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I’ m one year into my exploration of generative AI. It has taken me on a roller coaster ride. Like those rides that spin you upside down and backward leaving you disoriented and nauseous more than thrilled. Not the good coaster.

Still, I’ m doing my best to stay open minded about AI and its positive world-changing possibilities. Brian Rismoen, an OPE shop owner and technologist, has written about AI for OPE +. He sent me this recently:

“ AI’ s true potential lies in its comprehensive capability to understand and advise on all aspects of business operations. By integrating training on business management practices, insurance guidelines, demographic

GLENN HANSEN trends, inventory management, labor optimization, and bookkeeping tailored specifically to the outdoor power equipment industry, this AI model could serve as an invaluable business advisor.”

Who am I to argue with that? At the same time, I read stories like this, from Fast- Company. com( March, 2025):

“ A new scientific study warns that using artificial intelligence can erode our capacity for critical thinking. The research, carried out by a Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University scientific team, found that the dependence on AI tools without questioning their validity reduces the cognitive effort applied to the work. In other words: AI can make us dumber if we use it wrong.”

That“ wrong” use, according to Lev Tankelevitch, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research and coauthor of the study, is when users treat AI as a tool to find information fast, instead of using AI as a thought partner. I’ m willing to wager that more people use AI as a thought replacer, not a partner. I was out with a couple friends for happy hour recently, and a young mom in the group looked at her phone often to check on her teenage daughter. The teen was upset over a boyfriend thing. Unsure on a proper text response to a difficult situation, the mom summoned her ChatGPT work account for help. She’ d done this before and said the AI service“ knows me now.” She cut and pasted the AI-provided text, hit send and went back to her spicy buffalo wings.

Thought replacement. I know, the mom text story is just one anecdote. But those are easy to find.

AI can do a whole lot more, I’ m sure. The trendy generative AI stuff is mostly just that – fun and curious and momentary.

I’ ll be diving into more of the good work being done in OPE by Rismoen and companies like Flyntlok and others.

We should all hope that AI does not suffer the platform decay( AKA,“ enshittification”) that has befallen so much technology. Maybe AI can be a good partner if we use it well.

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