AI Made Easy: Your New Everyday Sidekick

Part 1 of a new series: How AI can help protect you, delight you, and make everyday life just a little (or a lot) easier.

It was dinner time, and I had barely anything in my refrigerator. I was hungry but didn’t have a clue what to make.

I decided to see if AI could help. I started typing. “I need an easy recipe using cabbage, onions, and a few eggs. And I have some spices.” That was all I typed.

AI gave me the most amazing baked cabbage recipe. It even suggested several variations based on my seasoning preferences: Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian, Middle Eastern. I chose Middle Eastern seasonings. It was quick, easy, and genuinely delicious.

That small moment is when it really clicked for me. This wasn’t some intimidating piece of technology built for engineers. It was more like having a patient, endlessly knowledgeable friend, available anytime, day or night.

Since then, I’ve used AI for all sorts of things I never expected. Planning trips. Fixing things around the house. And yes, protecting myself and the people I love from something that worries all of us: scams.

A Story That Stays with Me

An 81-year-old woman in South Carolina answered a phone call from a man claiming to be a police official.

He told her she was under investigation for money laundering. He suspected her identification had been compromised.

Over the following days, terrified and confused, she wired the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars to “clear her name.”

Sadly, none of this was true. She still hasn’t fully recovered, financially or emotionally.

This isn’t a rare story. Americans over 60 lost nearly $7.75 billion to fraud last year alone, a 59% jump from the year before. One in five fraud complaints the FBI receives now comes from someone in our age group. Older victims lose more money, on average, than any other generation.

If that gave you a flicker of anxiety, you’re not imagining the danger. And you’re not alone.

The Fear Is Real; So Is the Good News

When I mention using AI to my friends, the first response is usually, “Oh no! Not me! I’m not getting anywhere near AI.” Or “I have no use for AI.”

This makes me sad, because they’re judging before they understand what AI can actually do to make life easier and help them avoid scams.

Honestly, this instinct makes perfect sense. Scammers have gotten faster, more convincing, and more organized. Many are now using AI themselves to sound more human, clone voices, and craft messages tailored just for you.

Here’s the part that surprises people. The same technology scammers are weaponizing against you can also become one of the sharpest tools you have for protecting yourself. The same AI that helped me turn cabbage and eggs into dinner can also help you spot trouble before it costs you anything.

Why I’m Writing This Series

I’m 75 and my partner, Tom, is 77. We both love using AI for a myriad of daily tasks. And we use it to help run our businesses.

We use it for creating, doing research, and getting help with technology.

And we’ve learned how to be cautious. So, we know what personal information NOT to put into AI. And we know how to use AI to help us avoid scams from other sources like email, phone, on-screen pop-up, text, or social media.

Over the next few weeks, I’m sharing a short series here on Sixty and Me about welcoming AI into your everyday life. All the ways it can help, and yes, the ways to stay safe in the process.

Think of it as getting to know a new sidekick. One who can help you plan a trip, solve a recipe dilemma, track down a hard-to-find part, and help you spot a scam before it costs you anything.

In this series, we are going to explore AI from many angles – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We look at everyday ways it can make your life easier, and the scams doing the most damage to people our age right now, so you can see them coming.

Over the next several articles, I’ll pair the benefits and the cautions together, one category at a time:

Travel

Alongside AI’s knack for planning a trip you’ll actually love, I’ll cover the fake vacation rentals, phony airline “customer service” numbers, and taxi and hotel schemes that target you precisely when you’re distracted, excited, and away from your usual routines.

Money and Finance

Alongside using AI to fix things around the house and track down hard-to-find parts, I’ll cover impersonation calls from “the bank” or “the government,” investment schemes, and the increasingly common “phantom hacker” scam, where someone convinces you that your accounts have already been compromised.

Dating and Romance

Alongside the fun of using AI to enrich your social life, I’ll cover the patient, months-long cons built on real emotional connection. That’s exactly what makes them so devastating, and so underreported. More than half of victims never tell anyone.

Everything Else

Alongside AI’s help with big projects like renovations and family celebrations, I’ll cover grandparent and family-emergency scams, fake tech-support pop-ups, and government impersonation calls. Together, these account for tens of thousands of complaints from older adults every year.

In each upcoming article, I’ll walk you through a real case. I’ll explain exactly how the scam works. And I’ll show you the specific words to type into AI to get a second opinion before you act.

Not after. Before you click. Before you wire money. Before you give anyone your Social Security number.

A Quick Preview of our Method to Avoid Scams

The following method is the same as what Tom and I teach in our live hands-on classes – a simple five-step habit for anything that feels even slightly off:

STOP. LOOK. ASK. VERIFY. ACT.

• STOP before you react to urgency. Breathe.
• LOOK closely at who’s contacting you and what they want. See if you can determine the source.
• ASK an AI assistant to help you spot warning signs. Details matter here.
• VERIFY independently, through a phone number or website you find yourself, rather than the one given to you.
• ACT when necessary. Or wait.

That third step, ASK, is where this series lives. A free conversation with AI can become a second set of eyes. One that never gets tired, never feels rushed, and is always available at 2:00 AM when a “family emergency” text arrives, and your heart is pounding.

To be clear: AI is not a fraud detector that can guarantee your safety. It will never replace calling your bank, your local police, or a family member whom you trust.

What it can do is slow you down long enough to think clearly and help you ask better questions in the moment that matters most.

Your New Sidekick Can Do a Lot More Than This

Fraud prevention is just one part. You already got a taste of the fun part in that dinner story above, and there’s plenty more where that came from.

In my next article, I’ll introduce one of our favorite AIs, ChatGPT, and share how the same easy, back-and-forth approach that solved dinner also works for planning a trip you’ll actually love, no matter how far in advance (or how last-minute) you’re starting. And how to avoid travel scams. It’s one of my favorite things to teach, and one of my favorite topics to share.

For now, I’m just glad you’re reading this. Many people in our generation are nervous. I hope you will be surprised at how much you enjoy this series.

This article is part of a series based on a live online series of classes called AI Made Easy for Adults 60+ – A Class for Seniors Taught by Seniors. Learn more at easy4seniors.ai.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Are you afraid to use AI or have you embraced this new technology? What scams have targeted you and how did you respond to them? What are you most anxious about when it comes to scams, AI and technology in general?