I was terrified of it two years ago. I’d read the announcements that AI was the beginning (or end) of civilization as we know it.  And it will change our society, but only in some larger way than cars ended horses or PCs replaced the human workforce. That is, we will still find horses and people useful, just in different ways.

AI will be abused, as all innovations are by the bad guys, and it will change HOW we work.  I trust our society to adapt. My journey from fear to daily use has been rewarding; not because AI is magical or revolutionary, but it can be used to aid my work, including these blogs.  

I started with the free version of Claude (from a company called Anthropic) after my marketing hero Seth Godin recommended them.   When Claude writes with me, it sounds like me. When I share original thoughts (drafts), what comes back is authentically mine—just clearer, better organized.  Then, I edit their edit.  

Then there is its research capacity.   I've used it to evaluate car buying by feeding in my priorities and budget; to understand my blood tests in terms of actions I can take; to help a sibling navigate a health crisis.

Now Claude helps me organize complex business presentations with multiple moving parts, audiences, and objectives. I write the first draft, share my thinking, and it helps me see what I'm trying to say more clearly than I saw it myself. Then I edit again, keeping what rings true and dropping what doesn't.

I've used it for research on social issues I care about—immigration, entrepreneurship, education, community development. It helps me find sources I wouldn't have found, understand perspectives I wouldn't have considered, and organize information in ways that make the complex feel manageable.

I've used it to turn decades of scattered files, calendars, and notes into coherent narratives. Once, I fed it ten years of calendar entries with descriptions of what I was building during those years. It organized that chaos into a readable history of a decade of my life.

In every case, the pattern is the same: I do the thinking. Claude helps me organize, clarify, and strengthen that thinking. The final product is mine, but better than I would have created alone.

Like Mikey with his Life cereal in a 1970s commercial, I say, “try it you’ll like it”.  And if you don’t?  Just put down your spoon.  Nobody’s going to make you eat it.

Peace,

Tim McCarthy  

tim@thebusinessofgood.org 

www.thebusinessofgood.org 

Quote of the Month: Michelle McMahon

 "If you’re in a situation of conflict ... you can’t hold yourself responsible for their feelings. Regardless of how they handle the situation, you need to speak your truth. You need to do it in a respectful way and then walk away knowing that you stood up for yourself." 

---Michelle McMahon

Song of the Month:  "Slip Sliding Away" by Paul Simon

Editor’s Note: 

Editor’s note: This is song matches my mood lately as I ponder my parents’ greatest gift to me – my siblings. Six of their ten children remain and we are now all in our 70’s and can see the “clubhouse”. And so, we share the mental and physical anguish that comes with age a little bit more each day. Thankfully, Mom and Dad’s other great gift was faith which makes “slip, sliding away” a lot easier.

Favorite lyrics: (feel the power of this)

“I know a father who had a son,

He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things he’d done.

He drove a long way, just to explain,

Kissed his boy as he laid sleeping then he turned around and headed home again”.

Listen to the full song here

Book of The Month: "What If It All Goes Right" by Scarlet Keys

Editor’s note: 

I’ve probably read half or more of Baldacci’s books. He’s a terrific storyteller who is able to cover a great range of story types from crime thrillers to historical fiction. This one felt special to me because he engaged me in the lives of two teens and an old book store owner in WWII London. Great read for pleasure and entertainment.

Favorite excerpts:

“Humans make poor gods. We’re just not up to it.”, and

“Pain was a universal connection, everyone felt it at some point in their lives, physically, mentally, and/or emotionally. No one, rich or poor, young or old, was exempt from its claws.”

Read it for yourself here

Truly Funny: 

This story is probably hard to imagine for younger people but our family would go to church Sunday mornings by packing 6 kids in the back seat and the smallest in front between my mom and dad. Getting everyone to get in the car, both ways, was a chore and there were many times mom and dad miscounted and we left someone behind. I was left at the KofC Christmas party one year. When Mom couldn’t find me at home she realized what had happened and sent dad back to get me. I was just having a good time. But the time we all talk about the most was when one of us did not close the door tightly enough and the door opened when my dad turned left after a stop sign. Sheila fell out and I will never forget her chasing our car while we all screamed for dad to stop.