Published October 29, 2026 by AI User Safety Initiative
On Friday, October 23, 2026, AI Without the Panic brought people together at The Library Center in Springfield, Missouri, to explore artificial intelligence in a practical, accessible and community-focused setting. The free evening was led by Dr. Gbemisola Adetayo, founder of the AI User Safety Initiative.
The purpose was to help individuals and families understand what AI is, where it can be useful, where it can fall short, and how to approach it with curiosity, discernment and confidence. AI literacy is not simply learning to operate tools. It is understanding the technology, recognizing its benefits and limits, asking better questions, and making informed decisions about its place in everyday life.
Understanding AI
AI is already part of everyday life, from family routines and classrooms to workplaces and public services. The session set out to explain what AI can and cannot do in plain language, for people who do not think of themselves as tech people. No technical background or device was needed.
Where AI can help
The session explored ways AI can help people learn, create and solve everyday problems, whether at home, in school or at work. The aim was understanding, not persuasion: the event did not ask anyone to use AI. Whether someone already uses it, is curious, or would rather not, the goal was the same, to make an informed choice.
Where AI falls short
Understanding AI also means knowing its limits. AI can make mistakes. It can give answers that sound convincing and are still wrong. It raises real questions about privacy, and about leaning on it for thinking we need to keep doing ourselves. The session treated these as part of understanding the technology, not as reasons to fear it or reject it outright.
In one exercise, pictured at the top of this page, a fictional AI reply gives a bakery shop owner four pieces of marketing advice, from “Posting at 7 PM guarantees 50% more sales” to “A small audience test can reveal what works before you scale.” The task is to decide whether to keep, check or reject each one. A confident promise, such as guaranteed sales, is a claim to examine, not a fact to accept.
Keeping human judgment at the center
The thread running through the evening was judgment: question what AI says, check the information, protect personal details, and decide when AI is useful and when a human decision is needed. The How to Check steps (Goal, Draft, Identify claims, Verify and test, Decide) give a simple way to do that. The session also looked at everyday requests such as “Just give me the answer” and “Is my decision right?”, which hand the thinking itself to the tool.
Build AI capability. Keep your judgment.
AI literacy for the whole community
The event was open to everyone: individuals, parents and families, students, educators, business owners, working professionals, older adults and other community members. Children were welcome with a caregiver, and so were skeptics. You do not need to become an AI expert to start understanding the technology.
Thank you
Thank you to the volunteers who helped at the event, and to The Library Center, Springfield-Greene County Library District, where the event took place.
Keep learning
To keep going, start with the free AI Without the Panic guide, explore the SAFE AI Use Framework™, take the free AI User Safety Assessment, or hear about future events in the AI Without the Panic newsletter.