We Weigh Time-Saving AI Against Human Connection, Critical Thinking, And Real-World Impacts

A new year starts with joy and service and quickly opens into a frank, human look at AI: where it helps, where it harms, and how we keep our voice intact. We get real about the moments you feel the machine creeping in: your inbox tells you “AI is your companion,” your tools draft replies before you do, and the pressure to move faster starts to shape how you think, work, and relate.

We walk through the practical wins—offloading repetitive emails, mining spreadsheets in seconds, asking better questions because the grunt work is lighter. Then we press into the tradeoffs. A polished auto-reply is not the same as a personal note. Using AI to rewrite a heated draft might calm the tone, but it can also shortcut the human work of pausing, breathing, and choosing a kinder response. We talk about how these micro-choices train our habits and model emotional regulation for our kids.

Zooming out, we ask harder questions about the costs we don’t see. Data centers consume water and power and are often placed in communities with less leverage. Automation reshapes jobs, pushing us to guide our kids toward resilient, creativity-centered careers where human taste and timing matter—editing, design, architecture, and work that blends empathy with judgment. We share small cultural resets that help: Gen Z’s “soft era” rituals, phone-lock devices, app limits, paper books, and in-person training that respects different learning styles. The throughline is agency. Technology is a tool; it shouldn’t become the author of our lives.

If you’re feeling both curiosity and caution about AI, you’ll find a grounded path here—one that values speed where it serves, draws clear boundaries where it doesn’t, and keeps human connection at the center. Listen, share with a friend who’s rethinking their tech habits, and leave a review with the guardrail you’re putting in place this year.

Transcript

Quilts, Giving, And A Hobby Hunt

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello and welcome to Life on 10. Hello, friends and family. It's Angela and Vanessa. Hello, hello, hello, everyone. I hope that everyone has begun this new year 2026 in health, happiness, and just joy. Joy. Joy. Joy. Vanessa, did you have any um New Year's resolutions or intentions?

SPEAKER_02 0:36

I actually normally I don't, right? Like I just, I don't know. I I I normally just don't even really think about it. But um this year, Robert said he's like, I'm gonna do a New Year's resolution. I never do them. And I was like, oh, what are you gonna do? He wants to finish one quilt per week. One to two quilts per week because he wants to donate them at the end of the year for like the people undergoing chemo, like in the infusion centers or things like that. Or maybe some for like little kids and whatever. So he loves making quilts. So he's like, I'm gonna, instead of like, you know, he had he made four quilts in a matter of like two weeks for a party we gave Moy.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Oh my god, in two weeks?

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Oh yeah, man, he was just blowing through. Wow. So he can do a quilt a week. Like he can spend the time and do a quilt a week. That's not an issue for him. But he's like, I just want to do it because I want to give, you know, the it's a good hobby, and then it'll give. Yeah. And I was like, you know what? I so that is my New Year's resolution is to find a physical, like some type of a hobby. I don't know what it is, okay, but whether it's gonna be anything sounds terrible to me. Like I'm like, crochet, knitting. No, it all sounds absolutely horrendous. So I'm gonna be on the lookout for some type of hobby that I will actually do.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

I think that is fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

That is my my resolution.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

I I'm so curious. I can't wait to find a hobby. We'll see what it is. Which hobby speaks to you?

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Because so far, like I said, everything I put into my brain, I'm like, yeah, nope, nope, nope, that sounds boring. Like it none of it sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Painting.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

No, there's so many things. You know why? Because I this is like it's like a pathology. I go into the thought of the painting, but I my brain immediately leaves the pleasure of doing it and goes immediately to the mess that will be created or the setup and takedown component. Oh wow. If there was like suddenly poof, a paint thing with all the paint that just sat there in front of me and I painted and then I walked away and it cleaned itself. Sure, I'd love to do that. I don't want to put in the effort that some hobbies require. That's my problem. I think it's like I'm a pit the epitome of laziness, I guess. I don't know. I am so lazy that I don't even want to do the work is required for some hobbies.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So you need a hobby that you just walk in and walk out.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Yes. Walk in and walk out. No setup, no takedown, no cleanup. I just show up and it's there, and then I walk away and go done.

