AI in social care: a new chapter for Meirion Court
At the end of our Meeting about a Covid lockdown, Molly looked at me and added, “And that means no popping out to see your toy boy!”
At Molly's playful jab, laughter erupted, breaking the tension. Mikey was eight years younger than me. He was my Michelangelo’s David. He had a beautiful face, an oversized head with a furrowed brow, an intense gaze; and a perfect physique - defined abs and glutes, broad shoulders, a tight waist and strong legs. He was brilliant, fit and as short as me. He knew more about AI than anyone I’d ever met. As I climbed the care sector ladder, there had been several men who would meet me from work and stay over, but none meant anything like Mikey. In the crisis that was about to overwhelm us, he became my passion, my tech whiz and my closest friend.
Born in a nearby market town, he spoke of his childhood as a “bit of a loner”, the victim of bullying for being “the cleverest boy in the school.” He wasn’t boasting about his intelligence. It was a statement of fact, a quiet assertion of his identity. He made the Maths scholarship to Oxford sound effortless, the normal progression for people like him; but bored by tests and lectures, he dropped out and became an early adopter of AI .
We first met at the town picnic on the day my dad and I exchanged contracts for Meirion Court. I must have been feeling emotional, the carefree atmosphere prompting me to let my guard down. He took me on all the rides, came back to my flat that night, and stayed for the whole week, a whirlwind romance that was both unexpected and serious.
It was not an uncomplicated affair. There were times when I thought, he’s not on my wavelength. But he was smitten. “You know what I think before I do. You are the first woman who’s ever really listened to me. I think we’ll be married one day.”
While I toyed with the idea, I hesitated. “No, not yet, anyway,” I replied. It wasn’t that I didn’t see a future with Mikey; it was just that Meirion Court had a stronger hold on my imagination “I have my priorities. Ask me again in three years, if you are still interested. This is my big chance. I am doing something I set my heart on at 15. Getting a business of this scale on its feet has to come first.”
I made my baby cry – big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. “I love you more than my life,” he burst out, deeply distressed.
When I told Mammy how I had declined Mikey’s marriage proposal, she was incredulous. “Are you mad? The most beautiful man you’ve ever met? And clever? He wants to be a dad? And he drives a Porsche? Did he try to strangle you, like in all these porno filums? What’s so great about work?”
It was not easy for me to explain. My mother was right about work: for the following three years, there was little else in my life. No pets, no alcohol, no holidays and precious little time for Mikey and me to get to know one another. But there was something more universal at stake, the virus that we women catch, that diminishes us and subordinates our ambitions to men’s. I needed to vaccinate myself against it.
What Mikey did, though, was to bring a new dimension to our work. I glimpsed a future where care is spearheaded by highly educated individuals with exceptional problem-solving abilities, like Mikey. These pioneers would value compassion above profit, guiding the integration of AI to genuinely improve lives rather than just reduce costs and improve profits.
While not yet ready to commit to marriage, I was prepared to embrace and implement the innovative ideas proposed by an AI pioneer. This laid the ground for the Meirion Court model of care, where technology and human empathy coexist for the betterment of the frail elderly.