In this week’s episode of Retire in Texas, Darryl Lyons, CEO and Co-Founder of PAX Financial Group, explores the transformative world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its growing influence on both daily life and the financial industry. From understanding generative AI to exploring its practical applications and investment opportunities, Darryl breaks down this complex topic with clarity and insight.
This episode takes a closer look at the current state of AI adoption, its potential to revolutionize industries, and what it means for your financial future. Whether you’re a tech-savvy early adopter or someone just beginning to explore the concept of AI, this discussion is packed with valuable takeaways for everyone.
Key highlights of the episode include:
- The difference between artificial intelligence and generative AI, with examples of how they are shaping industries.
- How AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and voice simulation technology are redefining customer service and creative industries.
- Real-world applications of AI in financial services, including portfolio analysis, tax planning, and note-taking.
- The security threats posed by AI, from voice replication to data breaches, and how to protect yourself.
- Why AI represents the next major investment opportunity, and which industries are poised for growth in this new economy.
- Practical steps for exploring AI in your own life, from apps like Grammarly and Waze to experimenting with AI-powered chat tools.
For more insights and to explore how PAX Financial Group can help you navigate the ever-changing financial environment, visit http://www.PAXFinancialGroup.com. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone who might find it useful!
Transcript:
This is Darryl Lyons, CEO and Co-Founder of PAX Financial Group. And you’re listening to Retire in Texas. This information is general in nature only. It’s not intended to provide specific investment, tax, or legal advice. Visit PAXfinancialgroup.com for more information. So, I’ve done an episode on artificial intelligence before, and I want to do another one.
It’s that important for you guys to know what’s going on in this, in this area of technological advancement. Now, artificial intelligence, the primary goal of artificial intelligence is to produce machines whose overall intellectual ability is indistinguishable from that of a human being. So artificial intelligence is a machine whose overall intellectual ability is indistinguishable from that of a human being.
Now we often hear the word generative associated with artificial intelligence. So, they say generative AI. And so generative means that that tool, that specific tool can generate new content. Right. And so, juxtapose that with just simple artificial intelligence which just analyzes information, the idea of adding that adjective. Generative AI means that this artificial intelligence tool can generate new ideas.
So slight distinction, but one that you might hear more and more. Let me give you an example. So artificial intelligence in and of itself might be able to look me up and give, you know, maybe even give me some information about me. So if I were to Google myself, Darryl Lyons, or go to ChatGPT, which is one of those large language models, we’ll talk about a minute, I would be able to learn about myself, right, and give me information that would be useful.
But generative AI, could maybe generate a poem about me. And so I went into ChatGPT and I said, hey, write a poem about Darryl Lyons. I’m just curious. And here’s what they said, and I won’t read you the whole point. There’s but anyways, here’s, here’s what they said. In the heart of dreams, where ambitions soar, stands a leader, a guide with wisdom in store.
Darryl Lyons a name carved in gold. A story of courage, inspiring and bold. It goes on and on and on. But, that’s generative AI is being able to create new ideas, generate new ideas. And the idea is, is that artificial intelligence can reason ultimately, be creative, solve problems, make decisions. Kind of create sounds like your voice?
Maybe sights, things that you see that look like you, that aren’t you, you know, that kind of stuff. Let’s go into sounds, for example. Sounds. This one’s really interesting as artificial intelligence is really refining. And we’re learning about how to leverage artificial intelligence. There’s a podcast I was listening to, and I’ll put a link in the show notes.
Some guys on the podcast were like, okay, you know, chat bots. Right. Chat bots that are on, you know, you go to any site in the corner, it’s a chat bot. It says, how can I help you today? Well, so they thought, you know, rather than a chat bot. What about like what? Like an agent bot.
Meaning somebody who represents you. So this bot, is like, okay, let me say it this way. Imagine you’re very rich, super wealthy, and you have this secretary that does everything for you dry cleaning, dental appointments, dog cleaners, golf lessons, all that. She has to schedule all this stuff for you all the time. So what if you had a bot that did all that, that scheduled all that stuff?
You don’t have to be on hold at a doctor’s office. You know, you can, schedule everything, and you just tell this bot what to do and when to do it. It does it for you. Now, the key to it is this agent bot would call all the offices, you know, your dental office and your doctors and everything else they would call and they would have to be able to navigate a human dialog that can go different directions.
And so, these guys in this podcast, they created this agent bot and they actually test it out. And they, they it’s kind of funny because they actually didn’t hear they recorded the conversation, but they didn’t listen to many of the conversations until they were live on air. So that was fun to hear them real time, enjoy their agent bot working for them.
