Structuring Chaotic Minds

Embracing AI: Alyssa's Path to Mental Wellness and Societal Change

• Alyssa Freeney • Season 3 • Episode 5

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What if your mental well-being and productivity could coexist in harmony, enhanced by the very technology you once viewed with skepticism? Join us as we engage with Alyssa, a 17-year-old AI enthusiast who began her journey during the chaos of the COVID-19 era. Her story unfolds from doubt to embrace, as she reveals how AI has become a cornerstone in organizing her life and freeing mental space for essential human interactions. Alyssa’s passionate insights highlight the transformative power of AI in maintaining creativity, nurturing collaboration, and supporting holistic health practices to build resilience and manage trauma effectively.

Our conversation ventures into the revolutionary potential of AI in education, aiming to dismantle social inequalities and empower communities with unbiased opportunities. Hear about our shared vision of integrating AI into national security, enhancing decision-making while preserving mental health and teamwork. Together, we imagine a future where technology and holistic living are not adversaries but allies, enabling individuals to thrive both professionally and personally. Alyssa's aspirations of running for public office reinforce our commitment to driving changes in education, technology, and wellness, ensuring a balanced and enriched life for all.


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Structuring Chaotic Minds, the podcast where we turn the chaos of everyday challenges into structured success. I'm your host, melissa, and each episode we'll explore innovative strategies, real-life stories and actionable insights to help you navigate the complexities of leadership, business and personal growth. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a leader or someone striving for personal development, this podcast will give you the tools to create clarity in the chaos. Let's dive in. Alyssa, we're thrilled to have you back on Structuring Chaotic Minds. Last time, you shared how you help us here at the family use automations with some of our systems and how you incorporate AI to do that, but this time we're going to go into a deeper focus on your holistic approach and why you believe that incorporating tools like AI is still possible. Plus, we'll dive into some exciting goals about your future, and we're going to be talking about how you feel today. How are you feeling about today's discussion?

Speaker 2:

I'm pretty excited.

Speaker 1:

I'm excited to have you. For those people that are new to our audience, who have not heard your previous episodes, can you go ahead and give yourself a brief introduction of who you are?

Speaker 2:

Well, hello listeners. So my name is Alyssa. I am 17 years old. I am a huge AI enthusiast and have a passion for combining AI with holistic well-being and education. I like advocating for education and just being an impactful student and someone who's making an impact in the world.

Speaker 1:

Love it. We're going to dive in with our first topic or first area, and that's going to be balancing holistic health and integrating technology. So why holistic? Why AI? You're deeply committed to holistic health, so that's mind, body, spirit, but you also like integrating technology, so why AI? What drew you to incorporate these tools in a world where many people see tech and holistic living as complete opposites?

Speaker 2:

Well, I guess you can say that it all showed up in COVID, where the education systems, schools were breaking down and people were struggling with trying to balance everything. I was one of them, somebody who was super against AI and was like, no, that's not really going to help me with anything, it's going to make my life so much worse, it's cheating and all this other stuff. But when I realized my friends, who normally would be having a harder time doing their classwork, are more free than I am, and here I am struggling trying to balance all of my classes and still have time to be with my family, it was a huge eye-opener that I'm stressed out, not because of the work, but because it's an overload of things I need to do and I just don't have time. So that's why I decided to integrate. But can you?

Speaker 1:

clarify that, because some people might say oh okay, so you just had AI go do your work. Is that really what happened?

Speaker 2:

No. So, like I said earlier, I was super against it. I was like you're cheating. But then I realized I have a lot of art blocks, creative blocks and stuff like that and it's hard for me to consistently keep my brain going without breaks. So AI helped me outline basically this is what I need to do, helped me categorize it into steps so my brain can actually process it faster. And the AI was like not giving you the answer. But here you go and it's like wow. It took me a while because I didn't know how to prompt at first, but now it helps so much more and an eye opener that, hey, this is how much time I've been wasting just trying to brainstorm what I need to do.

