This morning, back in my hometown of Petoskey, Michigan, I had the opportunity t
By Laura Meyer · July 22, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
This morning, back in my hometown of Petoskey, Michigan, I had the opportunity to speak at the Rotary Club that my father has been a member of (and even served as president of) for more than 25 years.
I opened with a story from 1959.
Back then, a "computer" wasn't a machine. It was a profession, largely held by women who manually calculated complex mathematical problems. When room-sized mainframes arrived, many predicted mass unemployment. Instead, those human computers became some of the world's first computer programmers.
History has a funny way of repeating itself.
Today's headlines around AI often focus on fear. Like any transformative technology, AI comes with real challenges that deserve thoughtful discussion, from the environmental impact of data centers to responsible and ethical implementation. Those concerns are valid, and we should address them. But it's also possible to acknowledge the challenges while remaining optimistic about the opportunities.
What excites me most about AI isn't that it can make businesses more efficient or profitable. It's that it gives more people the ability to solve meaningful problems faster than ever before.
For an organization like Rotary, whose mission is rooted in service, that's where AI becomes especially exciting. It has the potential to remove friction, amplify human ingenuity, and help us tackle challenges that once felt out of reach.
AI isn't replacing the need for creativity, judgment, empathy, or problem-solving. It's giving people who choose to act more leverage than ever before.
The future won't belong to those who wait for the technology to settle or for the perfect moment to arrive. It will belong to those with the agency to pick up the tool and use it to create something better, for their business, their community, and the world.