I remember my first “mobile phone” like it was yesterday (calling it “mobile” was a stretch).
It was the late 1980s, I was in my first sales role, and our VP wanted all sales reps to be accessible while traveling. I recall the technician installing the “box” part of the phone in the trunk of my company car, and how I had to remove it from the mount and into a case for carrying. The thing was huge and similar to the following picture I found here:
In 1996, I got a Palm Pilot. I loved that thing. I remember the docking station and how you had to hit that “synch” button to run an update between your computer and the Palm unit. For the first time in my career, I could ditch my physical address book and calendar and view things on my computer or the Palm unit. I loved the cool stylus that slid sleekly into the case.
I was, finally, hip. 😉
A trip down memory lane wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the 2002 introduction of the first Blackberry smartphone, whose nickname “Crackberry” came years before people knew of the addictions The Dopamine Cartel would later spread to the world. I loved my BlackBerry and the irresistable tactile pleasure those buttons provided (I’ve never enjoyed the “smooth-faced” phones to the same degree as those wonderful little buttons):
A lunky old mobile phone, my first Palm Pilot, and the infamous CrackBerry… A fun trip down memory lane, but what’s my point?
It’s easy to look in the rearview mirror and see the improvements technology has brought into our lives.
But what about the future?
How will technology impact our later years?
Technology is changing fast. How will it impact our later retirement years? Today, we take a look... Share on X
The Future of Retirement
As a salesman in the mid-1980s, I thought nothing of pulling into a hotel in the middle of the day and using my corporate calling card in the pay phone cubicle to check in with the office secretary. Voice mail wasn’t a thing, so the secretary dutifully wrote down the messages and recited them when I called in. I remember those hotel corridors lined with pay phones, and the mass of other salespeople doing the same thing.
It’s just the way it was 40 years ago.
We had no idea what was coming, and we were fine with how things were.
As it was in the past, so it will be in the future.
From the beginning of my career to the end of my career, the world changed. From the beginning of my retirement to the end of my retirement, the world will change again. We have no idea what is coming, and we’re fine with how things are. But one thing is certain:
The speed of technological advancement will only increase, and our lives will be impacted in ways we can’t imagine.
Technology We’ll Use When We’re “Old”
It’s easy to look back and recall the changes that have occurred, but it’s entirely different to try to predict what the future will bring. Sure, we’ve all heard about ChatGPT, but few of us truly grasp the impact AI will have on our later years.
None of us knows what the future holds, but it’s interesting to imagine what impact technology will have on our old age. Based on some research I’ve done and using my imagination, here are a few things we may have to look forward to. They seem far-fetched, but considering how far we’ve come in the past few decades, and recognizing the pace of technology will only increase, these projections may fall short of the reality we’ll be living when we’re “old.”
“Aging In Place” will become far more practical, and children who live miles away from their widowed Mom will have more options to provide care from afar. Transportation will change, as will the way “support” services are provided for the elderly.
Some ideas to consider…
Robotic Advancement: When we’re “old,” we’ll look back on that Roomba in the same way we look back at that 10-pound “mobile” phone today. It worked, but we had no idea where the advancements would lead. Advancements in robotics, combined with AI technology, will revolutionize our elderly lives. Our robot assistants will carry in the groceries, keep our homes clean, and help us get out of bed (and into our robotic wheelchairs). Self-driving vehicles will, at some point, become common, eliminating the need for future generations to take away their parents’ keys.
AI Personal Assistants: An AI “nurse” who monitors us and is available 24/7 will be helpful for our far-away children, and a natural solution for the increased healthcare needs as Baby Boomers reach old age. In addition to ensuring we take our daily medications, our assistant will monitor our vitals, detect if we fall, and automatically contact emergency personnel in the event of an emergency. Personal safety devices could be available, which will automatically deploy in the event of a fall or when they detect instability. “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up” will become a thing of the past. The burden of caregiving will be greatly reduced for children or spouses dealing with aging loved ones.