Speaker 1:

You've said before that AI and technology should support, not replace, the human experience. Can you explain how you balance using a tool like AI while staying grounded in your holistic philosophy, then?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course. So what I mean is shouldn't replace personality and stuff and like what you do is because you can never get rid of human interaction. That's always going to be there. So in order for you to have those human interactions, you need to have the mental capacity to have those conversations with people. So it's supporting us because, like I said earlier, the brain capacity of trying to understand what you need to do in your everyday and if your day is changing, it's not a fluent routine and schedule. It's going to cause overwhelm.

Speaker 2:

So in order for you to still be mentally stable, still get through the day without feeling like everything is crashing down on you, you need to have your set routines and sometimes it's like, hey, I need to have this in my calendar, but I I don't have the time to write it down. Ask the ai to do it and it'll pop up for you later. It'll sink in, do everything you got to do. It just makes it that much easier to still be like I can be here in the moment with with kids, family, friends and not worry about my work stuff, and it helps Literally. It's not something that I can use to just enhance my productivity and still be present.

Speaker 1:

I like that. What do you believe we must still hold on to, then, as humans, even while incorporating more technology in our lives and work? What do we risk losing if we rely on too much automation?

Speaker 2:

This is going back to the collaboration and human interaction piece. We risk losing that if we're so nose deep into the computers and we don't take time to step back, see what we've created and collaborate with our peers Because, honestly, it takes all of our data, it takes all of our mind processes to create something that works for everybody. So if you're creating something for yourself, it's not going to work for the person next to you. It's not because you guys have different brain processes. You think differently, so that human interaction needs to be there, regardless of how much automation we use.

Speaker 1:

You've openly discussed your experiences with trauma and resilience before on our episodes. How have both AI and now a more holistic practices helped you develop the coping mechanisms you needed to help with that trauma, and can they really work together?

Speaker 2:

I think they definitely can work together. The reason why I wasn't able to cope with what I was going through at the time is because I generally was handling AP classes after AP class after AP class. I taught AP classes, I was in sports, I did some volunteer work, I had four AP classes. I was in sports, I did some volunteer work All things I liked doing.

Speaker 2:

The point was I didn't have time to come back and be like here's my 15 minute break, let me breathe, let me talk to my family, and at the time I was going through something where I couldn't fully express my emotions, not because I felt like I was in a bad environment, rather than I didn't have time to process what I was feeling.

Speaker 2:

So it made me extremely angry, extremely frustrated, and I saw a plummet in what I normally was exceeding at. It just wasn't the same anymore. So using AI, like I said, to create that outline, to keep that strategy going for me, and not having to change and dabble with everything that I'm already doing, gave me the opportunity to hey, let's go get some therapy, let's go talk as a family. This is what we got to do a lot of progress and a lot of growth, because now I'm able to publicly speak, be on podcasts and speak about what I got to do and what I've been through, rather than being like I don't want to talk to anybody, leave me alone. Why are you talking to me in the first place? I don't have time to talk to you. No, you do so. There's no excuse, but yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, AI as a support, not as a crutch. There's a lot of fear that AI will replace jobs, relationships or even creative processes. How do you use AI to enhance your emotional resilience?

Speaker 2:

and mental health without letting it become a crutch.

Speaker 2:

I think I'm able to decipher between the two because there's a lot of apps out there, there's a lot of resources you can use that balance your life.

Speaker 2:

I use sometimes these meditation things that are personalized just for me because they wouldn't work for another person. I don't think I am extremely have all these mental health issues because I don't, so I don't need all the therapy that another person would need, but that it's not my crutch, because I can still go throughout the day, still have my creative process, but then be like, hey, I need you to edit this for me and it's like, okay, I got it. It's like, all right, that's 15 minutes I could be doing meditating, 15 minutes I could be doing taking a walk outside, walking my dog, going and getting a snack. That holistic part of my life is being freed up again because my productivity being enhanced and I think that's a great part. And it may be difficult for people because they don't know how exactly to prompt it. And not even a lie. It took me some time to figure out how I'm supposed to prompt things, but simple baby steps. I need help with this or create a guide for this, and it worked wonders for building systems for healing.

