NexTech Director of Sales Steve Riat talked about the many uses of artificial intelligence from the perspective of his 86-year-old father, “who uses AI more than anyone I know.”
NexTech was the host of Thursday’s Great Bend Chamber Coffee.
Unlike the Google search engine, ChatGPT allows the user, in this case Riat’s father, to have a conversation. He asks a question and gets the answer to his problems.
“He gave me some things he learned recently: How to replace a part on his tractor, how to cook things, how to clean things – my Mom passed away a few years ago so these are new skills for him – where things are located (such as) different parts of a tractor or car, those kind of things.” He also uses AI “to summarize complex ideas that he doesn’t understand in a way he can get.
“He went into detail on cooking. He was having problems with his cream puffs rising; that was last night. He says they’re excellent.”
Next, he’s getting ideas of what to get his grandchildren for Christmas. “He types in what they’re interested in, their age, their gender, this kind of thing, and it gives him some good ideas."
His father is also a gardener who has discovered how AI can be used.
“He takes a picture of his plants, he puts it into AI, and it will tell him what might be going on.” After one plant had a problem, he added iron to the soil.
He’s asked AI how to use features on his smartphone, how to replace the remote fob for his car when it wasn’t starting right, and what time KU, K-State and the Chiefs play.
There's no doubt, AI is starting to affect our lives Rait said. “Seventy-seven percent of today’s devices have AI built into them.”
He noted that:
• 98% of small businesses are using AI tools today.
• 91% of small businesses believe that AI will help their businesses grow in the future.
• 42% of small and medium businesses report financial savings because they’re using AI.
Like the internet in the early 2000s, AI is here with unlimited possibilities but nobody knows what to do with it yet, he said. “It’s going to change the world. We just don’t know how yet.”
He went on to describe some of the security issues and problems with AI. Hackers use it too.
“We get businesses in the state of Kansas every week that have been compromised and things stolen. They’re losing real money, millions of dollars.” Businesses have lost data, people have lost their jobs. According to one report, Kansas, for the third year in a row, is the Number One riskiest state for cybercrime, he said. For businesses that need to protect their data, he recommends, “find a partner to protect you.”
Then he talked about NexTech, which got its start as a company called Rural Telephone out of Lenore. It provided telephone service to farmers in western Kansas.
“If you think about it, we’ve (always) been a technology company. Phone service was in the 1950s and now it’s migrated into this new technology. It is our job now to bring the best technology from around the world to improve our communities. It’s literally our mission statement.”
He invited everyone to go to Nex-Tech.com, top right-hand corner of the page, and subscribe.
Announcements
• Sandra Burton with Sandra Burton Massage continues the Rest Easy fundraiser, an effort with Live Like Jesus Today Ministries to buy 1,000 sleeping bags this year. Burton said she used ChatGpt to come up with the name for the promotion. She also said First Kansas Bank is now accepting donations for this project.
• Aaron Raney with Iron Therapy said Thursday was National Diabetes Awareness Day; 8.7 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes. Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, is preventable or delayable through lifestyle choices. “I encourage you to take charge of your health now,” Raney said. “Making some hard choices today can make your life easier in the future.”
• The Home for the Holidays Festival will be Saturday, Nov. 30, in downtown Great Bend. There will be events during the day, a parade at 5:30 p.m. and a celebration in the courthouse square after the parade.
• The Chamber is open until 6 p.m. on Thursdays for those wishing to buy Chamber Gift Certificates.
• The next Chamber Coffee will be at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at Sunflower Diversified -Westside Market, 5523 10th St. The program will start at 9:30.