Financial Management: The role of today’s financial planner will change dramatically. With the projected shortfall of financial planners, AI will fill the gap and become embraced by most. Automated rebalancing, monitoring of your financial accounts, fraud detection, and automatic refilling of your spending accounts will reduce the need for personal contact with an advisor. Smart advisors are already getting ahead of this trend by offering in-house AI features as part of their service, allowing them to serve a larger account base with the same hours of personal involvement. Client expenses will fall accordingly.
Predictive Healthcare: Doctors will treat a disease before you get it. Healthcare technology will move to preventative solutions rather than today’s “reactive” healthcare business model. AI monitors will constantly monitor your vitals and notify professionals in real time if something changes. Technology will learn to detect anomalies that increase your risk of certain diseases, and preventative medicine will become the norm.
AI Companionship: Loneliness is an epidemic, and AI will evolve to meet the need for companionship. Lifelike robotics are a certainty (it’s not if, but when), and their AI brain will tell you exactly what you want to hear. If you think those algorithms on your social media are addictive, wait until you meet your new AI friend. Some of us will call them our best friends. It’s sad, in a way, but compared to spending your latter years in a state of loneliness, it seems the lesser of two evils.
Memory Preservation: I suspect we’ll see some breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s research (perhaps it’s wishful thinking). Technology will lead to breakthrough cures for many of the plagues of aging. Cognitive augmentation will provide AI-driven tools to help keep the mind sharp. The way we pass memories down to future generations will become almost life-like. Our great-great-grandchildren may view 3D holograms of us telling stories about our lives. More likely, our likeness will be preserved with AI and carry on conversations with the generations that follow.
Increased Lifespan: By the time we get there, we’ll be celebrating our 100th birthday with plenty of friends. Technological advances will reduce the death rates of many common diseases, and improvements in preventive health care will result in an increased life expectancy. Nutrition and fitness programs will be customized via AI to address your areas of greatest weakness. Folks in their 90s will be running marathons. Not only will we live longer, but we’ll be healthier for most of those years. I fully expect I’ll live to 100, and I hope I’m still writing the occasional post to be able to tell you, “I told you so.” (wink)
Lifelong Learning & Entertainment: Our options for lifelong learning will expand, offering augmented “reality tours” of every spot on earth, from some of the greatest experts in any topic of interest. Algorithms will know what you like, and you’ll be fed a constant stream of immersive experiences. Want to know what it was like to fight at Gettysburg? Curious what it was like to face a Roman Gladiator? Want to see Jesus give his Sermon on the Mount? Want to take a painting course from Picasso? The educational and entertainment opportunities will be limitless.
The End of Aging: This one’s a stretch, but I think it’s fair to say how we age will differ dramatically from what previous generations experienced. No one knows the future, but I suspect in 40 years we’ll be laughing as we tell our great-grandchildren when we first heard the term “Artificial Intelligence,” and how naive we were when we said it wasn’t anything that would directly affect us in retirement.
Conclusion
There was something quaint about stopping at payphones and using my phone calling card as a 25-year-old sales rep. When they installed that first “mobile” phone in my car, I never imagined we’d all be carrying computers in our pockets years before my retirement.
Despite the drawbacks of technology, life is better now.
I suspect when I’m 100 and looking back at my 60s, I’ll be saying the same thing. I encourage you to pay attention to technology. Rather than resist change, be willing to explore new developments that may be helpful as you age. Stay curious, and think about the possibilities.
You can reject it or embrace it, but there’s little doubt that technology will make our lives easier when we get “old.”
For that, we should be thankful.
Your Turn: Have you thought about how technology will impact the future of retirement? I’d love to hear your thoughts. And, did you love your Blackberry as much as I loved mine? Let’s chat in the comments.
Thanks for the fond memories…I was also a sales rep, we had an 800 number that our customers could call and leave a message…and we had to check in and listen to the messages a minimum of 3 times per day to “pick them up”. I found that number very handy when I was traveling and would use it to keep in touch with family from overseas….given the cost of “long distance phone calls” in the 1980’s…nowadays “What’s app” makes that seem like a distant memory!