Speaker 1:

You've helped us set up systems that automate tasks around here and give us more time for the important stuff. You I like how you highlighted that. How do you see this approach helping more people who need time for personal healing, self-care and holistic living?

Speaker 2:

I think let's use teachers as an example and what they have to do in their day-to-day. I remember, as you as a teacher, you were there from what? Six in the morning to eight at night. I don't even know how that shift works, but point is if we were to use a teacher as an example and how AI can help their processes.

Speaker 2:

You're only one person and trying to teach what 30, maybe 40 kids at a time can get overwhelming, especially because everybody, like I said earlier, they have different thought processes. Not everybody's on the same page. So how are you going to be able to go and personalize each teaching and coaching mechanism for that one student and make sure everybody gets that 100%? It's a lot harder. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's a lot harder and it's more stressful on the teacher. So, creating those processes to be like, hey, you already got something that's helping you personalize the teaching, you're still coaching them, you're still telling them this is what you got to do, but getting rid all those teacher.

Speaker 2:

I have a question and you may think it's the stupidest question in the world, but they're like it's my life or death type of scenario and I need help. Right, having that frees up the teacher's time. It helps them understand. Hey, this is what my kids are not understanding and I can teach this as a collective, because that's what everyone is struggling on. Rather than what are people struggling on? Kids not wanting to even answer because they're afraid that it's something stupid or they're afraid that they're going to be laughed at, because it's like how do you not understand it? Having those systems in place frees up the teacher's time, gives them time to finally calm down, relax and spend time with their families, because they don't get to see their families majority of the time because they're grading papers or they're giving out new lesson plans, new exit tickets, and it's harder for them to fully relax or wind down. So I think if we were to implement more processes based off of specialization and personalization, it'll help a lot more people across all types of industries.

Speaker 1:

Bigger goals and impact Bridging gaps with technology. One of your biggest passions is closing economic gaps, but then bridging digital divides. How do you see technology, and specifically AI, helping us achieve this? What is the ultimate goal for you in this area?

Speaker 2:

I think the ultimate goal for me in this area is that everybody's having an opportunity. Everyone has access. Sure, people get scared. They're like, hey, what if this one person he's probably not good for our environment has access to this AI and AI goes bad? Or what if the AI robots end up taking all of our information and all the sci-fi type of scenarios Valid points.

Speaker 2:

But I feel like if everybody has access, access there shouldn't be a high class, middle class, low class not saying that everyone should automatically be given the best type of life, that's not what I'm saying. But everybody should start at a common ground because it's not fair that somebody who is born into a place of wealth doesn't have to work hard and still gets the same opportunities as someone who started from the ground up. They still see a huge gap from what opportunities they're given, whether it's racial, ethnical, religious, sex type of barriers, sex type of barriers they're very much present. But an AI if we all input our data, if we all come together, the AI won't be biased and it'll make sure everyone gets the opportunity that it needs and that the equity everyone deserves, rather than hey, since this person is this type of color, this person believes in this. They don't get the same opportunity. So I feel like having an AI who isn't actually biased can bridge that gap and make sure everybody's successful.

Speaker 1:

Education in the future. You mentioned wanting to impact education on a larger scale. What's your vision for ai and technology like? How can it help reform the education system? How can it empower communities while still allowing time for that holistic life you mentioned?

Speaker 2:

yeah. So combining technology and AI, I really do feel like it can help bridge the educational barriers that we have. By doing AI, you could probably teach somebody everything they need to know within a school day and two hours. Why? Because the education system, like I mentioned earlier, is broken. But the reason why it is like that is because it was meant for the factory workers. It was meant for the eight hour day schedules for people who are at work, working for somebody else and not on themselves. One working at a store for some billionaire. And you realize, hey, we're tired all day and school is just a productive version of a daycare.

