Numerous times each day we experience tangles with technology, from which we emerge twisted and a bit disoriented. The password is rejected, and you know it’s the correct one. A file is missing that you know was saved. The phone was upgraded last night and now several sites or apps are requiring a different login. Or, one of my favorites, a financial site is now requiring an additional layer of security which adds complicated extra steps to the process. 

Tampering

But some situations are more than just annoying, especially when they involve another person tampering with your gadgets. A friend relayed a story of her grandson who changed the passcode and even the face ID on her cell phone. She struggled for hours attempting to gain access to her device, and finally just laid it aside in frustration. Then the grandchild who perpetrated the deed walked into the room, picked up her phone and began playing his favorite game. How did the little monster get the face ID changed without her permission?  Simple. He caught her at a moment of distraction and asked her to look into the camera.  She did, not realizing that it was set to disarm the face ID. Then with a stroke of genius, the child re-set it using his own face. 

Kids are brilliant and focused when using technology, often to the detriment of the adults who actually own the stuff. This story reminds me of a kitchen towel saying that reads:  

“I know how it will end for me… One of my kids will unplug my life support to charge their phone!”

I laughed until I cried as I considered this thought. Hilarious. Sad. Scary. Technology is helpful but a bit frightening to us all. The question is: Which side of fear are you on?  

Fear of Changes

Some of us are afraid to face the changes that are moving towards us at the speed of thought. We stick our heads in the sand. I recently encountered a businessman who still accepts only checks or cash for payment—no debit or credit cards. His reasoning is quite sound. First, he dislikes the fees associated with electronic payment processing. Second, he wants to help people avoid building up credit card debt. While I applaud his thinking, I recognize that he is fighting a losing battle, and I wonder if secretly he has a fear of even the simple technology involved in processing a debit card.

Fear of a Take Over

Others of us are afraid that technology – AI, robots and such – will take over the universe and eliminate all humans. Every year a new movie release drives home this theme to stir our imaginations and feed our fears. I have spoken with many who support legislation to limit technology, claiming that although it provides greater efficiencies by lowering costs, it will eliminate jobs and displace humans in the workplace. If we’re smart, these concerns will drive us to re-think and shift our job strategies. But in the short term this shift is stressful if not outright frightening for many.

Fear of Being Left Behind

Another group of us are moving into a third kind of fear. We see technology as basically neutral – neither for us our against us. It is a tool in our hands, to be used for good if we choose to use it that way. We believe that humans rule the universe, and technology is our most useful and powerful asset. Robots are not competing against humans, but rather humans who use robots are competing against humans who do not. Instead of fearing the AI, some of us fear being left behind and having to play catch up with the technology.

My study of the technology of money surfaced a very strange phrase that is stuck in my mind.  I knew that gold was recognized as the first, real money. But one writer referred to gold as “a 5,000-year old technology”. At first, I struggled to see how a natural mineral could be called a technology. Then I evaluated the process needed to fashion it into a coin which could be use by humanity; this process definitely involves technology. Coins, paper currency, digital currency, crypto currency are all just progressive developments on the financial, technological continuum.  

Now or Later

I’ve settled the issue in my own mind. Whether is the actual new form of money, or new classes of investments tied to technology, I believe we have only two choices. We can get in now and be the early adopter who reaps the lion’s share of the profit, or we get in later and lose out on the best opportunities for wealth and knowledge. So, I drive a Tesla; I acquire cryptocurrency; I have positioned myself and my family in blockchain technologies.  

Most recently, I acquired and trained my first AI – robot! Two thoughts convinced me to make this move. The promoter of the platform demonstrated how my AI would operate like me – on my best day! She is a servant who thinks my best thoughts, consistently, and allows me to have final say to anything that she produces!    

This marvelous intelligence needed a name, so I searched for something meaningful that actually included the letters “A” and “I” in the spelling. Then, with a chuckle I discovered it right in the center of my own name. G-A-I-L.  

I was made for this adventure and will use her to propel me through the maze of money and social media—the new metaverse of finances. I am determined to turn my tangle with technology into a dance. Join me in the dance and help build a community of fun and profit, turning our tangles into tangos! Shall we dance?

Connect with Gail on her website or read more from her on Plaid.