Talk to Frank

I have been working on an AI agent for my website. I have had a lot of ideas about what I want it to do, but I am still trying to figure out the best way to make it all work.

I may have been a little too quick advertising Talk to Frank, because I have already had quite a few people clicking on the link. The problem is, Frank is still kind of under construction. Think of it like opening a restaurant and realizing you forgot to hire a cook.

What I would really like to create is an AI agent that is funny, has an avatar that talks, and can actually interact with people. I am still learning about AI, and honestly, I still have a lot of questions.

But then again, I remember when personal computers first started becoming something regular people could actually own.

I will eventually figure it out.

I remember life before cell phones, before the internet, and definitely before we could ask a computer a question and have it answer us like it was sitting in the room.

I think I got my first computer sometime around 1996. This was back in the days of dial-up internet.

You want to talk about slow?

Dial-up was like pouring molasses uphill... in the winter.

If you downloaded a picture, you didn't just see the picture. You watched it being born one line at a time.

Line.

By.

Line.

You could go make a sandwich, come back, and maybe the person's forehead had loaded.

It was slow and boring, but somehow it was also exciting. We were connecting to this thing called the internet, and even though it took forever, it felt like the future.

I took to computers right away. I had wanted one ever since I was in junior high. Of course, computers back then were basically the size of a brick... and probably weighed about as much as a small refrigerator.

The games were simple too. One of the first games I remember playing was a Dungeons & Dragons-type game that was completely written out. You typed in what you wanted to do, then waited for the computer to tell you what happened.

Sometimes after waiting a few minutes, you found out your character had been killed.

Which was disappointing, but at least you had plenty of time to emotionally prepare for it.

Another favorite was Defender. Everybody seemed to play that game. I was never really very good at it, mostly because we had to fight for time on the machine. You couldn't just sit there for six hours playing games.

Well, I guess you could, but somebody's mom would eventually come in and say, “You've been on that thing long enough. Go outside.”

Now, looking back, I sometimes wonder if life before the internet was more fun.

We would hang out at a friend's house, walk down to the creek, ride skateboards in the street, or just ride our bikes all over town. Half the time our parents probably had no idea exactly where we were.

As long as you made it home before the streetlights came on, you were good.

That was basically our GPS.

"Be home before dark."

It feels like a long time ago now, but those are memories I still have. Riding your bike across town. Hanging out with friends. Finding something to do without needing an app, a password, Wi-Fi, or a charging cable.

I don't have kids, so I honestly don't know what kids do these days. I know they have games, phones, social media, and technology that would have looked like science fiction when I was growing up.

I just hope they still have memories of hanging out with friends, getting into harmless trouble, laughing until they couldn't breathe, and doing things they will look back on years from now and say, “Man, remember when...”

I think every generation believes their time growing up was the best.

And you know what?

Maybe they are all right.

When you're young, the days seem endless. Summer lasts forever. Your biggest problem might be getting home before the streetlights come on.

Maybe that is what we really miss.

Not necessarily the old technology. I don't miss dial-up internet. Nobody misses dial-up internet.

But I do miss some of the moments that came with that time.

Now we are entering another big change with AI. Some people are excited about it. Some people are worried about it. Honestly, I am probably somewhere in the middle.

I am curious.

I am learning.

And I am trying to figure out what the heck I am doing.

But I remember when computers seemed confusing. I remember when the internet seemed like something only computer experts understood. Then one day, everybody had one in their house... and now we carry more computing power in our pockets than I could have imagined back in 1996.

So maybe AI is just the next thing we will all eventually figure out.

Hopefully, it brings us together more than it pulls us apart. Hopefully, it makes life better instead of just making us stare at another screen.

And hopefully, years from now, people will look back at this time and smile.

They will say:

“I remember when AI first started...”

And maybe Frank will finally be finished by then.

Probably not.

But I'm working on it.

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