Explore. Learn. Share.

The Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group (AI SIG) is a special interest group of the Sun City Hilton Head Computer Club.

AI is changing how we communicate, create, find information, and make everyday decisions. In the AI SIG, we explore what those changes mean for us: what AI can do, where it falls short, and how you might use it. We share ideas, try tools, and discuss AI’s wider effects.

Whether you’re curious or already experimenting, you’re welcome. Bring your questions and learn at your own pace. You don’t need a technical background to join.

The newsletter

AI, Plainly is our regular newsletter. It shares AI news and ideas worth trying, guided by members’ interests and needs. Each issue includes:

• AI news worth knowing: noteworthy developments in plain English, with a “Why it matters” perspective.
• Our Take: the SIG leaders’ comments on a news item in the same issue, clearly labeled (when we have something to say).
• Stay safe: a current AI-related scam or privacy risk, and how to protect yourself.
• Tips & tools: practical tips and helpful AI tools.
• Worth a look: interesting links, useful finds, and recommended articles and videos.
• Try it: a short, hands-on example to explore yourself.
• Member Voices: how-tos, projects, essays, and tips written by members, including the SIG’s leaders. Have one? Email it to SCHHCC.AI.SIG@gmail.com with a subject starting “Share:”.
• AI SIG announcements: meetings, events, and SIG news.

Handouts are step-by-step guides to go with our meeting demonstrations. Occasional Deep Dives explore important topics in depth, in clear, understandable language. Past issues are in the archive.

Between issues, we may occasionally send AI, Briefly: a short email about something timely, like a new scam making the rounds, that shouldn’t wait for the next issue.

Meetings

We plan to meet regularly, with timing shaped by room availability and what works best for members. Possible topics include AI news, live demos, tutorials, guest speakers, and member projects, with time for questions and conversation. Meeting details are announced in the newsletter.

Share what you’ve tried, or simply come to learn.

What you’ll gain

Understand the ideas behind AI, follow what’s changing, and explore what it means for you. Learn to choose tools, give clear instructions, and check the results.

Explore how AI can help you:

• Restore and enhance photos, organize collections, add captions, and transform images creatively
• Create flyers, invitations, infographics, recipe cards, and trip itineraries
• Write, summarize, and organize documents
• Manage email, organize files, and tackle computer cleanup
• Collect recipes and plan meals
• Research destinations and plan trips
• Preserve personal and family archives
• Better understand health information and household finances
• Explore hobbies, learn new subjects, and tackle everyday questions

Health and financial discussions are educational and do not replace professional advice.

Explore AI responsibly

Getting comfortable with AI includes knowing when to pause, question, and verify. Together, we explore how to:

• Protect your privacy and personal information
• Check accuracy and spot misinformation
• Recognize bias and consider fairness
• Understand copyright, attribution, and creative ownership
• Recognize scams, fraud, and deepfakes

AI can help you think through a decision. Your judgment still matters.

Learn by sharing

Bring a helpful tip, a project, or a question you’re working through. Share what worked, and what didn’t. You don’t need to be an expert to help someone else learn.

Join the AI SIG

AI SIG membership is free with your Computer Club membership.

• Joining the Computer Club? Visit the Computer Club membership page and select AI SIG on the membership sign-up form.
• Already a Computer Club member? Email SCHHCC.AI.SIG@gmail.com with the subject “Join”.

Members receive the newsletter and details about upcoming meetings and activities.

SIG leadership

Ron Snyder, SIG Chair

Ron Snyder is a retired technology professional whose career spanned military service, the defense industry, advanced research, and academic technology. After nearly 10 years in the U.S. Air Force, he spent about 20 years in the defense industry, including as Software Engineering Manager for the M1A2 Abrams tank program, followed by four years on Cougaar (Cognitive Agent Architecture), a DARPA research project that built an infrastructure for autonomous software agents, well before today’s large language models and AI chatbots. He finished his career in academic nonprofit research, most recently as Director of Research and Development for JSTOR Labs. There, his work included text analysis and search engine development, fields closely tied to today’s AI tools, and he led projects exploring new ways to use technology to improve access to information.

Much of Ron’s work has involved taking complex information and making it easier to understand and use, the same idea behind this SIG and its newsletter. Since retiring, he has taught many SCHH Computer Club classes on a variety of technology topics, and he formed the AI SIG for members who want to learn about and discuss the fast-changing world of AI. He uses AI to help research and draft AI, Plainly. An active Sun City tennis player, he also built the automated process that keeps current court assignments showing on the new outdoor digital signs for tennis players.

Jim Smith, SIG Co-chair

Jim Smith retired from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2011, where he was responsible for quality management relative to all activities undertaken by the Laboratory, from scientific research to construction of new facilities. In September 2011, he and his wife moved to Sun City in order to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren.

Jim has served as Neighborhood Rep for Foxlake Neighborhood, President and Programs Chair for the Photography Club as well as a teacher in its classes, and President and Vice President of the Healthy Living Club. He uses Google Gemini on an almost daily basis to conduct research in a wide variety of interests. He has also used AI for photography and has taught classes on using AI to critique photographs and to plan photography outings.

Contact

Questions, ideas for future sessions, or feedback: SCHHCC.AI.SIG@gmail.com

Privacy

This site uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to count page visits so we know which topics are most useful. It doesn’t use cookies, doesn’t collect personal information, and doesn’t track you across other websites. The site has no sign-up forms and no ads.

The newsletter is prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by the editor before it’s published.