Speaker 2:

You use AI and you understand, I can learn everything that I need to, and then some. Because at school you don't know how to do your checkbooks. You don't know how to do your checkbooks. You don't know how to do taxes. Sure, you may learn math, but never in those kinds of real life examples. You go to school and it's like when am I gonna need this? When am I gonna need to create a parabola to buy a? You know a to buy groceries? I'm not. I need that.

Speaker 1:

Sure it may be nice, it's going to go up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I need to calculate the trajectory of when that sandal will hit me in the face. I have to understand, hey, this is the rocket science to talk to a female, something like that. It's just like if we can limit all the other added distractions to keep you busy throughout the day, you can end up understanding hey, what career field do I want to go to? Maybe I want to start my own business. This is my own personal growth, my own professional growth, and using that can build the leaders that we are so hoping will lead us into tomorrow. So that's what I think AI can help with.

Speaker 1:

So hopes for Homeland Defense and beyond. You're studying for the Air Force and you have hopes to work for Homeland Defense one day. How do your holistic values and beliefs in tools like AI fit into that? What's the connection between national security and holistic living for you?

Speaker 2:

I think the connection between both of those is that if I learn what our nation's best interests are, I can understand hey, this is how I can protect people that I love. You know mindful of others, how to speak to others, I can end up creating a certain change that brings you know, holistic thought processes into even the highest types of government. Should you be in the military, you have to be stern. Don't really talk about your emotions as much, because they mess with the mind when you're in the heat of battle. Point is, if I'm able to fully address my mental state and actually work on that and fully have a clear vision of what I need to do, not only will my work be that much easier, but, like, it will also help the people around me. And I'm not sure if this is making sense, but like, let's just say, if somebody is anxious, you can feel that anxiousness and it's like I'm going to be in the tech field. I can't be anxious of anything.

Speaker 2:

I already know I'm good with ai, so I'm gonna use that piece to still help me. You know, like, stay grounded and it'll help the person next to me. Stay grounded and we could still share that holistic, like energy that, hey, this is what we gotta do. We got something to help us. Here's our tool, let's just get this done. And then the nation's safe. That's what that? That's like energy. That, hey, this is what we got to do. We got something to help us. Here's our tool, let's just get this done. And then the nation's safe. That's the main piece that I want Make sure our country is still safe, make sure my family is still safe, and doing so without losing my brain cells. So that's what I want to be able to do.

Speaker 1:

Personal aspirations of podcast launch. Running for public office one day. You have plans to run for public office one day, whatever space that looks like, but what changes do you hope to bring to the table when it comes to education, technology and wellness? How do you plan on ensuring that tools will be provided for communities so that they can thrive technologically and holistically?

Speaker 2:

So what I plan on doing when I it's going to be official that I am going to run for office because there's I gotta like, there's so much in front of me that I'm seeing. That makes me sad. The education that I used to know was every student has the ability to go to college. There's opportunity for all. But now you're not seeing that opportunity for everybody, seeing that opportunity for everybody. Nobody's really caring about the person in the back. And it's sad because every kid is bright, Every kid should have a future, but it's taken away from them because people don't want to put in the extra work to help them out.

Speaker 2:

So I feel like affordable housing, having technology supported for everyone, will make sure that, hey, these futures are not necessarily set in stone, but they are secured because they have the ability to start just like everybody else.

Speaker 2:

They're not behind, they have everything that they need and it's up to them to decide hey, this is what I'm going to do for my future, this is what I'm going to do to help out my community. And I feel like taking AI into education and, like I said, personalizing it to where it's only two hours a day and people learn only what they need to learn and then work on their personal goals and their professional goals and stuff will be so much easier for like the holistic part, because they don't have to worry about fitting into a system that only certain people thrive in and they don't have to feel like I am an outcast because I already feel like the system is putting me as a outlier because I don't fit these criteria. So I really want to advocate for a change in education and end up being that person's guiding light, so that they don't feel like they're left behind.

Speaker 1:

Introducing AI Ain't the Bad Guy. Introducing AI Ain't the Bad Guy. Your podcast, ai Ain't the Bad Guy launches October 31st. You're supposed to be having the spooky truth about AI. What can listeners expect and how will it address misconceptions about AI, while also trying to push your bigger message, which is balance and holistic growth?

