Milly, and her dementia, might be teaching me how to cope with AI - and all that uncertainty!
Theme: The Beauty
Quick Take
I can’t predict the future of AI, but perhaps dementia is teaching me how to live with uncertainty.
I don’t want to spend my life preparing for disaster and forget to live it.
Family, real human connection, dignity and love: perhaps I already have what matters most.
My fears about the future
I'm wondering if caring for Milly and learning about how to live well with dementia, might be giving me a head start in learning how to cope with the new and rather disturbing world of AI.
It's only an instinctive thought at the moment, and I don’t want to think too deeply about it, I might start overcomplicating things. So, just some initial thoughts. They might develop.
Although I can be fearful about the future, in the same way I hear too many radio presenters and their callers for me to think it’s just me, I seem to be able to calm myself quite easily by focusing on the things that I focus on for Milly. Her world changes every day but I keep her life simple and filled with loving connections so that she is not bewildered.
My world is changing at a bewildering pace too. What or whom can I trust? Will my children and their partners always have their jobs? What if electricity and water is disrupted because of clever use of IT by mad men?
I don’t understand it at all.
But Perhaps I don't need to understand
Maybe I just need to live how Milly likes to live.
A simpler life, full of connection
Milly always likes a little cash in her bag. She has limited reliance on technology. Her appetite is reduced so she doesn’t need much food. She has a reasonable degree of practical independence. And, above all, she has a life full of REAL people in front of her, sharing time and conversation, reassurance and laughter.
Milly would find it difficult to distinguish what is real from what is artificial, but she doesn’t need to, because she feels safe in this simple life full of routine and loving, physical connection.
Rather than worry about what is genuine and what is being manipulated by those who hold power all over the world, I need to keep my focus on the same kind of life I maintain for Milly.
Learning from Milly
Milly has taught me I can’t prepare for every disaster and that I need to live in the present and concentrate on what matters.
I no longer reject dementia on behalf of Milly. We’ve learned to live comfortably with it and it has not taken over everything that is good in life. For Milly and me, as I have often described, there is a freedom in forgetting.
It feels like I might be able to manage the uncertainty of AI in the same way.
Holding on to what matters
Perhaps that's the head start dementia is giving me.
Not an answer to AI. Not a way of predicting the future. But a reminder of what matters when the world feels uncertain.
To live, not merely survive. To stay connected to people who are physically in front of me . To hold on to our dignity. And to recognise that the things that matter most are the most simple.