Thanks for the reminder of how expensive long distance calls used to be. Funny, no one under the age of 40 probably even knows that used to be a thing!
Yes to nice reminisce a bit, thinking back about similar experiences. Responding on your thoughts of continuing to learn, I have a suggestion. Experience a new Tesla vehicle. I recently bought a new Model Y and what it can do and how it operates definitely expands your mind. I showed it to several retired friends yesterday and they were in awe and amazement! To the point that they were intimidated by the idea of even driving it. As the author said, challenge yourself and grow. Just a simple free test drive in a Tesla will really open your eyes! PS I don’t work for Tesla 🙂
I agree 100% about the Tesla. My friend had a free 48 hour test drive and I went along with him. The Full Self Drive (FSD) is flat out amazing! Not only did it easily get us to our destination automatically with no fuss or muss, the car could even read temporary lane diversions due to construction. It’s not perfect but it already drives better than most of the population. As it continues to improve, it will undoubtedly drive much better and safer than all of us, especially as we age. I envision a future where we will no longer need to give up our cars.
“I envision a future where we will no longer need to give up our cars.”
I fully expect we will be the last generation that had to take the keys away from our parents. The advent of self-driving cars will be a blessing for us when we’re too old to drive, and I’m thankful for that. I’d hate to lose the ability to easily get to places you need to go…
Agreed! I am on second Tesla since 2018. Amazing how many people have no idea what they are missing. And many don’t want to know!
I agree with all of that except that doctors will treat diseases before we get them. There is no money in that and Big Pharma wants us sick with a zillion prescriptions.
Fair point about Big Pharma having a profit motive that likely conflicts with many of the developments that could make a beneficial impact on their customers. Sad, but true, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Interesting article, but the thing that struck me when reading this is that it was written through the lens of privilege and read by the same (I include myself in that as I am financially secure). As these new technologies develop over time, I hope that we can be aware of the haves and have nots and try to mitigate the further widening of this disparity gap so all can benefit from the technology breakthroughs.
Fair point, though I would argue the advent of the cell phone has benefited the “have nots” to a greater extent than the “haves.” Hopefully future technology will do the same, which I would expect given the likelihood that tech advances should result in lower price points for things the “have nots” are unable to afford today (e.g., medical care, financial advice).
Good perspective Fritz… I think wearable technology like Whoop and Apple Watch have been very helpful for me to maintain healthspan. I track my blood pressure, Heart rate variability, sleep quality, stress, heart rate. I cant change all these but i have learned the drivers that cause them to go off the rails.
Great point, Paul. I, too, LOVE the data I get from my wearables (I’m a FitBit and Strava guy, though I also have a Garmin Swim Watch). I should have included a comment on that in the post, thanks for adding value to the discussion.
I’m more concerned about where current technology has taken us. Climate change; PFAS; advances in health care being available to the well-off; inequalities in the same cities, let alone countries or continents, both in health and wealth; Facebook, Twitter(X), Truth Social and other anti-social networks pushing false news, conspiracy theories, and anti-vaccine propaganda to name a few. It was ever thus, and much as I’d like to think that things will improve in the future, the human race does not have a record of learning from history. Technological advancements will not be free (although I hope I am wrong), further driving wedges between the haves and the have-nots.
“…the human race does not have a record of learning from history.”
Good perspective, 8th. Unfortunately, mankind seems to have missed the opportunity to learn from those who walked before them for generations now. Hopefully, technology will be different, but you have a legitimate reason to be pessimistic. I prefer to be an optimist, but I’m also a realist.
I am using Gemini as my financial assistant, and essentially it allows me access to information I would never dream of. For example, using Deep Research, I am able to design my personal retirement withdraw guideline using the Guardrails system, simply by providing my information into AI and letting it do its thing. It took all of 5 minutes and saved me a lot of time and money using a financial consultant at a couple hundred bucks an hour. I get back graphs, and my personal spending plan to make my money last through retirement. Amazing.
