A Human-Centered Approach to AI
When I say I take a human-centered approach to AI, I mean something plain and specific: I will come to you.
I'll sit down with you — with your device, your files, the messy real setup you actually use — and we'll work through a problem together. Not a demo of my tools on my screen. Your tools, in the place where you use them. Sometimes that's in person, sometimes it's remote when that fits your life better, but I want to see the environment where the work happens, because that's where the useful stuff hides.
Here's why I do it this way.
AI is a tool. Tools are supposed to serve people. That sounds obvious, but a lot of the conversation around AI forgets it. AI should make our lives easier and our planet better — not the other way around. I'm not here to sell you a future where a machine replaces the human parts of your work. I'm here to help you use a good tool well, so you have more room for the things only you can do.
I use this stuff in my own life first. My honest example: my biggest work problem has always been starting things before I finish them. I'd have five projects half-built and none done. Project management with Claude changed that for me — not by doing the work, but by steadily reminding me what's still left before a thing is actually finished. It keeps the whole picture in front of me, so I finish more now. I build this coaching practice in the hours around a restaurant job, and that's only possible because the tool helps me hold the thread. I won't teach you anything I haven't leaned on myself.
The aim is your problem, not the technology. I don't start with "here's a cool AI feature." I start with "what's the thing that's hard for you?" Then we find out whether Claude, ChatGPT, or Google AI actually helps with it — and if one doesn't, I'll tell you. This is also a commitment to lifelong learning: the goal isn't a one-time setup, it's that you keep getting more capable long after I leave.
The honest part. Human-centered has to include the planet, and I won't pretend AI is clean. It runs on data centers that use real energy and water, inside an economic system built for resource extraction and capital accumulation. I can't change that system on my own. What I can do is give some of my time back — to community organizations working to site data centers safely, away from sensitive habitat, and to groups changing who owns that infrastructure in the first place. I also know firsthand what disasters do to people, and I spend time helping folks hit by the storms and events that keep getting worse. It isn't a solution. It's me being honest about the cost and doing my small part anyway.
How this actually works. If you want help, the simplest way to reach me is a text to 503-664-0546. You can also email eog@ernestofgaia.xyz, and if you'd rather talk it through first, we can set up a short discovery call — that's always free. There may be a cost for the hands-on work depending on what you need, and we'll be upfront about it before anything starts. Some folks are glad to work remotely; when I can, I'll show up in person, because seeing how you really work is how we both learn faster.
That's the whole idea. Not hype, not a replacement for you — a good tool, used well, person to person.
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