If you’ve been following along, then you know that I’m a new empty nester on a personal transformation journey from paranoid technophobe to occasional AI user.

And I gotta be honest with y’all. This past week was a setback in my cyborg-ization process. 

I barely used AI at all.

Why? Well, there are two reasons.

The first is that we got a new puppy. It has been a long time since we’ve raised a puppy and let me tell you, it has definitely livened up our empty nest. 

The second reason I barely used AI? Frankly, I got kind of annoyed. You can’t go anywhere without hearing about AI lately. I even put a cuss word in my Instagram reel about it (shhhhh… don’t tell my parents). 

Wanting to escape the hype, I spent some time with more analog options. Paperback books. Paper journals. Pencils, pens. Puppies. You get the drift. 

Now the big question: Will I continue using AI?

Yes. It’s a useful tool and isn’t going away anytime soon.

But my main boundary? I won’t use AI for actual writing because the writing process itself is good for my brain. Gotta keep those neurons firing, gotta keep using this vital organ that’s nestled in my skull. Exercising my ability to think, to express, to create. 

AI can replace a lot of things, but it can’t replace the innate value of mental work. Or the beautiful, messy chaos of real life. Puppies included.

Here are some other things I’m thinking about this week…

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Something New:

• Hollywood celebrities embrace AI. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em? Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon recently made a controversial statement: women should learn AI or risk getting left behind. And Practical Magic star Sandra Bullock expressed similar sentiments about AI adoption: “It’s here. We have to just be friends with it in some dark way.” But perhaps the strongest statement comes from the late Val Kilmer. Before he died in 2025, Val Kilmer signed off on a Western starring an AI deepfake version of himself. The title? As Deep as the Grave. Guess that’s one way to live forever. 

Something Old:

• Telephone directory books. In ancient times, before the Internet, giant free directory books called the Yellow Pages and White Pages would be delivered to our doorsteps. The Yellow Pages listed information for every known business by category. The White Pages listed every known resident by name, phone number, and address. Such an invasion of privacy, right? Still, it was nothing compared to what Google, facial recognition, GPS, and social media sites have on us. At least the phone book didn’t show satellite pictures of our houses.

Something Inspiring:

• A resurgence in people reading printed books. Remember when everyone was concerned about e-books putting paper books out of business? Well, it almost happened. But thanks to Gen Z and Millenials, print books are making a comeback. Just scroll through #booktok and #bookstagram hashtags, and you’ll see thousands of people (many of them Gen Z) reading, displaying, collecting, and promoting actual paper books. An inspiring trend, for sure.  

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Alright, that’s it for now. Join me here next week for more.