Intentions For 2026 And Advocacy

AI’s Push Into Daily Work

SPEAKER_00 3:17

That's it. So that's a break for that. We have to brainstorm that one. Um anybody has any ideas? Yeah, let me just know if you have any ideas. I can't think of right now. Um, so I do not make New Year's resolutions, I make intentions. And so 2026 for me is going to be about advocacy, continued health, focusing on being healthy, and um abundance. Nice abundance, abundance. To that point, today's topic is advocacy. That's what I'm labeling this um tirade I'm about to go on. I'm gonna call it advocacy. It's advocacy. I want to talk about AI and technology. So I know Vanessa has a different view.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

And we've talked about this a couple times over the year. This is deeper, but Angela has gone deep and she is she's gonna bring it.

Time Savers Versus Human Voice

SPEAKER_00 4:15

This is deeper. There's so many levels to this AI stuff, too, um, that I find very disturbing. And one of the things that I'm observing is how it's being pushed upon us with such rigor and and force. Even hospital, the hospital system I work for, when I turn my computer on and it's telling me to use co-pilot to write my emails or telling me messages like AI is your companion, it is eerie as fuck. Okay, it is so it is so out of the movies. If you've the movies from the 80s where it paints the future, yeah, this is what it reminds me of. Why the message, just the message, just the way you're saying, AI, audience. I promise this is the truth. The message is AI is your friend, a co-pilot is your friend. Use it to partner with. It can reduce the time of whatever task it is telling me. Yeah, I feel like that is so there's something very wrong with that. Okay, that that's that's my first thought. The other thing is why would I use artificial intelligence to write my email? I can think for myself. A big part of being human is this beautiful brain that we have. So now you're encouraging me to stop using this brain. You are robbing me of my individuality and my self-expression. What about critical thinking? What are what what is going to happen to our children down the road if they're not using their critical thinking skills? I'm relying on artificial intelligence. I okay, I I have so many things. I have a client who said to me the other day, I thought I was gonna lose my freaking mind. She said, I put my goals through Chat GPT and asked it, how did I do this year? I feel like there's something wrong with that. She she asked Chat GPT, I had these goals. This is what I accomplished this year. How did I do? Okay. It's not a sentient thing. Yeah, no, I know.

unknown 7:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Now let's get even deeper. What about the cases of two children that I know of who took their lives because of whatever AI they were using? Okay, go, Vanessa.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Defend it. Wow. Wow, that was a mic drop. Here you go, Vanessa. Okay, so I've got the hot potato in my hands. I'm tossing it back and forth. Um, so I am not disagreeing with anything that you said, Angela.

unknown 7:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Critical thinking, all you know, all the above. What I use AI for is in repetitive tasks that waste a huge amount of my time that take away from my ability to spend more time thinking critically about big problems, bigger problems, and interacting with people and developing relationships. So, my job, that's what the most important thing is, is to make sure that I am building relationships, that I'm thinking critically and strategically about how to, you know, improve quality or or um, you know, grow business lines or service lines or whatever. Okay. So if I have and the number of emails that I get every single day is insane. It's, I mean, if I turn away from a second, like when I'm done with this, I'll go back to my email and I'll probably have 30 emails with things that I have to do. And some of them are due right now. Like, I need you to reply to this, I need you to do this, I need you to do that. So when I go and I can ask, press the button for AI to write a pleasant response to this email, like just a response, it will take the context of the conversation that was there. Hi, Sarah, thanks for you know, asking me this question, et cetera, et cetera. And it gives you kind of like a bare, you know, if the request was, um, could you take a look at this and get back to me? Let me take a look. It literally will say, Let me take a look and I'll get back to you.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Okay.

Data Mining, Copilot, And Speed

SPEAKER_02 9:30

And then I can just read it real quick. Yeah, sounds good, and then press send. So it literally saves me time. It's just it, um am I gonna use it for if um, you know, somebody, I don't have AI write like an uh an email of when I when I tell like I get a good patient review for a doctor. I don't say, write a nice comment to the doctor. No, because I know that I want to put my feeling into it and they know how I talk. So I write the email the way I talk. Like, hey, Dr. Jones, they way to show up for our patients. You rock, love everything that you do every day, right? AI doesn't sound like that. AI sounds more professional and more whatever. So it I do that. But if it's a um, hey, we need, you know, just quick replies, it's great. It saves me so much time. The other thing it does is it analyzes data rapidly. Okay. So I had to make a decision on some information based off of a whole bunch of numbers that were in an Excel spreadsheet. And the amount of time it would have taken me to review all of that data and come up with a like a financial analysis and would have taken me a long time. So I took that file and I fed it into Copilot and I used Copilot. Copilot now had all the information. So then I asked questions and I was able to ask it questions. What would happen if I did this? What can you find the top 10 doctors that do this based on this data? Who are the ones that I need to focus on? But and it would be like based on this, you know, I've analyzed this data, and this is the answer to your question. I still came up with a question. Okay. I'm the one that has the idea and the thought process, but it did the data mining for me so that I didn't have to do it.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

Those are ways in which it is become all it almost will make it so that you will suffer in your job if you are not working with AI. At the there are going to be people that work with AI and are able to get work done at a rapid, at a pace so much faster than you because they're using the tools that are at their disposal.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Great example. Yeah. That's a great example. That data mining is someone's job.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

That's it. So it is actually, it's not for me.

