A Very Human Moment in The AI Age - The Wilkinsburg, PA Public Library

 Sometimes we just need a bit of human kindness. That's what even the most conversational focused blurb from the ChatGPT prompt might never be able to deliver.

Yesterday was one of those times. Actually there had been lots of those times since my dog Arizona died. 

I had invested in the three-hour journey from Youngstown, Ohio to Latrobe, Pennsylvania in hopes of adopting a small senior dog. That didn't happen. There were seniors but all too large for me to manage. 

Of course, I entered the deepest dimension of lost, both geographically and emotionally, on my attempt to get back to OH.

So, there it was. I was going round and round the PA town of Wilkingsburg. Out of my mind with grief and disappointment, I was beyond the reach of maps, the smartphone and even my knowledge of the area when I had lived there 30 years ago. 

Somehow I got it: Head toward a known, that is the Wilkinsburg Public Library. I had been a regular there when I had owned a house on Marborough Avenue in that town. Maybe access to a computer to create a new set of directions would do the trick. But no, the staff member provided something better. She did the Google search for me. She printed it out. She was calm. That calmed me down. 

Outside on the street I realized the directions weren't clear enough for me. I trudged back up the stairs to the library. At that point another staff member Jeff patiently sorted out with me different routes I could take back to Youngstown. He pointed it all out on maps. I could almost "hear" him listening to me. Together, after what seemed a long long time, we came up with a directional plan. It even bypassed tolls.

Once I did take one wrong exit on the way back but essentially what Jeff had mapped out matched road reality. 

Since I have beein in business as of the end of the 1970s, I am not used to such kindness. At least not poined up without a fee or an expectation of a networking favor. I wasn't even billed for the paper to print out the directions. Wilkngsburg Library director Colleen Denne has nurtured quite the caring - and highly competent - staff. 

If this library is a microcosom of this public service throughout America it will remain a sanctuary for us humans to turn to as generative AI dominates knowledge work. 

Generative AI. Is that Black Swan disrupting your communications? Or, should it be? Complimentary consultation from Jane Genova (text 203-468-8579, email janegenova374@gmail.com)