The buzz word today has become so popular it’s now simply referred to as AI (artificial intelligence). How best to explain the meaning, is that it’s computer science, building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. Artificial intelligence allows machines to model, or even improve upon, the capabilities of the human mind and from today’s development of self-driving cars AI is increasingly becoming part of everyday life and, an area that companies across every industry are investing in.

Although my generation usually calls on their 8-year-old grandchild to solve a problem with their laptop or cell phone, we should give credit to our generation that has seen more changes in our lifetime. While trying to be cool, using social media and reading the news on-line we can still remember the journey of how we got here. Today, the ever-changing technology is a given for the Millennials, Z and Alpha generations whereas our learning was self-taught with a desire to learn.

Over a coffee with friends recently, we laughed about all the changes we have lived through concluding—we’re pretty savvy. A typewriter was so simple to use, one font with no printer to connect to, typing more than one page required carbon paper between each sheet. If you made a mistake, you needed an eraser (a pencil with a string that you pulled to peel back the wrapping as the eraser wore down). 

Eventually the electric typewriter was invented but the sensitive keyboard took getting used to. It came with interchangeable metal balls with letters and numbers in different font styles but still no printer connection. I remember the first time I was introduced to a teletype machine. This super-sensitive keyboard spit out a paper tape and every key stroke cut a pattern of holes in the tape. The tape was fed back into the teletype machine and the information flowed at high speed across the country but, how was that possible? 

I remember the day that I watched a colleague place a document on a glass surface closing the lid, dialing a number, waiting a few seconds, removing the document and that’s when I asked, what she was doing. She explained the machine takes a photo of the document and sends it to head office in California—really? 

If I remember correctly, it was 1966 when IBM installed a “mainframe” at the company I was working at. It was the first family of computers designed for commercial application. These big machines required a sound-proofed, air-conditioned room because they were massive in size, extremely noisy and produced a lot of heat. The printed reports required another storage room for the volume of paper reports created. Remember there was no iCloud.

In 1981, I was working for a company that owned 7 diversified independently run companies. IBM had just come out with their PC desktop. The president was determined to take us into a new world of technology. There were no courses, no internet to learn from, just a book with instructions. The software was Word Perfect which required learning all the codes to use the keyboard. 

Handwritten financial reports and calculators were replaced by a software called Lotus 123. Your work was saved on a floppy disk, the size of a DVD that was inserted into the hard drive (too big to sit on your desk). I remember the vice president of finance was still preparing seven financial statements into one master by hand. While he was recovering from major surgery, I drew on the mandatory algebra classes I thought I’d never use and mastered the input of the financial statements from seven companies into one master file. When the vice president returned to work, I presented him with a gift. All the formulas were implemented, all he had to do was key future monthly information. To say he was forever grateful, well let’s just say bonus came early that year.

Shortly after that I moved to Vancouver. It was here that I freelanced with a brand-new division that had all the latest technology. I discovered an employee was using a typewriter and her computer was pushed aside. She was translating trial notes and every time there were revisions, she had to start all over again. She was afraid to use her computer, so I volunteered to sit with her while she created her very first document and when she was faced with a lot of revisions, she suddenly appreciated the value of her computer that allowed her to insert revisions. I shall always cherish her joy.

Going forward—we’ve witnessed so many changes to technology. Mainframe equipment has been replaced with servers and exterior hard drives, oh and let’s not forget about the flash drive. I remember when it first came out a colleague was wearing it around his neck. When I asked what it was, he explained all his computer files were stored on this little piece of equipment and the neat thing was he could access his files on any computer anywhere.

We’ll leave cell phone technology and the movie and television industry for another day. My generation may have to ask how to set up Facebook or what is X but, we should give ourselves credit for pioneering through so much change. To support this thought, Golden Years author Debra Carr, PHD stated that the golden years has a special meaning because they experienced critical life events and transitions.