Is AI going to take over?

Straying away from the cats for a hot blog minute. Something that has been trending is AI - it's hard to miss that AI is a thing - it's everywhere! From AI-created images, AI-written programs, and AI-written papers.

I've never been one of the tech-savvy people who need to have the latest and greatest thing that has come out with technology. I fought getting a smartphone for the longest time - I was good with the flip phone that took 20 minutes to write a text as you had to press each key multiple times to get the letter you needed. Now I use my "smart" phone more than Gene does. I still struggle with some things on it, but overall - I use it more than I do a computer.

I always used to say that the technology we have is nowhere close to being perfect or even working correctly 99% of the time, so maybe we should slow our roll on the advancement to bigger, better things with technology and perfect what we have. But what do I know? Granted, there's more money to be made if we roll out new and improved things more often. Sadly, the way of the world is more materialistic than it should be, and people just have to have the bragging rights for the newest thing instead of fixing something; we just toss it and buy a new replacement.

Years ago, when AI was just a murmur on the tech streets, Gene was like, "This is gonna be the greatest thing ever. Robots that do all the work, body parts that are replaceable so we can live forever, what's not to like?!" I was like, you know, that's just taking away jobs - which takes away our financial ability to afford living. More importantly, if we push forward with AI, it's just going to make humans a lump of stupid, non-thinking blobs. We need to be

challenged, we need to think, we need to push our limits. Having something like AI take over is taking all of that away. People will no longer think for themselves, have an opinion, or be able to carry on an intellectual conversation. The world would quickly become a place that I don't want to live.

Now that AI is becoming more prominent in our lives (Facebook with its "Meta AI", TikTok with AI-generated captions, emails/texts with predictive sentencing, Chat GPT (both paid and unpaid), Claude) - it's everywhere and without a choice. Granted, there are some upsides to AI, depending on how you use it and what your intentions are.

I have used ChatGPT (the free version) as a tool to help me brainstorm or get ideas of what to write about, creating unique names, etc. But that's it. There's potential for some really big changes with AI taking the lead in the technical world. Some of it is happening behind the scenes already at medium and larger companies. The average person may not see it, but it's happening and it's a bit scary!

Gene works for a great company and has been there for almost 10 years. He has been on several teams during that time. Recently, he joined a new team - basically the AI division. So he is seeing firsthand how it is changing or has the potential to change things in his company. Gene was excited to be on that team - he is on the leading edge of this new technology, so it is a great experience and looks amazing on his resume. However, the big drawback is the realization that in the distant future, his field of work could be eliminated or cut back to a minimal team of a few people. This was one thing I kept saying: jobs will be taken, and it's not the low-end jobs that no one wants that will disappear. He was adamant that would never happen. Now he sees that the potential is there, and it's scary!

Like most people who have a career in a specialized field, it's terrifying to hear in your 40s that you might not have a job in 10 years. Even though you planned to work until 65, now you're in the "unhireable" group for several reasons: age, skill set, pay rate, etc. Let's also be realistic about the fact that yes, it's discriminatory to not hire based on age - but we all know it happens, and companies find a way to not use age as the reason. That's the last place anyone wants to find themselves. While it's not the end of the world, it sure makes for a stressful time.

Gene and a friend recently got together. His friend, whom we hadn't seen since our wedding, voiced his concern about AI and his job security. He is also in the tech field at a different company in a different industry. Gene is in the restaurant supply industry, while his friend is in the medical industry, but both are on the back end of computer technology. There are no real answers to how likely this is to happen or what will happen to all the people in technical fields. Are they just out of luck and have to find a new field to work in? Will they have to consider early retirement if the day comes when their jobs disappear?

Til our tails cross again,

Mel

Supportive and Loving Husband

As many people know, Gene is less than thrilled about the quantity of cats that reside with us. Sure, he has some great reasons for that. I can't really argue that he truly has allergies to the cats' dander, hair, and litter. That should be his number one reason, but it's closely tied to the expense. Sure, one or two pets in great health are cheaper than raising a child for 18 years. But, honestly - we have more than one or two, several with health issues. We have a handful that are reaching senior age, which comes with more costs and health issues. The other handful are a bunch of younger cats that will all grow old and expensive together.

Nevertheless, he is amazingly supportive of me and all of the cats. Granted, there was a time when he was less helpful. Fast forward many years later, he is much more helpful. There's been lots of compromise (life is truly one big compromise, I guess); he does not do anything with the litter, puppy pads, and cleaning up accidents. He will, if I'm house sitting and can't come home, or am away and he's home and I specifically ask him to deal with something. Otherwise, it waits for me. Which I have accepted - truly hard for me to say it's okay to let it sit. It's time-consuming (I spend a good 45 minutes to an hour a day dealing with the litter boxes/mess). Obviously, the longer the mess sits, the harder to clean and the house smells unpleasant. However, I can overlook that knowing I can clean it up and have the house smelling fabulous in no time.