Jobs, Evolution, And AI Proof Paths

Creativity, Limits, And Human Nuance

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Not for you, however. Data mining is someone, someone does. Yeah, uh, there is a person that actually that's their job in in an organization and a company. In fact, my my nephew is a data scientist. So that is one of the things. So I'm just saying, yeah. So the thing about AI, I just want, I mean, it's not that I can stop it. It's here and and people love it, and I'm sure it has value, um, especially what you just shared. I want people to ask questions, though. I would love for us to have discussions around the data centers. Where are the data centers being built? Well, they're being built in neighborhoods of people of color, of course. What are those data centers exposing those neighborhoods to? How much water is it costing to run these data centers? How much electricity is it costing? I want us to ask questions. I feel like this is a uh a strong, strong push to use this technology when it has not been vetted in the sense of how is this going to impact humanity in the long run? Yes, short term, it's almost like what are we sacrificing for convenience? What are we sacrificing for convenience? We're not asking the hard questions. And I know because I've done the research that the people behind this great force to have AI everywhere, they have their own motives for this. And trust me, it is not, it is not, they're not concerned about humanity. Let's just say it like that. They're concerned about how wealthy this is going to make them. So it's our job. I feel like it's our job to ask hard questions for our children and not just accept that this is good because they say it's good. No, I I totally agree. I feel like it's a manufacture need. When I what do I mean by that? Hey, yay, you can write your e you can write your email faster. Okay. Is that a necessity? It's one thing that Wall Street and and um advertisement the advertisement industry is really good at is creating a manufactured need. It's really not a need, but they're really good at telling you that you need this. You need the shoes, you need the purse, this is gonna make you feel good, look good. It's manufactured. I'm not saying it does not have value. What I would like is for us to slow down and ask questions. Yeah, AI is going to undoubtedly take a lot of jobs away from people. Agreed. And someone will say, Well, Angela, that's evolution, that's how it happens. We don't have telephone operators anymore, right? Yep. People used to being a being able to type was a big thing back in the day, right? Because I remember people bragging about how many words they can type. Yep. No longer. Doesn't matter. Okay. This is a different. This is different. So what do we do about it? I I do not I do not know. I just know that anytime something is being pushed at this, like this level, and it's just being oh gosh, it's it's like everywhere. I'm always cautious. What's the urgency? Why is it being promoted with such vigor? And why are we not asking more questions?

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

I can I could definitely see that. I know that in I 100% understand that in workplaces, the more easily adopted and facile the workforce gets with using AI, that they will be able to streamline and not have as many of the more clerical administrative type positions. Completely get that. And in fact, I um have been like looking around and thinking, I even used AI. You'll you'll love this. I even used AI to ask it, how should I counsel my children to go into careers in which they will be AI proof? Like what type of jobs will my kids should I encourage them to do that you, AI, will not be able to take from them. It was very interesting. All the What were the careers?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

I'm curious.

