One day in the early nineties, I read a Time Magazine article about this thing called the internet.
It seemed to show a lot of potential, so I bought a book about it — that’s what you did back then when you wanted to learn something. Before long, I was on a dial-up connection, meeting people from across the planet on the web.
I didn’t work in tech. I practiced law for most of my career, but I’ve been an early adopter of new technology throughout my life.
I retired in 2020, after 30 years of working in law, so I was comfortably out of the workforce when ChatGPT was released in 2022. At the time, some people were aghast and predicted an imminent robot uprising. Meanwhile, I was eager to start experimenting with it.
I now use AI nearly every day as my assistant and advisor, but I don’t have to integrate it into a workplace.
Some professionals are nervous that this latest technological revolution will upend their careers, but my years in the workforce taught me that those who embrace change survive.
I was never one to shy away from technological advancements
When I entered the legal profession in 1982, typewriters were on the verge of being phased out, and I was part of a wave of young lawyers who, unlike the partners we worked for, knew how to use a keyboard.
The advancements kept coming. Word processors became document assembly systems. Law books and law libraries became vestiges of a bygone era. At every juncture, a change would be too much for some of the older attorneys, and they’d retire.
Being mid-career, I didn’t have that option. I tried to embrace change faster than my competitors and reap the advantages of beating them to the punch.
I once taught myself about databases and built my own. It was time-consuming but paid off handsomely in the end. By my retirement, I had automated my timekeeping, accounting, case tracking, and document creation. When creating simpler estate plans after talking with clients, I could sometimes finish the documents faster than the client could make it to the parking lot.
AI tools have made my retirement easier
My attraction to new workplace tech didn’t go away just because I retired. When I first got ChatGPT, I played around with it like a new toy, but I didn’t have much use for it.
As chatbots became more common and were built into my browsers, I began using them instead of Google or Wikipedia. AI was faster and more seamless than other tools.
Today, on my browser and phone, I have ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and NotebookLM.
Claude, an AI assistant built by Anthropic, is my favorite. When I need to find facts to use in my debates with other retired men at the park, Claude gets them from Wikipedia for me.
I was taking one of those guys to the Veterans Affairs hospital the other day, and Claude found out for me whether the hospital had WiFi for guests. Before AI, I used search engines for those things. Now I skip the lists of sponsored links and the clickbait articles behind them.
Claude cites its sources, and they aren’t always the greatest, but if something is mission-critical, I’ll double-check what the LLM is saying.
I often ask Claude questions about my health. Its conclusions about causes for my symptoms aren’t always right, but given the scheduling issues, policies, and preconditions of the US healthcare system, I still find it a helpful first port of call.
I know turning to the internet for medical advice comes with risks, but I find it comforting and another arrow in my quiver of managing health as an older person.
Claude’s availability and bedside manner appeal to me, despite the varied accuracy. Claude’s always ready to chat, with no appointments necessary. The chatbot never becomes impatient, condescending, or snippy.
If Claude advises me to check with my human doctors, I do it. The first thing I tell them is what Claude said. So far, their reactions have been bemused but appreciative, rather than resistant.
I’ve seen many waves of new technology, and I’m not worried about this one
Today, there are those who see AI as the beginning of the end for humanity, but among my retired buddies at the park, who’ve seen previous tech breakthroughs come and go, there’s been a collective shrug.
Some take it up. Others, set in their ways, carry on without it. Some worry their children and grandchildren will have employment opportunities taken away by AI, but most are just thankful that, being out of the workforce, it won’t happen to them.
There’s already been much talk of AI replacing entry-level white collar jobs. I spent a career writing briefs that AI could now write as well as most recent law school graduates. It summarizes material well, but I’m not sure it’s sophisticated enough to appeal to the emotions of a judge.
I foresee lawyers being able to use AI tools to save time on research and writing, but I think handholding clients and appearing in court will go on as usual.
I’m a little jealous of the still-practicing lawyers who get to integrate this new technology into their practices. I enjoyed those kinds of challenges when I was in their shoes, and I feel I’m missing out on the exciting ways that AI will impact the practice I spent my career in.
Changes will be wrought by AI, but it won’t be the first or last time that technological change has transformed our workplaces.
As a retiree, AI doesn’t threaten my livelihood or my lifestyle; it makes life easier. For people still on the front lines, as frightening as the changes may be, I think those who learn AI, embrace it, and integrate it into their careers will do just fine.
Do you have a story to share about using AI in retirement? Contact the editor, Charissa Cheong, at ccheong@businessinsider.com
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