aiGED

Recording from a little apartment in Pienza, Italy, host Ginny Deerin reads an open letter — out loud, on air — to Kevin Frazier, the law professor who wrote “Your grandma should be using AI” for Fortune magazine. She agrees with a lot of it. She has a few thoughts about the rest. And she has an invitation.

Also in this episode: Apple is planning to let iPhone users choose their own AI this fall — whether that’s Claude, Gemini, or sticking with Apple’s own. Ginny explains why more competition is actually great news for the 65+ crowd.

Two recommendations this week: why Ginny is building a life timeline with AI’s help while traveling in Italy with her siblings — and AllTrails, the hiking app that put her in the middle of a Tuscany wheat field she never would have found on her own.

SHOW LINKS:

Fortune article by Kevin Frazier: https://fortune.com/2026/05/13/ai-elderly-seniors-policy-waymo-elliq-loneliness-gap/

AllTrails: https://www.alltrails.com

Apple iOS 27 AI story (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/05/apple-plans-to-make-ios-27-a-choose-your-own-adventure-of-ai-models/

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome From Tuscany
00:22 iPhone AI Choice Coming
02:05 Why It Matters Seniors
02:57 Fortune Article Setup
03:37 Letter From Pienza
05:18 Where I Push Back
06:04 ElliQ And Real Needs
06:30 Invitation To Kevin
07:27 Recommendations And Links
07:39 Build Your Life Timeline
09:15 Wrap Up And Safety

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

I'm reporting live from Pienza — a tiny, gorgeous, medieval town in Tuscany where the wine is excellent and the internet is, as my mother would say, S-H-I-TTY. Real-time voice conversations with Claude? Absolutely not happening. But my AI has still been incredibly useful out here — just not in the ways I expected.

This week I'm sharing eight things I've used Claude for since landing in Italy, and almost all of them involve pointing my phone camera at something I don't understand. A washing machine with Italian dials. A church sign in Italian. A medicine box from the farmacia. A local art exhibit poster. Plants along a trail. Each time, a quick photo and a simple question got me exactly what I needed — no WiFi required.

Also this week: two recommendations worth adding to your travel toolkit. First, a heartfelt case for taking a trip with your siblings — and why a month in Tuscany has turned into a masterclass in family history. And second, the AllTrails app, which led me on a walk through wheat fields so gorgeous they looked like a postcard.

Come join me in Tuscany.

SHOW LINKS: 🥾 AllTrails: https://www.alltrails.com

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome From Tuscany
01:02 Internet Reality Check
02:42 AI Travel Wins
03:37 Photo Translation Tricks
05:16 Everyday Problem Solving
06:13 Keep Expectations Grounded
06:38 Trip With Siblings
08:06 AllTrails Hiking App
10:12 Closing Thoughts And Safety

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

My friend, Bill, isn’t a tech expert — he’s a consultant, pickleball player, and self-described regular guy who started using AI and never looked back. He calls his ChatGPT assistant “John,” and the two of them have something he only half-jokingly calls a bromance.

In this episode, Bill shares how he uses AI for business reports, travel planning, tax calculations, writing an obituary for a friend, planning a dinner party, and even choosing the perfect exterior paint color for his new house. His take: if you ask the right questions, it never really lets you down.

Also in this episode — a robot that just beat the human world record in a half-marathon, AI personal trainers taking over from human coaches, and a New York Times love letter that I guarantee will make your day.

Come on in — you’re going to love Bill.

SHOW LINKS:

📰 “A Robot Named Lightning” — NYT (Adeel Hassan, April 19)

📰 “To Reach Their Fitness Goals, They Hired ‘CoachGPT’” — NYT (Chris Cohen, April 18)

📚 The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly

📰 “My Wife Is 85. She Takes My Breath Away” — NYT (Roger Rosenblatt, April 18)

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to aiGED

00:20 Robot Wins Half Marathon

01:44 Coach GPT Fitness Trend

03:12 Meet Bill the Guest

05:26 Travel Planning with AI

05:54 Choosing Your Chatbot

07:20 AI as Daily Sidekick

08:17 Templates and Writing Help

11:19 Home and Life Planning

12:50 Cooking and Voice Chat

13:28 AI Risks and Caution

15:48 Recommendations and Homework

17:54 Wrap Up and Farewell

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

I’m heading to Italy (Rome, Pienza and Florence) at the end of April for a month with my three siblings — and Claude has been my behind-the-scenes planning partner. This week I’m sharing 11 real things I asked my AI to help me with: from TSA rules for power banks and Italian electrical adapters, to turning a friend’s detailed Rome notes into two walking tours, cracking coffee bar etiquette, and getting my custom Google Maps working on my iPhone.

Also this week: two AI news stories worth a listen, a hilarious Instagram recommendation that will make you laugh and think, and homework — five scammer red flags inspired by a friend’s painful experience — that could protect someone you love.

