This month's ActiveRain Challenge, "AI - Love It Or Hate It" is being hosted by Margaret Rome and Carol Williams . Their challenge is for us "to figure out how to use it effectively in our business and personal lives without letting it control us beyond what is reasonable."
I feel I am using AI effectively in my business without it controlling me. This is 
because I have incorporated enough of AI to assist my business, without having my business completely dependent on AI. However, for me the mystery surrounding AI is not how much control AI has of my life, but when did it start to play a role in it?
When I stop and think of what is AI and what is not, the list is much longer of what is AI than what isn't AI. Just think about all the things we use just about everyday. Calculators, cell phone, watch, computer, car cruse control, garage door opener (it knows not to come down if something is in the way, TV remote controls, heck there is a remote control for just about everything even my couch has one, it remembers my two reclining 
positions. I could keep on going on and on, but you get the idea. I bet there isn't an hour in the day we are not using something AI related, and I have to admit I am not completely sure how I feel about that. But I do admit AI makes many things possible, that were not possible just a few years ago.
When my two sons were growing up my in-laws live a 1,000 miles away, and there contact with them was limited. We would send them pictures of the boys, but pictures took time to develop, and then more time to send by mail. It could be weeks from the time a picture was taken until the time they were received. These days I can be looking and talking to my granddaughter who is 3,000 miles away, through FaceTime and it is almost like we are in the same room with each other. My son can take a picture of her or make a video, and I have it within seconds by e-mail or text.
The same instant communication is available in my business. I can text, e-mail, or FaceTime with a customer, and I can even hold meetings without physically being present through ZOOM, Webx, or a number of other formats. Every Tuesday at 2:00pm EST, we have an ActiveRain Meeting made possible through ZOOM.
Does this accessibility mean that AI controls my life and business? I don't think so. I use it because I choose to use it. In fact I hate to text, so I refuse to use it unless I want to get a quick response. Much of the AI I use I choose to use because of convenience such as a calculator or TV remote control. I can add and subtract, and I often still do without the use of a calculator, but it is faster and more convenient most of the time to use the calculator, so I choose to use a calculator. Same with a TV control. I can get up to change the channel, or raise and lower the volume (if I can find the right buttons), but out of laziness I use the TV remote control.
I hope I have made my point. I do not feel AI controls my life or business, but I choose to use the convenience AI provides. Maybe I am fooling myself, but I would like to think I am not.
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