Manufactured Need And Environmental Costs

SPEAKER_02 17:36

It was so interesting, interesting. It's the interface of one of because I was, I was, I literally I put in characteristics of Selma. I was like, she's 12, she's um very creative, she likes to draw, she likes anime. Like I start putting all these things that she loves in there. And uh, and I said, What are some good you know careers? And they were like, film editing, this type, you know, like if in the industry, because AI doesn't know how long to hold a scene on a woman who's crying and tears coming down her face to get the most human impact. You know, like when you watch a movie and they pan and then they get closer and closer and closer, and then they cut to something else. The AI doesn't know. They're like, oh woman crying, cut next. AI doesn't know. It doesn't have the artistic human sense, the ability to know when is when is a laugh too much. Interesting. When is uh because it's so nuanced and it's so human that AI just isn't there. Now, is that my saying it's not gonna be there? I have no idea. But as of right now, it's not, it's that's something that's just very far away. So it was like, these are the things, like focus on the things that you really need humans for. And so um I I I always thought, like, oh man, they're gonna, you know, they're gonna be able to do drawing and graphic arts. No, because it's creativity. AI only takes what it pools. Yeah. So it takes humans to think of the next new thing that has never been seen before. Because AI can only take what it's seen.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah, it's it's fed, it's being fed. It's being fed.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Yeah. So so those are the things in which I think humans will always thrive is the new thing that has never been thought of. And so um uh that but architect, it even said architect, because it said architect said AI is only gonna be able to draw what has already been drawn. It's only gonna be able to design a building that has already been designed. It could take the best of all the things, but it's not gonna be able to think of a new way to do something. And so they were like, you know, and and how humans wanna interact in that design and how it would flow with the environment or whatever the desires of. the the person were. So yeah, I was like, wow, architect. There were like there were lots of cool jobs that I was like, oh, well that's good to know that there are certain things that are still going to be yeah I able for them to get and do.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

I think that that kind of also you know is is speaking to my point is that you are look you are actually looking to you're checking and researching to see what kind of job will my child be able to have that AI cannot take away you know do for her. Yeah. Like that's to me that's that's speaks volumes like this we're in it. Like we are we are in it. That just proves to me my point is like we are in it. We are thinking already about how do I how do I kind of bulletproof my child so they do not yeah but that means but people had to do that forever.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

Like we've always had to do that. People who would toil the land pulling a donkey in front of having a donkey pull a wooden thing then came the tractors. So you didn't need that anymore right now. So like there's always been jobs or things that humans did that machines came in and replaced.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Yes it's just this is less of the doing and more of the thinking and I think that's the part that's freaking you out well that and questions are not being asked about how it's impacting our environment and that is a big one that I think for me it's like yes maybe this maybe this this you know maybe AI will help me individually my question is okay how is it impacting someone else and our environment it comes down to what am I sacrificing am I okay that this this artificial intelligence can help me individually am I okay with that on the other hand it's hurting someone else and it's hurting our environment so I don't know is that a philosophical question? I don't know.

Emotion Regulation Or AI Rewrite

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Well then I think you could also be like how can it help us solve these big problems? How can AI help us solve answer questions? Like if you like with the like if you think about you know the space program, right? When you had the human computers then got replaced by the computers the computer could do what that human could do so much faster. Right? Now are those people that used to be the human computers any less value? No, they're still amazing people. And then they repurpose them and had them do different things and interact with the computer and come up with the questions. But the well I'll call the like the burdensome stuff that was just things that needed to be done but nobody else could do but these people it allowed it gave them the ability to use their brain for other things.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

I guess that's and and if if okay so that's what you do this is I I'm gonna say like that's what you do. You're the person that says oh no I don't want it to write this email because I want the email to come from me because I want this email to be personal and and truly be my voice that's you I don't I I'm hesitant to think or believe that that's the majority of people and the reason I know this to be true is because already um in college professors are noting that students are using AI to write their papers. Yeah so you have this conscious right you that's you Vanessa yeah I don't have the faith that the collective is gonna approach it in the same way that you do agreed and and I'm not like a saint I also have the other thing I do is I I get a little hot tempered sometimes when I write responses.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

So what I've started doing is I just start pounding back the reply and really angry like I can't believe you asked me this question blah blah blah like like just go at it get it out there but I put all the facts in there like of course I did this blah blah blah why you know like and then I have AI rewrite it for me in a professional tone.

unknown 24:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

I'm telling you it's cathartic and then it gets the point across takes all the facts but takes out the okay the nastiness okay it tones me down so that I'm not beautiful that I'm not let me tell you the human way you can do that is to pause and breathe and do not respond immediately.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Yeah which allows your your allows you to relax right and allows you to address it in a more gentle way so what I'm saying is you're throwing it and giving it to AI when you're missing the opportunity to learn how to regulate your emotions which is a human attribute so what I used to do is I'd write the email and then I would sit on it for a day. Yes and then I would go back and rewrite learning to practice patience and and allow yourself to just process your ro this is so great you're proving my point you're robbing yourself of of a part of what it is to be human and that is to feel to process to learn how to navigate and manage those emotions and not respond that is true. I will give you that and so respond versus react.

