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© BOPINION “DON'T LET UNCERTAINTY —THE OUTCOME MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE , WRITES MELANIE MCGREGOR Column There's always than one mayb Think about a situation in which there’ known outcome_aperfor. mance review at work, for example. These kinds of things can make us anx- ious because we don't know what's going to happen. What will the boss say? ce there are a mil- lonporsibities, the "may- ‘ocus- He on mn the things that we fear, like, maybe they'll say T'm doing a terrible job. Is that a possibility? Sure it is. But even though there are of more = e 5 ° 5 g 2 3 & z 3 don't want to happen is very common. This can be because we are preparing to cope with we get good feedback, we'll likely just be happy, but our fears coming true would be harder to take. So, the thinking about that and the preparation to respond leads to worry and anxiety. Our thoughts can pick up speed very easily: “May- insidehalton.com TRANSLATE TO ANXIETY be I'm doing a terrible job. ‘be I'll lose my job. May- beI won't find another one. Maybe I won't be able to pay my rent. Maybe I won't know where to live." And ier our worries about the formance review have become much bigger, all Defoe we even know the outco! One “dea that can re- duce the fixation on the less desirable outcomes is ing ourselves that if there wees "maybe," there is at least one other "may- be. There has to be, because the outcome is uncertai So, maybe they'll say you're doing a terrible job. But maybe they'll say things last-minute, maybe they'll say you are handling a heavy workload well. Maybe they'll say your pet appears on Zoom calls too much, but maybe they'll say Fluffy is adoral This d ean that we completely banish the rrisome "maybes" — they are still Possibilities. It means that we all of the " nmaybes," recom, nize that they are all possi- ble, and — as tough as it can be — wait for the out- come. Melanie McGregor is the communications and advancement specialist at Health “Association, alton Region branch, which provides mental health/ addiction community sup- port and education. Visit www.halton.cmha.ca for more information and follow @cmhahalton on Twitter. SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM SNAPSHOT iyn W Wiggins photo Visitors to Bronte Heritage Park are greeted with a picturesque scene after a recent storm. Do a brief description. you have a great local photo you’ like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: A BLESSING AND A CURSE The future is now. Arti- ficial intelligence (AI) has taken another giant leap forward. Welcome to ChatGPT, a new AI platform in which Microsoft has made si icant investment. The nator was launched late r. Various reports intone it has already at- tracted 100 million users. According to its web- site, it is designed to under- stand language, retrieve information and answer questions. Some estimate this will be the form of search engines of the fu- ture. Think of it as the new, and better, Google. Much has been written about this next wave of technology. Give it instruc- tions to write about a cer- tain topic with a certain word count and within sec- PETER WATSON Column onds the assignment is completed. College students are us- ing it to write their papers. Some schools are banning the technology, while other educators are trying to un- derstand how it can be used. as a learning tool. The Financial Times re- ported that ChatGPT was able to “outperform some students on an MBA course at Wharton, one of the oldest and most presti- gious US. business schools." igners must still work out the kinks. The quality of the out- put is only as good as what the bot can find on the in- ternet. As that improves, the quality of output will impro This. ” technology will change the world. Some will be able to use this ¢ fool 6 advance their her careers might! be Ree financial implica: tions are enormous. Specif- ic industries and occupa- tions might become redun- dant. Other sectors might harness this technology and have unprecedented success. The future of life will change. In time we will know how. Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, REP, CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial plai ning column, Dollars © Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsonin- vestments.com. This newspaper, published very Thursday, isa wan of pli, a brite ‘owned ae of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family mprised publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the pate NewsMedia Council. omplainants are urged to bring ther concerns to the attention of B rs z es £2 IN MAW 2H2. insidehalton@metroland.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeav @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE a and Operations Dana Rol Regional General Manager Jason Pehora Director of Fontent Lee Ann Waterm: Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor faen Miceli leped or Distributi Charlen Circulation | Manager Kim Mossman Directors of Advertising Cindi Campbell and Graeme Macintosh Director Creative Services Paul Gostlin CONTACT US Oakville Beaver 211 Pritchard Rd., Unit 4, Hamilton, ON, L8) OG5 Phone: 1-866-838-8960 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Advertising: 289-293-0620 am ait delivery inquiries, please lossman@metroland.com or all 905-631-6095. Letters to the editor Send letters to insidehalton@metroland.com. All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. 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