Throughout the 2010s, we shuddered at the plague upon our Facebook feeds, courtesy of well-meaning but out of touch family members. Let’s face it, we all were victims of being tagged in family photo albums we didn’t even consent to be in.
How many times have you had to untag yourself? Be honest. Now, just as we have finally learned to mute our notifications, a new playground for our favourite aunties and uncles has emerged: AI.
For once, this usually tech-confused generation seems to be at the forefront of this frontier. From generating slightly uncanny videos of family members to creating mini feature-length films, AI has become their canvas, but beyond these generic applications, what other ways can aunties and uncles mold AI to their advantage?
In the before, there was WebMD and Healthline. “I have a headache and my toes are unusually puffy, what does it mean?” The internet would tell you that the end is near (or name some obscure disease that has been extinct for several decades).
Now, simply insert your symptoms into your AI agent of choice and watch the words fly by the extra large screen with your diagnosis. A word of caution, waving your phone screen in front of your doctor might not get you the results Gemini so lovingly says you will.
“Why is my phone making this sound?” AI for our elders has now turned into their very own mediator between them and their smart devices. Search engines never seem to tailor their answers as well as their favourite niece or nephew and Lord knows they never respond fast enough.
Be it birthdays, invitations, or complaints, we all know our elders have much to say, but sometimes struggle putting their thoughts into words. “Hello, please help me explain why I cannot attend this dinner without offending them.”
With AI, all they have to do is simply tell the digital butler what to say and to whom to address the message to. Now, they can take a deep breath and relax knowing their Saturday evening is free to rewatch Bridgerton.
Opening up Google on your smart device can be such a hassle. First you must open up your web browser, then type your question, then click “Did you mean…” because the keyboard is also so small and hard to read, then you have to sift through the answers before you’re satisfied.
Why go through all that trouble when ChatGPT can answer your questions on voice assist just by clicking on the blue button?
“Is seeing a cat in my dreams good luck?” “I dreamed I was falling down a cliff when I landed on a cloud.” Dreams, once conversation starters, are now objects up to interpretation. Maybe there is a hidden meaning behind all of it.
Before, a dream of honey and wealth was coming your way; a dream of being chased and you’re actively trying to break out of bad patterns. Now if you have a dream you can make neither heads nor tails of, simply describe it to ChatGPT and watch the agent spin a fairytale wilder than the dream itself.
We all know that leaving our elders on delivered for more than five minutes often leads to phone calls demanding you check your WhatsApp right now. But when the message is a shaky image taken at a 46-degree angle of an unnamed insect with a corresponding “What is this?” while you’re in the middle of your internal audit, AI can feel like a gift.
Most of the time, it’s really just lint. Better to have a “trustworthy” source like Chat tell them that than you!
Sometimes our brains work faster than our vocabulary databases. Gone are the days of awkwardly worded, misused, and misunderstood big words we used to sound smart.
Now, AI can craft the perfect lecture for you. Just offer it a tone, a vibe, and maybe even the backstory of who you’re trying to impress, whether it’s your Facebook followers or that one rival aunty at the kitty party.
As people, it’s normal for us to have crash-outs. Most of us let off steam at the gym or by joining a sound healing session. For our elders, this form of release almost only comes from a heated dispute.
And, hey, since the app is already open and catering to all your qualms, why not spice things up? “You never make time for me” has now evolved into “this is not what I asked, you never understand me”, but who’s really complaining?
Superstitions and their solutions are part and parcel of the desi experience. We roll our eyes when our parents tell us that some aunty or uncle or the other mentioned wearing a red thread on your wrist can temper the mercurial nature of Mangal.
Now, with all the knowledge in the world, ChatGPT (or Claude, if you like your superstitions cited) can do the work of a pandit ji and tell you exactly what donations you have to make for the next mahadasha (planetary phase).