Released On 27 June 2023
Uchenna's blog: AI Say Amen
Question: What do prayers, AI, and psychological safety have in common?
Answer: The boldness of Commander-in-Chief-Junior. You have to hand it to eight-year old’s who are developing PhDs finding short cuts to their most pressing problems.
Commander-in-Chief Junior told me that he had heard about AI on BBC Newsround and then asked why can’t we use AI to say prayers because he was bored doing his.
After I recovered laughing so hard at the randomness of the question, I thought to myself: “My son is really bold. I never would have had the guts to say that to my mum at his age. He must really feel psychologically safe to say he wants to dodge prayers. Am I not strict enough?”
LOL!
I WhatsApped friends and family to start a prayer circle for Commander-in-Chief Junior on this AI leap of faith to provide panadol for his headache. They wondered who had given him such divine inspiration. Interactions like these with my mini-bosses reinforce for me how much parenting style is one of circumstance and mindset. My siblings and I were raised under strict old school Nigerian parenting doctrine where ma and pa were alpha and omega. As my parents grew up during and in the aftermath of the Biafra civil war in Nigeria, how could they prioritize play when homes and schools were destroyed?
As they brought us up, there was a constant push and pull between two different cultures and perspectives - Nigeria and Britain - in experiencing the world. Outside of the front door may have been London glittering with play, but inside our home was Nigeria where the refrain was “Go and read your books!” Although that golden line automatically comes from my mouth whenever I hear whinges of “I’m bored, mummy”, it is not beholden to whether they pass tests to enter the next school year. “Go and read your books” is not a cry for an aunt or uncle to help pay school fees because education is a privilege and not a right in Nigeria. “Go and read your books” is a guttural chant to bring my kids out of the digital world, aka as the tablet, into the sensory one so as to be lost in tales of adventure and wonder.
AI, can I get an amen?
Uchenna works in strategic communications and engagement. Her/She has led initiatives on employee engagement and diversity and recruitment for different companies. Uchenna marvels at the new zest of life and clarity her Commanders-in-Chief have given her.
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