🧠 How AI Helped Me Take My Voice Back

Part of the Sober & Wired series by Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise)

There’s something no one tells you about getting older:

Even when your mind’s sharp, your body can betray you.

For me, it was my hands.

They started shaking so badly that typing — something I used to do every day — became almost impossible. Clicking a mouse? Frustrating. Writing a letter? Agonizing. Creating anything on a screen? A slow, painful ordeal.

I felt like my voice was slipping away again — just like it had during the worst years of my addiction.

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Then AI came along…

Not the scary kind.
Not the “replace-all-humans” kind.
I’m talking about the kind that sits quietly in the background and says:

“Just talk. I’ve got the rest.”

I started dictating my thoughts.
Rough. Unfiltered. Rambling, sometimes.

And this technology — these tools — they listened.
They turned my shaky, whispered ideas into paragraphs.
They made writing fun again.
They let me keep up with my thoughts instead of chasing them down with fumbling fingers.

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That’s why I say I’m “Sober & Wired”

Sobriety gave me back my life.
AI gave me back my voice.

And no — it’s not perfect.
Sometimes it messes up words.
Sometimes it gets the tone wrong.
But guess what? So did I, for decades.

Now I work with it.
I shape it.
And I use it to tell the truth — about sobriety, about aging, about staying creative even when your hands won’t let you.

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If you’re struggling — physically, emotionally, financially — just know this:

There are tools that can help.
And if a 73-year-old with shaky hands and a stubborn streak can figure them out, maybe you can too.

—Fred (GeezerWise)

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📌 This letter was written by Fred Ferguson (GeezerWise). If it spoke to you, I’d love to hear back—just hit reply.

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—Fred [GeezerWise]