Darryl Patterson is an expert and educator in the field of Information Architecture, and is the current President of the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Rotary Club and a Rotarian for over 20 years.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is technology that enables computer systems or machines designed to simulate human intelligence to perform complex tasks. It involves simulating cognitive functions like learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making to operate, often without constant human oversight. Generative AI is artificial intelligence designed to produce output, especially text or images, normally requiring human intelligence, typically by applying machine learning techniques to large collections of data.
In 1950, Alan Turing’s paper on “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” introduced the Turing test and showed that machine intelligence was plausible. By 2000, solutions developed by AI researchers were being widely used, although not directly by consumers. In 2020, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT and, by 2022, it became the fastest-growing consumer software application.
AI can do almost anything with varying levels of success. Almost everything you use on a computer today is using AI in some way. AI is being used for digital assistants/agents; search engines; entertainment; programming; social media; online shopping; robots; transportation and navigation; text editing and autocorrect; home automation; fraud prevention; predictions; gaming; healthcare; advertising; analytics, to name a few. The list never ends.
New Innovations are happening daily, and the newest thing is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). AGI is a type of artificial intelligence that would match or surpass human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks.
In Rotary, AI can be used for event posters and social media posts; committee and board meeting summaries; explainer videos and graphics; create promotional materials for membership; write press releases, along with give you ideas how to distribute them; and even write a song.
In your personal life, AI can help plan vacations; create more professional-looking things, like weddings and birthday invitations; help with writing resumes and cover letters; learn a language; create a song; and help learn new things.
Effective use of AI depends on the system you are using as every AI system has a different set of models. You can try competing products, systems, or models. Faster ones can have a tendency to be less accurate when there is complexity, and slower ones can have a tendency to give better results for more complex work. Many of these products/systems can be expensive so you want to choose wisely.
Prompt engineering is important in writing great prompts as you describe what it is you want. You would include a role and provide the format of the response, and ask AI to provide sources. You need to tell AI when the responses are good or bad, and then correct the bad responses. You can add or change details. You can even inquire on how to make better prompts.
AI tokens are the fundamental bite-sized units of data, which are the words, parts of words, or characters, used to process and generate language. You can think of the tokens as being building blocks that break down text, where one token is roughly 4 characters or 0.75 words in English. Smaller, more frequent words usually take up fewer tokens, while technical jargon or complex words make take more tokens, affecting how much information fits into a single request.
When using AI to help, follow the 15/70/15 rule: 15% inspiration and prompting; 70% Artificial Intelligence; and 15% verification and improving. AI can be wrong, so make sure you verify and confirm what AI has provided you. Overall, you are tapping into the sum of human knowledge and creativity.
The risks of AI include bias and discrimination; job displacement; lack of transparency, accountability, and privacy; effects on the environment as a huge amount of energy is used; misinformation and misuse; and can be an external threat to human existence as it cannot be slowed down or stopped.
There are many AI assistant models available for one’s use. Darryl highlighted: Google Gemini; Claude; ChatGPT; AnyGen; Microsoft Copilot; Grok; Google NotebookLM; Suno; Langua Talk; Ace Studio; Otter AI; and Storybook. Genie 3 is the newest model by Google released in November 2025, and the advanced version has just been updated February 2026. It uses simple text descriptions to generate photorealistic environments that can be explored in real-time.
AI is being used in email systems to assist you in writing your emails faster and better. AI can also be used in online documents, like Google Drive and Microsoft 365. Canva, Figma, Adobe, and other design software are using AI to help speed up your work. AI can also be integrated to speed up coding and write code for prompts.
The scarier side of AI is something to really pay close attention to and be aware of programs that can manipulate or deceive the loss of human connection. Darryl highlighted: Moltbook which is a social network where AI agents share, discuss, and upvote; RentAHuman.ai which can rent humans for real-world physical tasks; and OpenClaw which can actually clear your inbox, send emails, manage your calendar, and check your flights by using WhatsApp, Telegram, or any chat app you already use. On some AI products you can turn off or disable on your computer system.
To view a recording of Darryl's presentation, click this unlisted link on the Club's YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/pQv-ZlaAyZw