Vince D – Great use case! Do you mind providing the prompts that you used? I am working in ChatGPT and wonder if I would be able to create a ChatBot to assist with this. Thank you for your comment!
Yep. You’ll need the Pro Version of either ChatGPT or Gemini ($20/month) You first have to gather all of your financial data to include all income from all sources, every expense for the current year. (You can even do it for next year if you project out that far) Then your retirement portfolio amounts, every dollar and how it’s invested, in what asset allocations, all money in your bank and money markets. Your age as well. If you have passive income like Social Security, you’ll need to input the amount of money you are withdrawing from your pre-tax accounts or cash to make up the spending difference. The more detail you input, the better the information back. The prompt is: “You are my expert financial consultant. You are a specialist in the Guardrails strategy of retirement spending. I need you to design for me my Guardrails spending plan, based on my entire portfolio amount of $_______ and our spending and withdrawals. Also, assume 3% inflation. Assume 2% increase in my spending. Finally, simulate market stress test scenarios of a Good Market, Average Market and Poor Market.” ……. I got back a 24-page report with infographics, spending charts and my withdrawal % with Guardrail triggers. It’s amazing.
A 24-page report! Amazing! I may have to run a theoretical simulation and write a future post about it. Thanks for sharing the prompt and your experience, a real world example of exactly what I was thinking of as I wrote the article. (then again, I’m cheap by nature, and paying $20/month just to write a theoretical post stretches my mind….wink).
Please do this, Sir! That would be a great article! I pay ~$100 a year for a very helpful financial planning package (Bold In) which has a lot of these features (I think I heard about Bold In from you a couple years ago – thanks for that!) I might consider going to the Pro version of Gemini with so many other uses. My only concern with inputting all my financial info into Gemini is that now Google has all my data and I’m sure they’ll find a way to monetize the data and sell it to who knows…
Vince D (& Fritz), I’m interested in this topic. Caveat Emptor still applies. As a paid financial planner for the past few years, I’ve been watching this topic (in my initial business plan, I wrote that the rise of robo-advisors was a threat in my SWOT analysis).
https://www.financialplanningassociation.org/learning/publications/journal/MAY24-llms-cant-be-trusted-financial-advice is an FPA article from May 2024 about some limits of AI (or large language models, at least).
As companies keep training & improving their models, ideally we will get better advice.
Real estate listings were published in a book, paper maps to find the property, contracts signed in a parking lot with a paper contract and pen, showings required calling the listing office to get a lockbox code! Real estate indistry is changing quickly with Zillow providing a suggested offer price.
Fair point, Nuss. It’s amazing to me that the traditional commission structure has survived as long as it has, though it seems there are cracks beginning to form in the foundation. The gatekeepers in the real estate industry have done a good job defending against the incursion of technology. I suspect that will change in time.
Fritz, good article for folks to ponder their futures.
Before cell phones, the Navy would have duty personnel wear pagers. Remember them? Pain in my behind, for sure. Bad enough to have duty, but a phone call from the police because a building was left unlocked at 11 p.m. was NOT on my list of things I coveted.
I do think medical technology advances will help us, but the reader above is correct. If we don’t have moralistic leaders to fight big Pharma companies….they may not hit the market. I think that lobbying politicians should be outlawed. Just a thought.
I enjoy my DIY method of investing our funds, but not all enjoy it as a hobby like some of us. I imagine if I feel like cognitive ability has declined, I could invest more into our GO Ira at Fidelity that auto balances between 6 funds for you. Time will tell.
God bless you and all of America, Steve
Steve, thanks for the reminder of those dreaded pagers. I was thankful I never had to wear one. Also, I agree that we’ll likely have more options than any preceding generation for managing our portfolios when cognitive decline threatens. At this point, I’m still planning on going with a full service CFP at that stage, but I’ll definitely be monitoring developments.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane. I am a semi-retired computer engineer and I can remember buying my first Toshiba laptop (luggable) and connecting it to the internet with a modem. Fast forward to today when our phones and laptops all connect seamlessly over WiFi. I do agree and think that technology will improve healthcare. Heck, we were doing remote patient monitoring 20 years ago and it was shown to be beneficial to both patients and providers. But change in healthcare does take time and doctors and nurses get nervous when they hear that AI will take over healthcare. So, I think as technologists (even as retired technologists) we need to take the time to explain the benefits to them.
