I’m sure someone else has thought about this already so maybe I’m thinking someone else’s thought ten years after them? The future is here and was laid out by the likes of Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and yes even Elon Musk.

I have recently been engrossing myself with AI which is good because I need a project to keep my mind occupied. Unfortunately the friends I try to express my excitement to clearly do not share my enthusiasm, and why should they when they have a life? This technology is getting apocalyptic reports that it will end mankind when it becomes sentient and it has already reached that point according to Blake Lemoine.

This might give you the shivers. In one year the technology will quadruple.

For me I see something different. As a sixty six year old I am acutely aware of my aging by way of aches and pains. Less mobility. In preparation I’ve even gone so far as to put up rails in the house to help navigate stairs where none had been before. A precaution for the future.

Every day, except Sunday, my friend Jose comes by to “see if you’re still alive”. I usually am. While my health is generally pretty good except high cholesterol, there’s no doubt I’m getting older and anything can happen. I, like many seniors, am alone, by choice in my case so reader if you exist, do not dispare. What if I were to suffer a stroke or other life altering event?

My house is filled with Amazon Echo devices and I don’t need a phone to call someone. Simply tell Echo to call or send a text and it will from the available contacts I allowed from my phone. But wait, there’s more!

One of the devices I have that I consider mostly useless, for the moment is the Echo show. This is a 10 inch monitor mounted on a speaker. The monitor follows you around the room and unless disabled, can hear and see you, though not perfectly. Very soon devices like this will be in many homes, especially seniors. Here is some info on where this is going.

In the morning an AI generated human looking avatar will appear on the screen and gently wake you up by asking how you’re doing. It will tell you how you slept generated from the smart watch and will remind you to take medication and monitor if you have. The smart watch you’re wearing will transmit your vitals to the monitor. Having arrhythmia? The avatar will appear and ask if you need a call to a medical professional who will then appear on screen. Need an abulance? One will be called for you. Have you taken a fall? The smart watch sees that too.

Amazon, or course, has a program called Alexa Emergency Assist. This from their website, “You’re better prepared to get the help you need in an emergency. Saying “Alexa, call for help“ connects you with a trained Urgent Response agent who requests dispatch of emergency services and passes on critical information from your profile to first responders. Your designated emergency contacts are informed through alerts whenever a call starts and ends. You save precious time and gain peace of mind.” Eventually this service will be handled by AI.

Dear human. I’ve noticed a slight sag to your left eye and an irregular speech pattern which may suggest a stroke. Would you like a medical consult?

Are you lonely or just want conversation? Have ideas no one wants to hear? An AI generated friend, like Replika will appear on screen to engage with you. When I step out of my house onto the patio another device will pickup my presence and continue to monitor. Even today medical appointments are via zoom. For someone like me who lives hours away from my doctor this could be a good thing. Now I go to the lab here in Mexico and have my blood drawn. The same day the results are sent to me via Whatsapp which I then send to my medical team. My scale also calculates body fat etc which is stored in an app that can also go to the doctor. They can adjust any medication I have and it arrives in the mail.

I need new glasses and my Medicare Advantage provider has an allowance for that. I went the optician in Mexico the other day and for $15.00 he gave me the prescription which I uploaded to the eyeglass provider who then made the glasses with the frames I picked out on line. It took about 10 days from start to receiving the glasses. Soon the prescription will be done via the device in the house. A prompt from the avatar will suggest your left eye site has degraded from previous prescriptions and an update should take place. Offers of frames from perfered sources are to follow. Even an offered upgrade in lenses to include progressives for a slight additional charge.

I have my annual physical appointment on the 28th which will mean I’ll take a four hour shuttle ride to Phoenix, then an Uber to the clinic. While there, the doctors will look at concerning spots on my arm, it is sunny southwest after all. I’ll get x-rays of a bad shoulder, maybe a hip. They’ll tell me I need to lose more weight before they consider replacing my knees. All this will take an hour then it’s an Uber back to the shuttle and a four hour ride back home. The cost will be about $200.00. The VA for me is free.

I can’t get past the x-rays and a more personal consultation, however if this is only once a year I’m good with that. Still it seems insurance companies will be hungry to save money by having all the work done by AI and statistics. United Healthcare has already gotten into a bit of trouble for using analytics to decide when a patient has spent enough time in the hospital and discontinue coverage.

Imagine this. A car warranty will cover items that are properly maintained such as oil changes and transmission flushing. If there is no documentation these have been done, the claim will be denied. What if insurance companies start deniying claims based upon the data you’re uploading. Our smart watch shows exercise, heartrate and other vitals. The scale data says you’re obese. Your credit card reflects purchases of tobacco or alcohol products. Cookies and saturated fats. Will the healthcare coverage be declined? Should it be?

Right now the screen on my Echo is telling me I should be ordering bike peddles because I did once before. Also personized recipes which of course will provide an opportunity to purchase ingredients from Amazon. I’m glad I don’t need opioids.

I look forward to an unexpectedly beautiful woman appearing on screen expressing her admiration for my genius. And that I don’t look a day over sixty five. Or how funny I am. I’d pay for that. It’s cheaper than a flight to the Philippines. It’s coming to a screen near you..

Today 02/13/2025 is almost one year since I wrote this. This morning I had a full conversation with Gemini, the Google AI agent. She asked what books I was reading or listening to. What music. She suggested podcasts. I asked how bird flu affected eggs. It doesn’t it seems except to raise the price when millions of chickens are killed.

Eggs in Sonora are raised locally so may not be affected.

The AI voice had an ethnic accent.

She stopped talking when I ceased communication. I like her. There’s a movie I never saw called Her. Joachim Phoenix is the protagonist who falls in love with an AI voice. I totally get it.