This is one of Grandpa's earlier stories, revisited while Grandpa takes a short break.
Next Thursday, August 13, there will be a karaoke party at a retirement home.
And this time, I have volunteered myself for a small but important job.
I am bringing my new Inkax wireless speaker with two wireless microphones.
Normally, my friend Daniel brings his home karaoke system and a large speaker to the venue. That is quite a job—especially carrying all that equipment around.
So I thought, why not make life a little easier for Daniel?
My plan is simple:
One wireless speaker.
Two wireless microphones.
A laptop.
My smartphone.
An HDMI cable.
How difficult could it be?
Well... that was when I turned to my AI companion.
I told ChatGPT what I had in mind and asked it to help me make sure I didn't forget anything.
The first thing it did was turn my rather incomplete list into a proper checklist.
It reminded me about charging the speaker and both microphones, bringing the microphone receiver if one was required, taking the laptop charger, and checking whether my laptop needed an HDMI adapter.
That was already useful.
But then came the more important question:
How am I going to connect my setup to the big screen at the retirement home?
That is something I don't want to discover five minutes before the party starts!
The basic idea is becoming clearer:
Laptop → HDMI cable → Big Screen
The laptop will provide the karaoke videos and lyrics.
The Inkax speaker will provide the sound.
The two wireless microphones will let everyone sing.
In other words, I am trying to turn a rather complicated home karaoke system into a small portable one.
And this is where AI becomes interesting to me.
I am 80 years old. I am not a computer technician, and I certainly don't pretend to understand every cable, connector and wireless connection.
But I don't have to figure everything out alone.
I can tell my AI companion what equipment I have, ask questions, take pictures of the connections if necessary, and work through the setup one step at a time.
Of course, AI cannot magically make an HDMI cable appear when I have forgotten to bring one!
So there is still a little responsibility on my side.
I need to test everything before Thursday.
My plan is to do a rehearsal at home:
Charge the Inkax speaker.
Charge both microphones.
Connect my smartphone to the speaker.
Test both microphones.
Play a karaoke song.
Connect my laptop to my television with HDMI.
Check that the picture appears on the TV.
Make sure the sound comes from the Inkax speaker.
Try changing songs and adjusting the volume.
If everything works, I will arrive at the retirement home with a much lighter load—and hopefully with a little more confidence.
There is also something amusing about this whole situation.
I have spent many years of my life learning how to do things without computers.
Now, at 80, I am learning how to do things with AI.
And perhaps that is one of the most interesting things about growing older in the age of artificial intelligence.
AI doesn't have to replace us.
Sometimes it simply gives us another pair of eyes, another source of ideas, and a patient companion to help us work through something unfamiliar.
Next Thursday will be the real test.
Will the microphones work?
Will the big screen cooperate?
Will the Bluetooth connection behave itself?
And, most importantly...
Will Grandpa remember all the cables?
Stay tuned.
The karaoke party hasn't started yet—but the preparation has already become a little story of its own.
And if everything goes well, perhaps I'll come back afterward and tell you how it turned out.
From a retiree's everyday life to AI-assisted karaoke—this is what living with AI looks like to me.