Too Old for This AI Crap?

If you're feeling like AI is a step too far, then look what a 75 year old grandmother, who'd never heard of AI, managed to do in a weekend.

Douglas Adams On Age and Tech Acceptance:

"I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and just a natural part of the way the world works.
Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary, and you can probably get a career in it.
Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things."

Douglas Adams was spot on—mostly. But this list doesn’t tell you what happens at 50, 60, or 75.

With my mum as my test subject, I can tell you what’s possible at 75.

**When My Mother Met HARI*....**

This past weekend, my mum and sister visited, and at some point in our conversation, I introduced my mother to two little letters that are reshaping the world: AI.

📌 To be clear, this was an entirely new concept to her. AI hadn’t even been a background noise in her life. She lives in a place so remote that the internet cable literally stops 500m before my parents' house. She’s no longer in the world of work, and while she uses a mobile phone, she’s never really engaged with technology in the way that I take for granted.

But here’s what surprised me—as I explained AI to her, she wasn’t resistant. She was excited.

Could it help her research some history?
Could she ask it questions about my dad’s health conditions?
Could my dad (not a computer user) use the voice activation to find out more about his bees?

For her, AI wasn’t a threat. It was a world of new possibilities.

The Shift from Static Knowledge to AI Engagement

We talked about:

✅ Why AI is different from the static knowledge bases of her day— an encyclopaedia or reference books.
✅ What the limitations of digital sources are and why biases exist.
✅ How styles of relating to AI shape the answers you get.
✅ Why engaging with AI might feel uncomfortable—especially if you’ve never even got your head around texting (no, Mum, you don’t need to write every message like a formal letter!)

In one afternoon, she went from never having heard of AI to being an informed, curious user.
She understands AI’s traps and biases, but she also sees its potential.

Breaking Old Learning Models

My mother grew up in a time when there was a book of answers, and they were not questioned.
Critical thinking wasn’t encouraged—it wasn’t part of the hierarchical, religiously bound society she was raised in.

💡 And honestly? I’d sort of given up on her ever developing critical thinking skills.

But this was different. This was a completely new way of seeing the art of thinking.

This was metacognition and neuroplasticity in action.

The key factors that made this shift possible?
🧠 Novelty → AI was something she’d never encountered before.
🔗 Connection → She was able to engage in a conversation about it in a way that felt natural and social, with someone she trusted.
🎯 Personal Relevance → She could see exactly how it applied to her specific needs and interests.
🎉 Fun Factor → The discovery process wasn’t intimidating—it was playful.

These are the exact factors that help anyone—regardless of age or background—engage meaningfully with AI.

AI Fluency at Any Age: The Key Takeaways

My mother may never use AI every day, but she now understands it. And that’s powerful.

💡 She knows she’s not talking to a person, but that shouldn’t stop her from speaking like one.
💡 She knows AI can mimic emotions but not feel them, so she can avoid dependent conversations.
💡 She knows AI doesn’t have all the answers, but that better questions lead to better engagement and better results.

If a 75-year-old from a pre-digital world can become an engaged AI user in a single weekend, then anyone can. It’s not about technical skills—it’s about how we approach thinking itself.

The Future of AI Engagement

Most people won’t take the time to learn how to interact meaningfully with AI. They’ll stick to lazy inputs and get mediocre results.
But if you’re intentional, engaged, and understand relational intelligence, AI becomes a powerful tool, not just a novelty.

📢 AI Isn’t Slowing Down—So What’s Your Next Move?

If you’re mid- late-career, you might be thinking, “AI is coming, but I'm gonna try and sit this one out.”

Let’s be real—that’s a risky bet.

🚨 The workplace is evolving, and AI is moving faster than past technological shifts. Ten years ago, we didn’t have large-scale remote work, smartphones with AI assistants, or real-time generative tools. What will the next ten years bring?

Hiding from AI now will make the transition harder later. But the good news? You don’t have to become a tech expert to stay relevant.

The biggest career advantage right now isn’t technical skills—it’s knowing how to engage with AI intelligently, without fear or resistance.

👉 If my 75-year-old mother can learn to use AI meaningfully in a weekend, so can you.

📌 The real issue isn’t AI itself—it’s the mental resistance to one more jump.

📌 But refusing to engage puts your years - or maybe decades - of hard-earned expertise at risk.

📌 You’ve already proven you can adapt. There's a good chance you’ve already navigated some of the biggest technological shifts in history.

✅ You might remember the internet being a novelty (I do!).

✅ You found your way round integrating mobile technology.

✅ You learned new ways of working with digital tools.

🚀 Why let AI be the thing that trips you up? AI fluency isn’t just a technical skill—it’s a leadership skill. The leaders who understand how to integrate AI intelligently will be the ones shaping the future of work. If you’re not part of that conversation, others will decide how AI affects your industry, your role, and your future. Some will say this is a threat, but I say it's an opportunity to keep growing, keep leading, and keep multiplying your impact.

You’ve already proved you can evolve alongside tech. This is just one more step.

But if you sit this one out, you risk undoing a career's worth of good work and expertise.

🔹 AI isn’t the enemy.

🔹 Change isn’t the enemy.

🔹 Avoidance is the enemy.

AI isn’t here to erase what you’ve built— but it sure can amplify it!

You don’t have to be an AI expert. You just need to understand how to engage with it in a way that keeps you at the top of your game.

And if my 75-year-old mother can make that shift in a weekend, so can you.

🚀 Are you ready to step onto the roundabout, or are you letting this be the thing that sidelines you?

📌 And if you want to learn how to engage with AI like that? I have a program for that. 😉 Visit https://leadingmind.zone and click HARI AI Training for more info.

*HARI stands for Human-AI Relational Intelligence, and it is the SECRET SAUCE for our times.

🚀 **Curious? Let’s talk. **