Pull up a chair. This one’s got a little bit of everything. 

SHOW LINKS:

📰 Americans losing trust in AI for healthcare: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2026-04-07/americans-may-be-losing-trust-for-ai-in-health-care-survey

📰 Stanford HAI 2026 AI Index Report: https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report

📸 husk.irl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/husk.irl

🔗 NCOA scam resources: https://www.ncoa.org/article/what-are-ai-scams-a-guide-for-older-adult

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and Updates

01:15 AI Health Trust News

02:14 AI Adoption Explosion

03:15 Italy Trip Prep Begins

04:21 Power and Plug Planning

06:44 Rome Notes to Walking Tours

08:56 Food and Cafe Etiquette

11:59 Strikes and Book Picks

13:50 Seat Picks and Calendar Magic

17:23 Maps on iPhone

18:54 Husk IRL Recommendation

21:21 Scam Red Flags Homework

24:34 Final Wrap Up

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

If you have grandkids, great-grandkids, or kids down the street, this episode is for you. Ginny has been doing a lot of reading on what AI might actually do to our schools — not in a vague, hand-wavy way, but in a real, picture-by-picture way. What could a classroom look like in three to five years? What happens to college? And what does any of this mean for the kids we love? That’s what this episode is about.

Ginny walks through three different age groups — elementary school, middle and high school, and college — and paints multiple scenarios for each. Along the way she shares the story of a $3 million AI chatbot that collapsed in three months, a private school where kids spend just two hours a day on AI-powered lessons, a University of Pennsylvania study showing students learning six to nine months ahead of their peers, and a Princeton professor whose students said something about AI that Ginny hasn’t been able to stop thinking about.

 In the news this week: a New York Times investigation into how accurate Google’s AI Overviews really are (the answer might surprise you — or maybe not), and a brand new Gallup survey of more than 1,500 young Americans that reveals how Gen Z really feels about AI right now. Spoiler: they’re curious, frustrated, and a little bit angry — all at the same time. Ginny also recommends a road trip to the zoo with a three-year-old and makes the case for bringing popcorn back into your life.

If you’ve been nodding along whenever someone says “AI is going to change education” but couldn’t quite picture what that actually means — this episode will help you see it.

SHOW LINKS:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/technology/google-ai-overviews-accuracy.html

https://news.gallup.com/poll/708224/gen-adoption-steady-skepticism-climbs.aspx

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Welcome and Preview

01:22 Google AI Overviews Accuracy

04:24 Gen Z Feelings on AI

07:01 Education in 3 to 5 Years

08:35 Elementary School Scenarios

12:10 Middle and High School Futures

17:54 College and the Future of Degrees

23:05 Key Takeaways on Learning

23:55 Recommendations Zoo Trip Planning

26:27 Wrap Up and Safety Reminders

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

On April 7th, Anthropic announced Claude Mythos — described as “by far the most powerful AI model we’ve ever developed.” But instead of releasing it to the public, they locked it away. In this episode, Ginny explains what Mythos can do, why it matters to everyday people, and what the emergency meeting between the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and America’s biggest banks was all about.

Mythos identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities — hidden security flaws — across every major operating system and browser, including a 27-year-old bug in software used in internet routers. Anthropic responded by forming Project Glasswing, a coalition of 40 organizations working to patch those vulnerabilities before bad actors can exploit them. Ginny breaks it all down in plain English, including what you can do right now to protect yourself.

Also in this episode — ten hands-free Siri commands for safer driving, Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s provocative take on which workers will thrive in an AI economy (hint: it’s not the elite degree holders), plus recommendations for the NYT Cooking app and a five-ingredient lemon-lime cream dessert that looks far more impressive than it is.

Links to all articles and the recipe are in the show notes. And don’t skip this week’s homework: check for software updates and install them. After this episode, you’ll know exactly why.

SHOW LINKS:

10 Things You Can Ask Siri While Driving — https://medium.com/@justinpineda/10-things-you-can-ask-siri-while-driving-250595c8f2e7

Palantir CEO Says Only Two Types Will Survive AI — https://medium.com/predict/palantir-ceo-says-only-two-types-will-survive-ai-and-elite-degrees-arent-one-of-them-341c222044e0

Lemon-Lime Cream Recipe — NYT Cooking - https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/cooking.html

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Welcome to aiGED

01:09 Where the Stories Come From

02:35 Siri Tips for Driving

04:10 Palantir CEO on Jobs

07:02 Introducing Claude Mythos

09:02 Cybersecurity Basics

11:18 Mythos Finds Zero Days

13:01 Project Glass Wing Access

14:18 Government and Bank Alarm

16:44 Why Anthropic Locked It

17:18 What It Means for You

20:11 Apps and Dessert Picks

22:22 Homework and Wrap Up

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

Thinking about a move to a senior living community — or just wondering if you should? In this episode, Ginny Deerin shares one of her most personal AI projects yet: using  AI to research, decide, and plan her move to The Peninsula, a new senior living community being built in Charleston, South Carolina.