But so this agent bot called doctor’s office to schedule doctor appointment for somebody, one of these radio host and of course, the, receptionist of the doctor’s office. She’s going to ask various questions, and sometimes she might have an exit ramp where she asked questions that that they didn’t anticipate. So they did their very best to anticipate it.
I mean, they were really silly about it, by the way, they said that they were scheduling an appointment because this guy had an inverted nipple that he got at a Hamilton play. So, they were very silly. But it was it was kind of fun to see the agent bot really navigate this human interaction extremely well. Like, weird.
Well, they did it again. They showed one of the pet groomers. So this agent bot called a pet groomer. And to schedule an appointment for not a dog, not a cat, but for a pig. And so then, of course, the receptionist, like, well, we don’t do pigs. And the agent bot said, well, pigs need grooming too. And so, they had anticipated some things and then they, they missed some things.
So, they didn’t anticipate all the human interaction. So that’s what the machine does is it learns the more it repeats itself. And then eventually we might be 20, we might be 2025 or 2026 where it has enough experience that there’s not many hiccups in these dialogs to where you could have an agent bot schedule all of your appointments for you.
These guys, they have like an Australian accent. So, their voice was not of a person that was, random. It was simulating the actual guy’s voice. So, it sounded just like him. And so, this agent bot wasn’t like the normal Siri bots that you might hear. It was, it sounded just like a human.
All the sniffles, all the ums, all the slight stuttering and the Australian accent. So, it sounded just like the radio host and the receptionist could not distinguish it from a machine, could not distinguish it from Siri or Google or whatever else. Or, you know, all those voices we have now, Alexa, you know, if the machine like, you get it completely.
But we’re not far away from not knowing if it’s a human or not on the other line. So that’s what we’re looking at in this artificial intelligence, just kind of like a glimpse of what’s out there. And there’s all kinds of ramifications to this. But what I’m telling you is that this artificial intelligence is simulating sound in such a way that it’s going to be a bit challenging for us on a go forward basis to understand if it’s a human or not.
In fact, Randy Travis, they recently, you know, he has had a stroke and this, this was late 2023. They this is there was a London based tech firm that built it was a unique artificial intelligence model using Randy Travis’s voice, along with a catalog of recordings from 1985 to 2010. And so, what they did is they took his voice and kind of cut it up and created a song because he can’t sing anymore.
So, they created a song in his first song in almost a decade called Where That Came From. And it’s a great song. Randy Travis didn’t actually sing it. It was artificial intelligence that copied his voice. And it’s a really, really cool song. So this is this is what’s happening and it’s transforming and you can see it today, the value of it.
Because like if you ask Siri or Alexa to do things, you know, it’s like this robotic voice and it could be better, and it will be better. It could be something like this. It would be like, hey, Siri, play, Frank Sinatra for me, that I like Frank Sinatra. So especially during Christmas time, like play Frank Sinatra music.
So, this would be something that you might ask, Siri or Alexa or I use this, the Google one that I like. So, I say, Hey Google, play Frank Sinatra Christmas and they’ll say they’ll respond now playing Frank Sinatra on Pandora, but in the future it’ll say something like this. Hey, Darryl, it’s a beautiful day. Happy to play it for you.
But first, did you get that workout in? You told me to remind you. In fact, you said that I could not play any Frank Sinatra until you worked out. So, I want to make sure you did that workout first. I’m going to play Frank Sinatra for you, and I’ll play some really good stuff right now. Some stuff you haven’t heard.
But make sure you get that workout in. And it might even be my dad’s voice or my mom’s voice that I, you know, this is what we’re looking at. It’s going to be a human interaction. And yes, this is weird. And I’m going to give you some takeaways in just a minute. But the point I’m trying to get home is that this stuff is happening fast.
So, let me just kind of stop for a second and give you kind of like, where are we at today with all of this stuff? You’ve heard of artificial intelligence? I explained what generative AI is. What are large language models? You’ve heard of that as well. These are typically their way to describe the various platforms that support artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT is an example.
So, we know artificial intelligence exists. But what’s the adoption rate right now? Businesses are utilizing artificial intelligence. PAX is an example of that. We have note takers now that, are incredible. Artificial intelligence note taker, very secure. We have you give us a copy of your tax return. We have artificial intelligence for that. We have artificial intelligence to examine portfolios to tell us where the flaws are.