Speaker 2:

Well, I'm pretty excited about that one. What speakers not speakers, but what audiences can expect is that I'm going to actually be demystifying these things that people are putting on the AI. They say like we've been talking about this entire episode that it's going to take away our jobs. It's going to take away everything that we're already doing.

Speaker 2:

Ai is crap. I don't know why everybody's indulging in it. It's getting rid of human interaction and I'm losing my job because I fortunately haven't accepted that AI is not going anywhere and that it's not just a trend. A lot of people believe that if we ignore it, it's going to go away. Unfortunately, that's not the case, because you got these electric cars, you have Elon doing whatever he does, and open AI is just getting bigger and AI processes being put into Google. Our think tanks are not going to stop using AI.

Speaker 2:

So I want to help people understand. You don't have to fully indulge and get on the bandwagon. Ai is great, because that may not be the case for everybody, but at least for the people who hate it, they'll understand why it may be beneficial for them to slowly ease into it rather than ignore it completely, because it's not going to go anywhere. But if you understand, this is how I can use it. You become irreplaceable. So that's really what I hope the episode will end up coming out to be, and people gain that insight from it. But if not, hey, you know, I'm trying, man.

Speaker 1:

So for listeners who are just beginning to explore tools like using AI alongside holistic practices. What key pieces of advice would you give them to ensure that they're not losing that human touch in the process?

Speaker 2:

of advice would you give them to ensure that they're not losing that human touch in the process? I would say don't immediately get rid of all of your like routines and systems you have in place, because it wouldn't make sense. Let's say you are used to writing everything in your calendar and you decide let me use AI. And you know you've never worked a calendar on your phone in your life. That's already ruining a system you have in place because you're not used to it and it's going to eventually, in turn, ruin the mental balance that you have because it's like it's another thing I got to work on. I have to do this and I'm not used to it and it's making my life this much harder. Oh my God, I hate AI. That's not the point. It's just working baby steps and then, once you feel that you're more comfortable with it, then you can integrate more. But don't like force yourself into doing something that other people do because it wouldn't be worth it for you in the long run.

Speaker 1:

What's next for you After your podcast launch? What other exciting projects or goals are on the horizon for you?

Speaker 2:

I think, more of advocating and learning how I can actually become that council member, because I think I can. I speak, but I ramble, let's be honest. And I speak but I get like the uh, uh, uh, yeah that I'm not as great as Clearing my thoughts and letting somebody know. This is why something needs to happen and this will help everybody, because Blank space. So I want to end up going through more of the council processes, learning what I got to do, go to college and also get into the air force, because how am I going to say, hey, I did Homeland defense if I didn't do Homeland defense, so I got to? You know, those are the next steps. Make sure.

Speaker 1:

I don't put away in a nursing home, please.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I love how you always remind us.

Speaker 1:

That's another reason. Seriously, I love how you always remind us that tools like AI can make things faster and more efficient, but ultimately that's what allows us to have that human connection. So we do have time for the emotional and the mental wellbeing to come first, as opposed to the work. Alyssa's podcast proud mom here, but yeah, ai Ain't the Bad Guy is going to be launching on October 31st. I encourage each of you to tune in and explore how technology can be a force for good when it's used thoughtfully. And for those of you who are interested in the bigger picture, like future of education or closing economic gaps in our communities, alyssa is definitely working on something to keep an eye on.

Speaker 1:

So thank you so much for joining us on another episode of Structuring Chaotic Minds. We're excited to continue these thought-provoking conversations and we hope we have left you inspired to incorporate the right tools in your own life in ways that support your holistic health and personal well-being. Until next time, keep structuring that chaos. Thank you for tuning into Structuring Chaotic Minds. If today's episode resonated with you, don't forget to subscribe, share and leave a review. Remember, the key to success is not avoiding chaos, but learning how to structure it. Stay inspired, keep growing and join me next time as we continue to transform challenges into opportunities. Until then, take care and keep structuring your chaotic mind.