A few months ago, I was in your shoes. I had heard plenty about artificial intelligence — on the news, from my kids, in passing conversations — but I kept my distance. It felt complicated, a little intimidating, and honestly, like something built for someone else. Then, almost reluctantly, I gave it a try. What I found surprised me. Not because it was flashy or futuristic, but because it was genuinely useful — in quiet, personal ways I hadn’t expected. If you’re on the fence, I want to share some real stories of people just like us who took that same first step, and what happened next.

The grandfather who became visible again

Martin Seligman is 83. He’s a well-known psychologist who has written books about human flourishing — but when it came to connecting with his four-year-old grandsons, all that expertise didn’t help. He couldn’t roughhouse, throw a football, or even keep pace with them walking around the house. Because of his hearing loss, conversations were difficult. He described feeling like “a background appendage” — invisible.

He turned to AI as a last resort. Using Claude (an AI assistant), he crafted a personalized story for his grandsons — with their names, their personalities, their interests. The AI helped him add illustrations, suspense, and just the right amount of wonder for a four-year-old.

“For the first time in months, I had his complete attention. I had become visible again,” he wrote.

He was clear about something important: the AI didn’t replace his creativity — it amplified it. The stories still required his understanding of what would engage his grandsons, his knowledge of their personalities. AI provided the technical storytelling skills he lacked, while he provided the love, insight, and relationship that no algorithm could replicate.

Preserving a grandfather’s voice across time

Dr. Muhammad Ahmad’s father passed away in 2013 — before his children were ever born. Using audio recordings, videos, and letters, Ahmad built an AI model that imitates the way his father talked and the humor he had. Today, his children can interact with “Grandpa Bot” and form their own memories of a grandfather they never met.

“I wanted them to have some sort of relationship with their grandfather beyond me just telling them stories,” Ahmad said. “They interact with Grandpa Bot and it leads to questions.”

That’s not science fiction. That’s a son honoring his father’s memory in a way no photo album ever could.

An app that helps you tell your own story

A startup called Linda AI was built specifically for the 55+ community. The AI interviews users about their life — where they grew up, what kind of pets they had, formative memories — and turns their answers into a podcast episode complete with an intro, their own words, and a transcript, ready to share with family.

The founder noted that while some users feel shy at first about talking to a machine, many go “really deep” and become surprisingly open. “The motivations are sharing and getting their stuff down and putting it somewhere, and then letting other people hear it,” he said.

Your grandchildren may not know what your childhood sounded like. AI can help them find out — in your voice.

A new kind of common ground

A 2025 research study brought together 29 grandparent-grandchild pairs in AI-assisted storytelling sessions. What they found was something beautiful: grandchildren handled the technical side, while grandparents contributed creative ideas and guided the narrative. Each generation recognized strengths in the other. It fostered mutual appreciation.

There’s a quiet reversal happening here. For years, grandparents have felt like they were always the ones being helped with technology. AI is creating moments where grandparents and grandchildren are building something together — where the grandparent’s life experience is the most valuable thing in the room.

The numbers that surprised me

In the year 2000, only 14% of Americans aged 65 and older were online. By 2024, that number had risen to 90%. We already made this journey once. We learned email, we learned video calls, we learned streaming. AI is simply the next step on a path we’ve already been walking.

Among adults 50 and older, generative AI use doubled from 9% in 2023 to 18% in 2024. And those who try it tend to see more potential in it than those who haven’t — not because they became tech enthusiasts, but because they found something personally useful.

You don’t have to figure it all out at once

The best entry point isn’t reading about AI. It’s asking it one simple question — about a recipe for your grandchild’s birthday, about a trip you’re planning to visit family, about how to explain something you’re curious about. Just one question.

You might be surprised who shows up to answer it.