Note taker- Karin Voisin

 

Everton reminded members that there will be a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT at the April 8th meeting, that members won't want to miss. 

 

Judy remarked that we have experienced our 45th year of service through March, and reminded members of all the accomplishments that have occurred in those years. 

 

Guest Speaker - Shawn, Hlowatzki, Chair of the Board of HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre.

 

 

The goal is for people and their families to know that they are not alone through this journey.  They support individuals, caregivers, families and children in KW and surrounding areas.  Shawn went on to explain how his organization does this through the many programs offered, free of charge, to people living with a cancer diagnosis.   See their website at www.hopespring.ca

 

A new initiative of the Centre is the development of "The Cancer Care Concierge" program which will identify gaps that fall outside of traditional medical care, and connect people with the supports they need.   The program aims to establish a strong network of community partners that already work with people impacted by cancer. This is a three-year pilot project that is intended to be rolled out to other communities in the future.  

 

Contact HopeSpring at 519-742-4679 for more information.   

 

 

 

 

 

Note taker:  Karen Spencer

 

 

This month Mac Graham celebrates 10 years as a club member and Brandon Flewelling celebrates 12 years

 

Karin Voisin shared the club service initiative supporting Indwell’s new build at the former St. Peter’s Church site.  Karen and fellow Rotarians cleaned apartments for residents to move into their new home.  Residents, many of whom were chronically homeless, will be residing in their new home with on-side support.

 

Everton had an announcement – “What shall I chose lady with a hat, tortoise or giraffe – choices!! ?” “What will you chose?”  The club cheered on Everton… his performance was magnificent and we are all intrigued. 

 

Reminder March is our birthday month – celebrating 45 years!

 

Judy asked if someone knew what a “scooter” is.  Karin Voison had the right answer… in 1984 if you left the meeting before the speaker finished you were a “scooter “and charged $2 for leaving the meeting early. 

 

Louise Gardiner, Graham’s lovely wife was our guest today.

 

Laura Power x2 Ingrid Peters, all drew marbles – The $343.00 pot continues to grow!

 

 

 

 

Speaking on Artificial Intelligence – What is it?  What are the opportunities?

AI is Siri, Amazon – does things that people use to do such a data-mining, data gathering and administrative tasks.

 

Nahla reminded us of the concern around automation in factories and the concern that this would replace humans… it did not.

 

AI is affecting what people considered white collar work. 

Some club members had concerns that AI does not make you think or are unsure about it.

 

Other club members see it as a tool, saves time writing emails, policy and even assisting with communication with other professionals such as lawyers and physicians.

 

One member, a former university professor, noted that it is raising questions about plagiarisms.  Nahla agreed, AI has forced educators to teach and test differently.

A guest who is a travel agent noted that AI has assisted in her work as a travel agent, as a place to start but, does not replace the customized work she does for every client.

 

Nahla used her own example, of doing a large scale survey for an organization and using ChatGPT to summarize the data – this would haven taken her months to complete saving her client a lot of money. 

 

Nahla spoke about the ethics of AI.  For example, using AI for good purpose and disclosing the use of AI. 

 

Highly transactional customer service roles will be impacted by AI however; AI will also create other opportunities.

 

One challenge with AI is how fast it progresses.  Have we considered who may be disadvantaged by AI.  For example, people who do not have access to technology.   Will the gap widen further between those with access and those without access?

Nahla recommends a balanced approach – looking at both the positives and negatives.   Understanding the risks creates opportunity to mitigate them.

Nayla provided us with an interactive session that allowed for some good dialogue.