He cleans up hairballs (probably more than I do), tops off food and water bowls. Usually, this happens when the cats start begging him for food. He is the filter cleaner for the water bowls that have fancy water features. With so many cats, they get clogged daily and need to have a deep clean daily.

Honestly, though, all that is small potatoes in the grand scheme of helping with the cats. The biggest help - he's the medicine man. It's a time-consuming job that requires meds to be given on a schedule. He really didn't want to be the designated medicine person, but when Jasper got diagnosed with diabetes and needed twice-daily insulin shots (12 hours apart) - we had to figure something out.

My work schedule meant that there wasn't a good 12-hour time that worked. I could do either the AM or the PM meds, but not both. Just like too many cooks in the kitchen equals a disaster - multiple medication people lead to missed doses or double doses. He agreed to do the insulin twice a day at a time that works for him. Now we have Clara on a new medicine for her diabetes, once a day but again needs to be 24 hours apart. So he added that to his day. The compromise is that I will be the one to do her urine tests (they are simple enough and only have to be done every 2 - 3 days).

Now we are facing Vera needing a daily dose of medication or an inhaler (to be determined at her upcoming vet appointment). We had previously been told that we may have to administer an inhaler daily for her - which, for a cat who doesn't like to be held in place, will be an entire process. But as I explained to Gene, we are potentially at that point, and he, without question, said - if the inhaler is what needs to be done, I'll do it and work with her to make sure she gets it.

Time stopped for me; I almost fell over when he said that. It means that we could potentially have a lifetime manageable medication for Vera's chronic bronchitis. It will be up to me to find the cheapest place to buy the inhaler and pay for it. As much as I hate to see that cost, it's a good deal! I truly can't wait to hear what the vet says; it'll be nice to not have her coughing and wheezing 24/7. Needless to say, he doesn't hear it enough, and I sure don't say it enough. I appreciate that he steps up and takes care of the meds and minor messes while I'm not home.

So do the cats. Jasper especially loves it, as every so often he gets a kiss from Gene after his medicine is done. The true reality is that each time one of the cats needs meds, they get a few extra pets and love at medicine time - which they all want!

Til our Tails cross again,

Mel

Diabetes stikes again!

Some days, I feel like it's a never-ending loop of going to the vet, stressing about how I'm paying for it, and which cat is sicker and needs to get an appointment. In this last month and a half alone, I have spent well over $1,500 on vet appointments, tests, and medicine.

While I'm trying to cope with the sudden loss of Rollie, feeling like a failure - Clara ends up needing a vet appointment. Some days it's truly hard to determine if this is just her usual MO or if this is a new issue. She never uses a litter box with regular litter in it. We got a special litter box for her that uses these pellets that don't break down when they get wet. The pee filters down to a tray on the bottom, and poop sits on top for me to scoop. It's hit or miss if she will actually use that. More often, she ends up using a puppy pad taped to the floor or uses an empty litter box with a puppy pad taped inside it.

She started peeing in the laundry room in two spots. I wanted to chalk it up to a change in the pecking order with Rollie gone. It unsettles the cats when we lose one, and they all act a bit different. Gene was like, nope, something is wrong. Off to the vet we go, with me saying I absolutely cannot afford this visit. Side note: I generally pay for all the cat expenses, whether it's meds, vet visits, food, litter, or toys. Gene says he'll cover this visit. To which I say, awesome, thanks - BUT it's going to be $200+ knowing it's an office charge and at least pull a urine sample. He still says he'll cover it.

So, we go - where Clara behaves amazingly. Just looking at everyone with her big green eyes, purring and being super chill. We get all the things done: Exam, Urine Sample, Ultrasound, full bloodwork panel, and a complimentary nail clip. Immediately we rule out a UTI, determine that her urine is extremely diluted, and say bloodwork will confirm, but looking like 1 of 3 things - Thyroid, Kidney, or Diabetes. None of which fall into a simple, easy, and cheap-to-manage category.

So we wait a week for blood work to come back. Dr. B calls and says, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she's diabetic." I laugh and say we kind of figured that would be the case. Her brother has it, so it makes sense it's genetic. Gene and I are not thrilled to be doing more daily meds and testing for financial and time reasons, but we are doing it. Like all our cats, she's getting top-notch care, all the love, and has no idea how much it's costing.

Fortunately (I guess?), there's a new medicine for pets that have never been on insulin before. It's an oral medicine given once a day (24 hours apart), we test her ketones with urine testers. So the meds are roughly $250 for potentially a 3-month supply. The ketone test strips are much cheaper, less than $10 for 50 testers. I'm glad now she doesn't use the regular litter as it makes testing her pee very easy!

So, fingers crossed we can continue using this new medicine for her. She doesn't need to go on a strict scheduled diet and can continue being a first-floor cat who goes upstairs for a different flavor of food when she wants.

I know this isn't the last vet appointment we will have, but I would be happy to have a break from all the vet appointments. There are so many other things I want to spend my money on! Bankrolling my vet's office is not one of them!

Hug those fur kids tight, treat them well, and cherish your healthy days!

Till our tails cross again,

Mel