And who can forget the infamous….”You’ve Got Mail!”…
Good point about the medical industry being resistant to AI developments. Just like the realtors, there will be plenty of gatekeepers trying to maintain the status quo.
One of the “big” negative events that happens when we age is our ability to drive a car safely. I’ve had to deal with transportation for an older relative who gave up their keys. Losing that independence is tough emotionally. I hope that when that time comes for me that a) self-driving car technology will allow me to continue to use my car safely, thereby allowing me to remain self-sufficient longer and not putting that burden on my kids and b) that ride-share apps will allow me to fill that gap.
I’m with you 100%, Rob.
Hi Fritz, great post except that it reminds me how old I am! I can remember going to the ‘computer lab’ in college, which took up an entire floor of the building and had 12 work stations, to do simple coding assignments. It seemed amazing to my 20 year old mind at the time, although ridiculous now.
But your post really invokes a trip down memory lane and the future does look fascinating. I hope I’m around to see some of it.
31, thanks for the memory. I minored in Computer Science, and remember that old computer lab (it didn’t even have monitors, we typed on a keyboard that printed things out!). How far we’ve come…
PS – thanks for continuing to bat 1000% on my posts. Yes, I’ve noticed. Much appreciated.
While I didn’t have the bag phone, I remember it. My boss had one. My first was the “brick “ phone. The pager before that.
I hope what you described resembles the future. Watching my previous colleagues get laid off in the name of AI, it’s hard to watch. Just last week my previous employer laid off 9000 in the name of “restructuring for the future “ which when pushed comes down to AI efficiency reduction. I think this is just the beginning. When I was still working I was involved in a few AI projects in the early stages in late 2010s. Even back then my customers were talking about using AI and various models that would replace whole departments. It was a bit early at that time, but now it’s mature enough to be reality. I just hope my family will get the “new work “ that many say will come as a result of AI. Maybe it will be developing some of the solutions you described. Either way, I think the path will be bumpy.
Sorry to hear about the impact on your previous colleagues, Wade. No doubt, technology breakthroughs always drive disruption (ship builders, carriage builders, and secretaries come to mind). In the past, there’s always been a new path available to those who are willing to pursue it, let’s hope that continues into the future. I agree it will be a bumpy path…
When I read this post, the old Virginia Slims commercial kept resonating in my brain – “we’ve come a long ways baby.” And in such a short time! I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I hate it until I learn it and get comfortable using it, and then I love it. Regardless, we definitely need to stay up on it. We will have to see how many of your predictions occur in our lifetime. I expect a follow up post in 20 years!
I’ll mark my calendar, Marian, and be sure to give you a shout-out in the follow up post. Wink.
How much longer before you turn over the financial management to your AI manager? I think I can accept AI giving me advice but not sure when I will allow AI to move my investments around. Although since I am a software engineer I have thought about writing my own software to do the same thing so maybe I just don’t trust the machine learning vs programming.
As a software engineer, you have a front row seat to AI and its implications. I believe that the people who will be using AI and completely immersed in AI are not even born yet. AI is all they will ever know. Sounds scary…
Interesting thought, Vince. I would argue the babies on the planet today will never know life without AI. They’ll hit school within the next 5 years, and by then AI will be commonplace in the school systems. We are certainly on the cusp of an entirely new world.
And Chuck, I would argue that many folks are already letting AI manage their money (thinking of the “cool apps” that appeal to the younger generations). Like you, it’ll take a while to convince me…
Question. I made a comment on the Biggest Surprise post a few weeks ago. I had a follow up question but see that comments are closed. So I am asking on here. Is there a reason the comments are closed? Anyway, my question is, that if we do a Roth conversion, I know you cannot touch the money for five years but is that from the opening of your very first Roth or the SPECIFIC Roth conversion money. My husband and I each have a Roth. If he takes some money and transfers from his 401k (may have to roll it over to an IRA first ?) and then puts that money into the Roth, are we able to withdraw that specific money out before five years. He has had the Roth for probably 5 to 8 years.
