What happens when a major AI model gets shut down worldwide with ninety minutes' notice? This week on aiGED, we go a little deeper than usual — a two-part look at whether America is actually positioned to keep its lead in AI, starting with the regulatory whiplash of the past three years.

We trace the rules from Biden's 2023 executive order, through Trump's reversal and his administration's “move fast” approach, to this June's Claude Fable 5 shutdown and the voluntary framework that followed. Then we turn to power — literally, the electricity AI needs to run — and why China is racing ahead on clean energy while U.S. investment in science and energy research pulls back. Ginny lays out, in plain terms, what she thinks needs to happen on both fronts.

In AI in the News: a new AI-powered scam targeting air conditioner shoppers this summer, and a survey showing nurses are using AI more than ever but still don't trust it with patient care. In AI for Good, Meta is donating AI glasses to every blind veteran in America. Plus, Ginny's recommendations, tied to a conversation she heard this week between Ezra Klein and environmentalist Bill McKibben.

If you've ever wondered whether the government is actually keeping up with AI — or whether America's even trying to keep its lead — this episode is for you. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

SHOW LINKS

🔗 Air Conditioner Scams (Forbes, Steve Weisman, July 5, 2026): https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveweisman/2026/07/05/how-ai-is-fueling-a-new-wave-of-air-conditioner-scams/

🔗 Nurses and AI Survey (The Washington Post, Gerrit De Vynck, July 7, 2026): https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/07/07/most-nurses-say-ai-isnt-good-enough-trust-with-patient-care-survey/

🔗 Meta Donates AI Glasses to Blind Veterans (Deseret News, Emily Walker, July 7, 2026): https://www.deseret.com/business/2026/07/07/meta-donates-glasses-to-blind-american-veterans/

🔗 Executive Order 14409 (The White House, June 2, 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/promoting-advanced-artificial-intelligence-innovation-and-security/

🔗 Global Electricity Review 2026 (Ember, April 21, 2026): https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/

🔗 “The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate” (The Ezra Klein Show, The New York Times, July 10, 2026): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-bill-mckibben.html

🔗 Here Comes the Sun by Bill McKibben: https://billmckibben.com/books/here-comes-the-sun/

🔗 Third Act (organizing people over 60 on climate): https://thirdact.org/

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to aiGED

02:53 AC Scam Alert

05:13 Nurses and AI Trust

06:47 AI Glasses for Veterans

08:10 Big Picture AI Race

09:35 Rules and Whiplash

16:38 Powering AI with Energy

22:22 What Needs to Change

24:46 Take Action and Resources

26:07 Wrap Up and Safety Tips

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

Back by popular demand — the episode format listeners keep asking for.

Episode 30, "14 Things I Did With AI This Week," was our most popular episode ever. Today we're doing it again with Episode 44: 12 real, concrete things Ginny has done with Claude AI over the past couple of weeks — tech troubleshooting, health questions, craft projects, a mystery credit card charge from Italy, garden planning with her grandson, and more.

This episode also features real examples from listeners who wrote in with their own AI stories: planning a 50th anniversary trip to France, finding printable piano music, and using Claude to work through affordable housing policy.

In AI in the News: Anthropic is entering the drug development space with a new tool called Claude Science. And a pediatric surgeon just wrote a book about AI in the nursery — Human Raised by Dr. Dana Suskind — coming July 14th.

aiGED is AI for the 65+ crowd. Real talk, no jargon.

00:00 Welcome to aiGED

00:49 Episode Preview

02:23 AI News Anthropic Drugs

04:38 AI News Kids and AI

07:34 Back to 12 Examples

08:35 Tech Fixes Fast

10:14 Money and Health Checks

11:52 Garden and Craft Help

12:59 Bouquet Art Director

15:02 Projects and Setup Tips

16:23 Listener AI Wins

19:50 Quick Recommendations

22:07 Closing Thoughts

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd

What if your AI didn't just answer your questions — but actually made things? This week on aiGED, we go behind the scenes of how Ginny produces this podcast every Tuesday morning, using it as a window into one of the biggest shifts happening in AI right now: agents.

We break down what makes an AI agent different from a regular chatbot, how to give one access to your files, and why a simple document changes everything for ongoing work. Then we look at what an agent could do for you — organizing medical records, comparing contractor quotes, tackling a family history project — followed by an honest look at where agents fall short and why you should never hand one your credit card number.

In AI in the News: ChatGPT has lost its majority share of the AI market for the first time since it launched in 2022 — and there's a check fraud scheme targeting mail that's worth knowing about right now. In AI for Good, an AI program flagged a heart condition that doctors missed in a busy emergency room, and a team in Louisiana is using AI to help keep Cajun French from disappearing. Plus a low-tech recommendation from Ginny about eating without a screen.

If you've been curious about AI agents but couldn't quite picture what they look like in practice — this episode is for you. Listen or watch wherever you get your podcasts.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to aiGED

00:43 Episode Preview

01:23 AI Market Share Shifts

02:51 Check Fraud Warning

05:52 AI for Good Stories

10:13 What Are AI Agents

12:54 Context Documents Explained

16:48 Chat vs CoWork

19:02 My Podcast Workflow

23:15 Agents Beyond Podcasting

24:46 Limits and Safety

26:31 Anti Screen Habit Tip

27:20 Final Wrap Up

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd