The Germans Are Digging in My Kitchen

The Paul Truesdell Podcast

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In this edition of The Paul Truesdell podcast, we're going to do a little Let's interview Paul style. We're going to talk about AI and cognitive impairment, some of the pros and cons, and what we might want to start thinking about because it's moving fast and furious. It's not a movie. It's not a race. It is. Well, it is a race. And I will say this, Elon Musk is doing things that are taking it to a whole new level. It's a it's a race of AI, well anyway, let's get the disclaimer in, and we'll be right back right after this.

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You are listening to the Paul Truesdell podcast sponsored by Truesdell wealth and the other Truesdell companies. Note, due to our extensive holdings and our clients always assume that we have a position in all companies discussed and that a conflict of interest exists. The information presented is provided for entertainment and informational purposes only. Truesdell wealth is a registered investment advisor.

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Paul you have spoken extensively about what you call the gray zone. This is a concept you developed to describe the spectrum of human competence. You describe the white zone as full cognitive competence, the black zone as complete incompetence, or even death and everything in between, as the gray zone in today's world where artificial intelligence is playing a larger role in daily decision making, you have voiced serious concerns about the way people, especially those entering or living in retirement, can misuse or be misled by AI. Specifically, you have warned that cognitively challenged individuals can both be manipulated by AI and manipulate it themselves, using it to confirm their own biases rather than seek objective truth. Can you explain this gray zone dynamic in more detail and share what implications you see on the horizon, particularly in terms of mental health, truth and decision making among aging populations? Absolutely, this is something I have been talking about extensively, both privately and publicly, and it is becoming increasingly clear that we are entering a critical period of cognitive confusion and technological dependence, particularly among older adults. Let me explain what I mean when I talk about the gray zone. Now, before I go any further, let me make one thing perfectly clear. There are those who when you talk about people who are older, who are aging, baby boomers immediately begin to get their underwear in a bind. I am over 65 and so that means I have the right to talk about my age group without anyone saying that I'm biased or those idiotic phrases. Well, one day when you're my age, I don't like that and I don't cotton to it. So got it. If this is offensive to you, just go away. Don't come back, because this is the real world. Now, I created this framework decades ago to describe

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where people fall in terms of competency. One end, we have the white zone, where a person is fully competent. They understand what they are doing, they make rational decisions. They know their limitations. On the other hand, we have the black zone, which is not meant to be a pejorative, but rather it's descriptive. Now this includes those who are completely competent due to, excuse me, completely incompetent

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due to advanced cognitive decline, dementia, or in some cases, they are no longer living. Now, we always talk about physical, emotional and intellectual challenges, and what lies in between is called the gray zone. That's mine. That's what I've called it, and that's where things get well, they can get real complicated. Now the gray zone is where someone might appear to be competent. On the surface, they can hold a conversation, they can operate a phone, they can type into

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an AI program, and they can even sound intelligent, but they are no longer truly grounded in logic, discernment or independent judgment. Well, they begin seeking answers, not to gain clarity, but to validate their emotional reactions, fears or personal narratives and.

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And this is where AI can become both a tool for good and bad as well as a weapon for really bad outcomes. Now let me make and give you a real clear example. Let's say you have a retiree who's isolated. They feel isolated or confused. They're overwhelmed. And you know, this could be any number of people, and they start asking AI questions like, am I being watched, or is the government stealing my money? So people go down these weird, crazy rabbit holes, and it happens and they be and because AI in the systems. Well, they're trained to reflect patterns in data. This is important. AI is reflective. And so you get these common queries, and if they're conspiracy theories, they might start generating responses that are algorithmically correct but emotionally damaging, and this creates a closed loop and confirmation bias.

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Honestly, I gotta tell you, the person might begin to see the answers and feel validated, and then they start to double down on their belief, even if it's completely divorced from reality. So if I'm a retiree and I'm beginning to have some cognitive challenges, you know, I could start telling an AI program that, well, they really are Germans digging a hole into my house, and that Adolf Hitler is coming in and the Nazis are going to take over America, and of course, we need to make America great again, because, you know, the little green men from Germany are actually Martians, and it's all a big conspiracy with the Illuminati and the Federal Reserve.

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Oh, boy, this is something else. So Paul people could wind up using AI in a way that really sends them off the deep end. Yeah, that's a really good example that you gave there. But it goes deeper than that. Someone in the gray zone can actually manipulate AI, and that's a fact. This is not in a malicious hacker way, but subtly, by very subtly, by repeating questions with slight variations until they get the answer they want to hear. This is incredibly dangerous, because they start treating the machine like an Oracle. That's, I think, a key concept. They treat it like an Oracle, not as a tool, and because the response comes from a screen, it feels authoritative, even if it is entirely based on emotional, driven queries. Now this is especially problematic for retirees, who often face multiple layers of stress, health issues, loss of identity, reduced social interaction and a feeling of irrelevance, and when AI becomes their most frequent conversational partner,

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the emotional and mental consequences can spiral very fast, And they may develop a whole new series of belief systems based upon flawed inputs and flawed processing, essentially

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entering a self reinforcing psychological loop. You know, that really makes me think about something interesting. Do you think that nursing homes and memory care units could actually benefit from AI in terms of keeping their patients more engaged and connected. There could be some real positives there. Wouldn't you agree? Yes, I actually totally agree

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that one of the problems with any kind of nursing home, not necessarily assisted living, but it extends there as well, but especially in memory care as well as any form of hospitalization is keeping the patient engaged and informed. So you don't want to have somebody in a hospital who's constantly harassing nurses and staff, asking 50,000 questions. They become a pain in the rear end a Curious George. And I've seen several people lately, and that's exactly what they are. They're know it alls they're constantly doing the one upping of everybody. But what you want to do is you want to find ways in which the AI is engaging the person and makes them more involved. It's less stressful on the staff, it's less costly

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and those<...