Opinion

During this season of our lives, Whitnie and I have received so many generous gifts: graduation gifts, wedding gifts, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, and gifts for no reason at all. I am thankful for the gift of salvation, the gift of life (I survived Covid, as did many of my friends and family this year), and I am thankful for my wife. But one gift which I never really thought about—at least not until after Covid hit—was the gift of TIME. Have you ever thought of this?

I presume it comes with age, but lately I have learned to slow my life down. People are always rushing to get somewhere, and I could never understand that. Sure, I’ve fell victim to the rushed lifestyle as well at times, but it’s a habit I am trying to break. Spending a lot ofwhat little time we have - stressed about getting some place is not worth it to me. One of the best things I could have done for my soul was to slow things down. Wal-mart will still be there no matter what time I get there. Supper tastes just as good at 7 p.m. as it would’ve at 6 p.m. and I will admit it takes us three days sometimes to finish a movie.

when I worked at IBM. Business clients were interested because of the artificial intelligence (AI) component that would impact the way their business would remain viable. The projects I was privy to while working there were unbelievable to me. The most impressive were the robots with human intelligence like the barista prototype. The “barista-bot” was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable of every type of coffee and beverage imaginable. Let’s face it; these are the characteristics we look for in the people who serve us foods and drinks. The difference is that robots give exceptional service without requiring a tip. Saving money is just one example of the influence AI has on the future. Are you for AI or against AI? Would you think differently about AI if you were the barista getting replaced by the barista-bot?