Since your husband has had his Roth for 5-8 years, the “first contribution” five-year rule for earnings is likely satisfied. However, any new *converted money* will have its own separate five-year clock for avoiding the 10% early withdrawal penalty on the *converted principal*. If he is already 59 1/2 or older, this 10% penalty on converted principal is waived.
He is in his 60s. Thank you.
Chris, sorry about the closed comments. As this blog’s gotten bigger, I had to make the move to closing comments after a certain period of time (I think I have it set on 2 weeks). I was getting flooded by too many comments on very old posts, and simply didn’t have the time to manage them. If folks are engaged, it’s my hope they’ll comment shortly after a post is published.
As for your question, you can withdrawal the contributions to a Roth at any time, the 5 year rule applies to earnings. Here’s a link to a good article with more detail:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/roth-ira-withdrawal-rules
Hope that helps!
I can understand that. Thank you for answering my question and for the link.
I just think about how much people spend on owning cars (up front-purchase and over time-maintenance and insurance). Those cars spend a vast majority of their useful lives just sitting, available but not being used. Self-driving cars will allow people to have a car available on demand, but not have to pay the overhead of owning one in order to go places. There will be fleets of fully charged electric vehicles that spend the vast majority of their useful lives actually on the road, instead of being parked. The cars will be able to detect if they need to be cleaned, and robots will service them if necessary. This will free up tremendous personal capital and will allow people who cannot drive (for whatever reason) to live in places that require a car to do things. I imagine that municipalities that want to attract people will have (or contract for) a municipal fleet that are scheduled by an AI based on usage patterns and demand. Your digital assistant will check your calendar, see if you have need of a car, notify the scheduler AI, and a car will pull up at your front door as soon as you leave. The car will then take you where ever you need to go, check it’s cleanliness and charge status, and then request another assignment, continuous use. The only people who will own a vehicle will be someone who wants one, not needs one to get to work or other activities. And then there is the tremendous amount of physical space currently committed to parking.
“There will be fleets of fully charged electric vehicles that spend the vast majority of their useful lives actually on the road, instead of being parked.”
Spot on, Jason. The under-utilization of the personal automobile is one of the biggest factors in favor of “fleets” of self-driving cars in the future. At a minimum, I suspect most families that own 2 cars today will drop to 1 in the future. As you state, you could certainly make the case that many families won’t have the need to own a car at all.
A great example of the types of efficiency and cost savings that future technology will provide.
Homes without garages, office buildings without parking garages and retail centers without huge parking lots. That’s where we’re headed with full autonomous cars.
Great article. I have asked this a few times but no response. Regarding the bucket strategy, how do you feel about using “covered call ETF’s” (JEPI) in buckets 1 and 2?
Thank you
Daniel, I apologize if you’ve asked and I haven’t responded. To be honest, I get so many comments it’s hard to keep up, and I really don’t recall seeing your comment before. My apologies. I have a friend who’s a big fan of JEPI, but I haven’t done much research on the fund. The reason for that is that I prefer to do my own option trading, which I do in my “fun money” account (~5% of my Net Worth). I sell covered calls and naked puts, fun way to generate a bit of extra money. I view it as more of a hobby than a real money maker, but there’s no doubt that conservatively trading options is a viable way to produce income. From what I’ve heard, JEPI is definitely NOT a bond substitute (it owns stock and has equity risk), but the concept should produce more income than a traditional stock. Do your homework before investing, afraid I don’t know enough about it to comment on whether it’s a better fit in Bucket 1/2 vs. Bucket 3 (my instinct is Bucket 3 since it’s got the equity exposure, could you sell it during a Bear Market to offset sequence of return risk? That’s my primary goal with Buckets 1/2).
