Anybody who is anybody is discussing Artificial Intelligence. Debating it is all the rage now. I am facing it head on because I am a Gen Alpha. My siblings are too. We are born between 2010-2025. My older cousins are Gen Z’s with my parents, aunts and uncles Gen Y’s or Millennials. And yikes, my grand-parents and great-great grandparents are Baby Boomers. So what does all this mean?

Well, according to Google, more than 2.5 million Alphas are born every week and by 2025 there will be almost two billion of us. Born into digital technology like it’s a fifth element of nature, Alphas will be the wealthiest, the most intensely educated and most dynamic generation that human society has yet seen. Yep. Here are our finer features:

1. The most fundamental characteristic of the Alphas will be our relationship with Information Technology (IT) and yes, Artificial Intelligence (AI.)
2. Another essential feature of Alphas will be our longevity. We will take longer to take on adult responsibilities, stay in education for longer periods, join the workforce later, have children later. We will live longer than any generation, ever!
3. We will be better able to deal with the complexities of a global community. Our rising generation of entrepreneurs will not be as obsessed with wealth, as previous generations, but more focused on the aspects of solving the challenges facing our communities, our planet, our physical and mental health. We will have what we need.

Would you like to see what one looks like–a Gen Alpha? Here is one…

Now, you may be asking yourselves, are all Alphas, like this baby, born with larger than normal heads? Heck no! Don’t you have a brain? I am a Spina baby, remember? I struggle with hydrocephalus….the results of fluid build-up around my brain due to complications of the “Bifida.” That is what Brain Surgery is for. Duh.

Don’t panic!!! It’s done. The brain surgery, I mean. All of the generation X’s, Y’s and Z’s in my family and their friends have panicked enough offering huge amounts of faith and prayers to heaven but these generations do not have the full appreciation of AI (artificial intelligence) that Alphas have. Here is what happened.

1. On Monday, The Pediatric Neurological Team met with Mama and told her it was time…..time for brain surgery of course.
2. Then, later on Monday, all of my medical data was inputed into a computer program to decide what surgical procedure would be best for me. The two possibilities were 1) Placing a permanent shunt in my brain with a catheter into my stomach to constantly drain brain fluid or 2) Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy where the brain is drained but no shunt or catheter is placed. The academic catch: Mama and Dada would not know what procedure was selected until after my surgery. Oh, the surprises of clinical, academic research!!! The Team assured Mama there was no rush.

Option One and Two

3. On Tuesday, Mama was told I was having surgery on Thursday. I think a brain surgeon’s concept of “no rush” is very different than the rest of our population. Maybe it was for the best…the rush I mean….less time for Mama to worry about it. Having Mama crying for 3 days is too much.

After surgery, my parents were told that Option 2 was performed. No shunt. Brain drained.

4. By Thursday evening, I was awake and adorable as ever. I may not be a “brainiac” but I know a few things: 1) I know how important brains are, 2) I know that using medical Artificial Intelligence is very smart and worth talking about and, 3) I know I am the beneficiary of another one of God’s good graces and miracles.

Go Alphas!

Next Page titled, “Listen, I didn’t hear anything you just said.”

“Listen, I didn’t hear a word you just said”