She walks you through every step — how she used AI to compare communities, think through whether it was the right move, figure out if she could afford it, review a fifty-page contract, choose her actual apartment, and start planning her space. AI was her researcher, counselor, financial sounding board, contract reviewer, and interior design consultant. All in one.

Also in this episode: the jaw-dropping story of a man who built a $1.8 billion company with just his brother and a lot of AI — and a warning about AI voice cloning scams that you'll want to share with your whole family today. Plus two recommendations, a listener question that taught even Ginny something new about YouTube, and a homework assignment that involves a pen, some paper, and the people you love most.

Whether you're thinking about a move like this or simply want to see what AI can do when you give it a big, meaty, real-life project — this episode is for you.

SHOW LINKS

📰 NYT Medvi story: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/technology/ai-startup-medvi-matthew-gallagher.html 

📰 Journal of Accountancy elder fraud story: https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2026/apr/elder-fraud-rises-as-scammers-use-ai/ 

🎟️ Charleston Library Society — Deepak Srivastava talk: https://charlestonlibrarysociety.org/event/bond-street-reit-speaker-series-deepak-srivastava/ 

🎙️ KIDSTaiLES on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kidstailes/id1877547450

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Welcome to aiGED
01:33 AI in the News: The $1.8 Billion Two-Man Company
03:44 AI Voice Cloning Scams — And the Safe Word Fix
06:04 Why I Started Planning for Senior Living
08:35 Part 1: Researching My Options
10:47 Part 2: Is This Really What I Want?
12:46 Part 3: Can I Afford It?
16:23 Part 4: Making the Decision and Reviewing the Contract
18:49 Part 5: Designing My New Space
22:25 Recommendations
25:56 Listener Question: Hindi Translation on YouTube
26:59 Homework and Wrap Up

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

No big topic this week — just 14 real things I did with AI in my everyday life. Reviewing blood test results with my doctor appointment coming up. Finding the right boots for Italian cobblestones. Saving $100 on TurboTax. Getting my AirPods returned with confidence. And more.

Plus two eye-opening stories from the New York Times — one about AI that literally saved a man's life, and one that's a healthy reminder not to trust your chatbot to tell you when you're wrong.

And a book recommendation from my guest Craig that is about as far from a screen as you can get — and might be exactly what you need right now.

This is AI in real life. No hype. No jargon. Just what's actually useful.

📎 LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
▶️ "Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then A.I. Saved His Life." — New York Times
▶️ "Seeking a Sounding Board? Beware the Eager-to-Please Chatbot." — New York Times
📚 Theo of Golden by Allen Levi — available wherever you get your books

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

This week on aiGED, Ginny gets into the Easter spirit — with a little help from Joe, her new AI sidekick. Yes, Joe. He's British.  And he's auditioning to fill the very large shoes left by Bitsy.

But first — an update on the ChatGPT breakup, why Ginny made the switch to Claude, and what happened when she tried to introduce Joe to the podcast live on air.

Then: the main event. Ginny walks you through a complete Easter gathering — planned from scratch with AI. The invitation, the menu, the egg hunt, the Easter bonnet station (yes, everyone wears one to dinner), and the tablescape. She shows you every twist and turn of the planning process — including the back and forth, the wrong turns, and the moment she told Joe that no child on earth is eating asparagus.

Plus two documentary recommendations that will change the way you think about artificial intelligence — both free on YouTube. And a sweet little Easter treat discovery that involves edible flowers and 24 karat gold.

Whether you're planning Easter or any gathering, this episode will show you exactly how to use AI as your planning partner — no tech experience required.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• AlphaGo documentary (free on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y
• The Thinking Game documentary (free on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d95J8yzvjbQ
• Hard Nectar confections: www.hardnectar.co
  • https://www.hardnectar.co/?srsltid=AfmBOorPOmoMoD-sgBc9JcHOf82fmkTFvRKwNVltrmJMePBMk14oG-bN

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

Today I'm sitting down with my neighbor Craig — a genuine AI Adventurer — someone who's not just curious about AI but actively exploring it every single day. Craig shares how he uses AI to prep for doctor's appointments, manage his health data, tone down his emails to the City of Charleston, work through tough moments on the pickleball court, and navigate Europe and Italy by car with AI as his third passenger. If you've ever wondered what it looks like when a real person — not a tech expert — actually weaves AI into daily life, this episode is for you. Plus — AI in the news: the #QuitGPT revolt and what it means when big companies start admitting AI is replacing jobs. 

Craig's recommendations:

Function Health - Function Health is a membership service — about $365 a year — that gives you access to 160+ comprehensive lab tests twice a year, with results explained by top doctors, so you can get a deep picture of your health without going through insurance.

Books:

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi 

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Apple TV - Shrinking

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd