A Plain-English Guide
AI for the generation with the most lived experience.
A practical guide to artificial intelligence for professionals born before 1990 — written in the language you already use, by a cybersecurity researcher who has lived through every technology transition since the VCR.
This book was written for you if
You've asked at least one of these questions.
The book was born from presenting and speaking on AI to individuals born before 1990. The questions below are the ones that came back, again and again, from every room. They are the questions this book answers,
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Am I too late for this — or is everyone else just moving faster than me?
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Will AI take my job, replace my judgement, or make me obsolete?
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How do I actually use AI without getting tricked, scammed, or misled by it?
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What does it look like to work with AI instead of being replaced by it?
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Will using AI change who I am — and what do I do about it?
If those questions are yours, you are in the group this book calls Analogs — not because you are outdated, but because you built your life, your career, and your judgement before AI existed. Now you are being asked to figure out where AI fits without losing what you already know. That is a real question. This book is the honest answer.
Advanced Reader Reviews
"More than a beginner's 'how-to', Dr. Schippers lays out in practical language what AI is, the power it can be and the how to avoid its illusions." - Retired Finance Executive
"This is the car manual in your glove box for AI. Only a lot easier and less costly to understand." - AI Platform Founder
"This book provides a simple and straightforward overview of AI and encourages Analogs not to fear using AI." - Retired Executive Admin
"The section on 'when AI makes you sharper vs. when it makes you lazier' is the core of it." -Chief Privacy Officer Financial Services Industry
"AI For Analogs: A Simple, Plain English Guide is THE handbook you need to get comfortable and build your confidence using AI." - CEO Public Relations
The approach
Translation, not
transformation.
You do not need to become a different person to use AI well. Your experience is the foundation. AI is a tool you lay on top of it.
What you will find in this book is AI explained in the language you already use. Electricity. VCRs. Calculators in the classroom. Apollo. The analogies are not decoration — they are how the concepts will stay in your memory when you need them. A technical definition of how a large language model works will fade by next Tuesday. The moment you realize AI is the new electricity will not.
This is the Analog approach. Not a slower version of the digital native experience. A different one — built on pattern recognition, earned judgement, and the ability to read situations that algorithms cannot.
Who this book is for
Three readers. One framework.
Different starting points. Different worries. The same underlying capacity: decades of experience AI cannot generate or replace.
The Business Owner
You have customer information on your devices and AI is suddenly inside your email, your documents, and your PDF reader. You need to protect what you built without shutting out the tools that can help you grow.
The Mid-Career Professional
You are good at your job. You've adapted through multiple technology shifts. Now AI is rewriting the expectations and you want to pivot from your existing expertise — not start over.
The Retiree or Near-Retiree
You don't need to master AI. You need to use it confidently and avoid the scams that are targeting your demographic. The book gives you both.