Spot on post & comments. I share your memories in my past, and Captain Kirk & Spock spoke to the folks on the Enterprise, WITHOUT WIRES?! Whoa!!!! And Dick Tracy having a PHONE IN HIS WATCH?! Double Whoaaaaa!!!!!
Technological advances are inevitable, AND IT’S INEVITABLE WE’LL INCORPORATE THEM INTO OUR LIVES. To what extent AI will work for us remains to be seen, but today it’s a far cry short of the goal. Hopefully it all comes fast enough to give us baby boomers the ability to make a better and longer life with meaning and purpose.
Not necessarily a retirement observation, but maybe so. I’m a surgeon who has retirement in the plans in the next couple of years. I’ve been amazed at the development of technology during my career, and today saw a post about an AI-driven robotic cholecystectomy performed recently (gallbladder removal). Not a robotic arm driven by a human surgeon, but an autonomous AI driven computer platform performing the surgery. I’ve been telling my colleagues that that was going to happen someday, and I guess someday is here.
Amazing, Doc. I don’t think I’d want to be “Patient Zero,” but no doubt a trend that will gather steam due to the shortage of doctors and increasing medical needs of our aging population demographics.
I enjoyed this post very much, particularly as I’m watching the decline of my parents over the last couple of years.
Frogdancer!! Great to see you, old friend, it’s been a while. Sorry to hear about your parents, something most folks our age are currently (or have recently) dealt with. I’m confident our children will have much better options available when we reach the “end of the treadmill” and it’s their turn to take care of us.
“Healthcare technology will move to preventative solutions rather than today’s “reactive” healthcare business model. “
…as discussed by Peter Attia in his book, “Outlive”. A good read, and some urging towards a shift in the entire healthcare system.
Exactly, Alan. I did a review on “Outlive,” and the concept of moving from “reactive” to “proactive” was one of my bigger takeaways from the book. Unfortunately, as mentioned in earlier comments, there are some pretty strong “Gatekeepers” in the Big Pharma community who will likely resist that trend (Profit Motive > Patient Care).
You may want to read the book 2030 by Albert Brooks!
I just ordered it, thanks for the recommendation.
I spent many years in sales and had all those same tech “challenges” over the years. I remember getting our first laptops and being told, “Figure out how to use them, or look for a new job”. A few of the older reps took early retirements.
In my last 8 years, I moved into data analytics and customer consulting. I loved the change and the challenge of using new software to tell data stories to educate customers. Just before I retired, we were starting to use AI to create those stories in minutes compared to the hours it had taken previously…it was eye opening. Now I use AI to do something similar with our HOA financials to share with the homeowners!! I’m so glad I was exposed to this technology – my partner and I have embraced it and are using it for many things now – even decorating ideas!
Great article and I appreciate the insights and dialogue. I agree with the principles. My one concern is on the education and how to maintain “critical thinking” skills / abilities. As computer algorithms and AI take over more and more – how do we remain objective and properly challenge when inaccuracies occur? I would appreciate dialogue on this. I am an optimist in general, but am concerned that the loss of common sense / reasoning skills I have seen continually erode and will likely continue to if not thought about and addressed.
Thanks for providing the article and dialogue!
Fritz, Once again several parallels in our history. I absolutely loved my Palm Pilot(s). A great tool but a terrible investment and good learning experience. Palm was the first individual stock I ever purchased. I made a $500 investment and a few months later it was up to $1,000. About six months after that I was down to $5. At that time the commission to sell was higher than the $5 value. The Blackberry was next and a great phone and PDA. I still miss the physical keyboard and a was a late holdout moving to the touchscreen technology.
Looking forward to the AI revolution. With each passing year I find driving and household cleaning increasingly challenging. It will be nice to have FSD or a Cybercab chauffeuring me around and a Tesla Optimus cleaning my bathrooms. Thanks for the memories, Fritz. And speaking of memories, Mrs. Groovy and I were watching an episode of Perry Mason a couple of days ago and the actress who was murdered in that episode was none other than Fay Wray—the fetching creature that captured the heart of King Kong. She aged pretty well.
The Case of the Watery Witness