own adventure type stuff!

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David Marlow's avatar

Choose your own adventure is a great way to express it. 😉

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Scott Boddie's avatar

"Society needs people who take care of the elderly, who know how to be compassionate and honest. Society needs people who work in hospitals. Society needs all kinds of skills that are not just cognitive—they're emotional, they're affectional. You can't run the society on data and computers alone."

I think of my son when I read things like this quote.

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Teyani Whitman's avatar

Talking with a human….. ahhhhhhhhh

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Joe Iannone's avatar

Well got your book today David and please do not start the timer as I do have a few others to read but I will because my friend Dave wrote it and I am sure there is value to it. Now to the topic of AI. I just got off a Team Call with a perspective source that we may collaborate with, He has limited knowledge of IT and kept on bringing up AI into the conversation. We can use AI to do that, make sure to talk about AI when you talk with this person yada yada yada. When the call was done and trying to be respectful as I did make sure to explain to him what AI is used for and what it is not used for and my colleague and I just gazed at each other. AI is an effective automation system that AIDS in the accumulation of extensive amounts of normal data and in most cases does it well. What it does not do is replace the Human component who makes the decisions after reviewing the data and results. The issue like the Romans demise in hiring paid mercenaries to protect the Roman Empire eventually was that complacency set in and the hired hand easily took over the one of the world's greatest empires. Watch out for AI and like the internet and any other technology...ask someone that gets addicted to porn, gambling or any other vice that is now simplified in seconds how is that going in their overall mindset and mental health!

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David Marlow's avatar

No pressure at all, though I am excited to hear how you enjoy it. Humans being humane to fellow human beings. That's why we are here. So glad our paths have crossed on our quests!

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Liza O.'s avatar

Indeed. We must not lose our humanity.

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David Marlow's avatar

Humans being humane to fellow human beings. That's why we are here.🙏🏻

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Joyce Garber 🇨🇫 ☮️ 🧑‍⚕️😺's avatar

Yes. To all of that. I am in that elderly category now. And most of the time I don't mind. I can even chat with a live customer rep effectively most of the time. But choose from these 4 options never works because by the time I have gotten to the call in stage it's never one of thosev4 options. I hope AI doesn't take over any more than it has because I need that person who knows that one detail that will fix my whatever conundrum. Gratefully yours, as always.

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David Marlow's avatar

I'm with you on all of this. I would love to have an option that says, if you are a former engineer who has already tried all the obvious stuff, press one for a live person. 😉

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Joyce Garber 🇨🇫 ☮️ 🧑‍⚕️😺's avatar

That would be fabulous indeed. I would use it by association. I have known a lot of engineers. Former engineer is like Former nurse. There is no such animal.

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David Marlow's avatar

Supporting hospital scanners, I found quite the overlap in problem-solving and troubleshooting skills between engineers and medical professionals.

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Joyce Garber 🇨🇫 ☮️ 🧑‍⚕️😺's avatar

My best friend, unfortunately now no longer in this realm, is a nurse and her husband an absolutely legit rocket scientist. Electrical engineer I believe works at JPL. They were there a team. I wish I has a recording of dinner at their house. I still have one in my mind of course. I wish I could add a picture here.

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Joyce Garber 🇨🇫 ☮️ 🧑‍⚕️😺's avatar

They were quite the team is what that's supposed to say.

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