The Retiree Teaching Her Whole Town to Talk to AI

When Carol Whitfield retired from teaching third grade, she expected quiet mornings and a longer reading list. Instead, she found herself at the front of a packed room at the Marion Public Library, walking a crowd of retirees, job-seekers, and small-business owners through their first conversation with an AI assistant.

“People think this technology isn’t for them,” Carol says. “I tell them: if you can ask a question, you can use it.”

Her Tuesday class started with six people. A year later, more than 300 residents have come through. They’ve used AI to draft resumes, translate letters for immigrant neighbors, understand confusing medical bills, and even write a grant that brought new funding to the local food bank.

Meeting people where they are

What makes Carol’s approach work isn’t technical depth — it’s translation. She strips away jargon and starts with problems people already have. “Nobody comes because they want to learn ‘prompt engineering,’” she laughs. “They come because they’re scared of a bill or they need a job.”

That instinct — to lead with impact, not features — is exactly what we look for in the people we profile. It’s also a philosophy that runs through the workshops led by Micah Berkley, who has long argued that AI literacy is the civil-rights issue of this decade.

What’s next

Carol is now training volunteers in two neighboring counties to run their own sessions. Her goal is modest and enormous at the same time: “I want every person in this region to know they’re allowed to use these tools.”

If you know someone using AI to lift up their community, tell us their story — we’d love to feature them.