Soft Era, Boundaries, And Presence

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Yes how are you going to teach your lovely children that if you're letting AI do it for you how are you gonna say say to them okay I know you want to be I know you want to react to your friend yelling at you or whatever here are some tools or here is the way you really want to respond to her you want to breathe smell the roses blow out the candle yeah it's the human touch that we are sacrificing for this no it's not going away I know that I am just asking for us to ask questions don't just accept this as a God sin ask questions and how do we bend this to our will how do we not become the slave but the master of this you know it's interesting um I think some of the younger generations are actually feeling this kind of hyper um digital fast-paced world that's just overwhelming them and I was reading an article the other day uh talking about um it's a something that you'll hear hear maybe Gen Zers say I'm in my my I'm in my soft era or I'm having a soft something about soft era I don't know I'm clearly aging myself right now but the concept was they were like I've got a book like a paper book a hot cup of tea the TV's off I'm just gonna sit here and read and cozy and be present and not engage. And there are some devices that are being sold that are actually very popular now brick where it's so it's it's a it's like a device where it locks out your phone until you physically take your phone over to it and set it on it to get it to let you use that. So every time you go to pick up your phone it's black screen. And so it has you you have to be incredibly intentional to get your screen up and I have an app called Be Present that I actually use that limits my time on social media apps to only 20 minutes a day. So I I can't I can but I have to go to another screen type in it and it it's so annoying that I'm not worth it's not worth it to me. So if I really really want to do it then I can but for the most part if I'm on it for more than 20 minutes in a day I really I have no need to do that. So it's it's like oh I hit my limit okay and I put it down. Interesting so interesting there are there's a recognition out there that this technology and all this digital presence is hijacking us from our lives. Yes it is so I think that that is there and I think people are recognizing and that's why you're seeing more young people like go back for the nostalgia like where there are people that are putting in hang up phones or creating cradles to hang up their cell phone and leave it there.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

All kinds of ways in which people are trying to disconnect from the digital to be more in connection with people in the present with themselves.

Training, Learning Styles, And Connection

Guardrails, Policy, And Youth Protections

SPEAKER_00 29:55

We're human beings we're social creatures we thrive through connection and it robs us of that it's so much easier to be cruel and unkind when you have when you're talking to someone through a screen. Yeah and I and I know and truly believe that this is also a part of what's happening in not just our country but in the world it takes a lot to be present to feel the awkwardness of connection and and relating to someone it's so much easier to use the phone to text versus actually being present for someone and doing a face-to-face exactly I'm gonna share this I'm gonna share this very quickly and then we're gonna wrap up I have a friend who consults with for an organization and she shared with me that this particular organization adopted a new computer system and all of the training was virtual this the staff multi-generational because remember they're multi-generations in the workplace right now struggled with this adaptation and the people who were providing this service could not understand why they just couldn't get the training it's virtual what's ma what's the matter everyone else you know was able to um master this what they needed was in person armchair training yeah they relied so heavily on this virtual concept that they are missing out on their different learning styles yeah different generations the human connection is what was missing yeah if and they learned so now a part of their program is to first go out and actually see people face to face yeah meet the group that they're going to work with which gives them an opportunity to look at learning styles personalities and and refine that program that to me speaks volumes in terms of how heavily we are relying on this jigital world that we've created yeah agreed and we're and we're missing we're missing this connection we're missing the heart centered connection that I feel we need more than ever right now there is no accident that we are so distant and so distracted from each other AI technology is neutral it's what we decide to do with it. Exactly so where are our guardrails?

SPEAKER_02 33:02

Yeah I think that's absolutely something for us to push for is making sure that there are people there's ethicist involved in every decision point as we adopt and and move the part of the problem is is that usually the government regulates things and the they are not as up to speed as the the you have the best and the brightest adopting these things in the outside the government public space. It's all out there in the private space. Yeah and so the the guardrails on how things are being done and and unleashed are just not as present. Some of the things that I find really interesting and I know I we keep saying we'll wrap up is Australia's limitation of social media. I saw that under 16 France is looking like they're going to follow suit it's very interesting and I I'm I'm hoping that that can kind of continues because I think we've seen what happens when you have unfettered access to anything and everything you could imagine at such a young age before your brains have been developed.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Yeah and to and it's not good. To um to reflect back on our previous episode I also feel like that has something to do with the manosphere absolutely and our boys boys feeling so alone and isolated.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Yeah no 100% it's magnifying it it's absolutely magnifying it.

Closing Resolve And Next Time

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Okay um I promise we'll talk about something lighter next time we will we'll make it fun yeah we'll make it fun next time okay as always live your life on 10 bye bye