Businesses are utilizing we’re utilizing it. It’s amazing. It’s efficiency, accuracy, all of that. It’s still not mainstream in most businesses today. So, let’s be real. Many, many businesses, especially small businesses, have yet to adopt artificial intelligence. And large businesses are being very aggressive in the adoption because they want to be a leader in the space. But still, we haven’t really, I don’t know what you might call the inflection point of massive adoption in the business space, but what about the mainstream consumer?
Let’s talk about Gen X or the baby boomers. It’s still not anything that they understand it. And you may be in this camp and like I get it, but I don’t know how to like I don’t know what I’d use it for. And so you think about these, these examples like Meta and Ray-Ban creating these glasses and they’re, you know, selling it to all of us and saying, hey, this is a great thing.
But you’re like, okay, so you’re telling me I put on these glasses, I go down H-E-B aisle and I say, hey, find me the ingredients to make a good Italian dinner, and it just walks you along the aisle and tells you what to buy. You’re like, whatever, I’d rather just do it on my own. Like, I don’t really want to mess with that technology.
What if the battery dies? Or you know what? If you don’t have a good internet connection? All that nonsense. Now I just want to keep it simple. So, there’s this huge disconnect where the technology’s out there telling you that, hey, we’ve got this artificial intelligence. Mr. Baby Boomer, Mrs. Baby Boomer, that we’re going to make your life better.
But you’re like, not really. I don’t want to pay for that. It’s slow. It has failures. And that’s what we’re at. So, the consumer has yet to adopt it. Now what’s interesting is that there is a next generation, as you would imagine, somebody, you know, generation that’s more open to this stuff, just like every generation.
If you go on these forums, they’re like Facebook and Instagram, but for, you know, kind of innovative minds like Reddit and Discord, you’re going to see a lot of artificial intelligence, applications. There’s even one right now. And it’s horrible, but it looks at your face and gives you a scale of 1 to 10 if you’re good looking.
And then it tells you what you need to do to improve your looks. So, there’s stuff like that that’s kind of like, okay, that’s kind of crazy. These dating sites have these features, so there’s more accepting, as you would expect from a younger generation. Don’t discount that because a lot of times the economic engine happens at that generation.
And so, I really want you to make sure that you understand the scope of this. And I was talking to lobbyists, actually just the other day. And I said, okay, we weren’t talking about artificial intelligence. We were actually talking about border and security and fentanyl and tariffs. And I said, what’s the number one issue that you’re seeing in Texas legislation right now?
And he said, the number one issue is artificial intelligence. How we navigate artificial intelligence going forward. And I didn’t expect that. But it makes sense. This is a huge issue. And as an example of how this could get out of control, it’s called deep fake, where people take a picture of you and then make you naked and then distribute it everywhere.
And it happens on college campuses. And so it happens, I mean, in, in a lot of different places. And so, you know, Texas legislation is saying, in federal government actually saying states, I need you to I need you to create laws on this stuff. There may be federal legislation, but some states are making that, you know, it’s illegal to federal offense if you do something like that, if you fake somebody’s body and they distribute it, in any sexual explicit way, then you know, that’s a federal offense.
So the states are very interested in artificial intelligence, and that’s why I’m trying to convince you should as well. This will change. Another reason the states are interested is because this could change the employment landscape. I mentioned chat bots earlier. Now I was on the phone with the university. I won’t say what university. And I was on the phone for 45 minutes.
Finally got somebody, and it might have been an intern. It might have been a work study program. It could have been a real live paid employee. But they were horrible. They didn’t want to talk. They were monotone, they were just trying to get off the phone in that situation, I would have rather had artificial intelligence.
I would rather get on the phone rather than wait. I would rather get on the line for five minutes and speak to an AI bot than that person. So, will employment change with artificial intelligence? Yes, that person won’t have a job anymore. So, there’ll be a lot of people that are in call centers that aren’t very good at their jobs.
Yes, they will be replaced by artificial intelligence, but if you are, able to solve problems, if you’re creative, if you have fine-tuned your communication skills, if you have good judgment, then you’ll still be needed. But yes, there will be a change in the employment landscape. So, I’m setting the stage for just three things I want to share with you.
And now I’m at the end of the program. But these are the three things I want to share with you one. I just want you to start getting a little bit smart about the security of artificial intelligence. For example, banks there, it’s a real game. It’s a game right now because banks, we’re starting to say, okay, we’re struggling with two factor authentication.
What if we just call the client and just ask them in their own voice to confirm? Then these, these con artists all across the world are starting to mimic people’s voice, like I mentioned, and be able to hack into people’s bank account. So, it’s just a really game of cat and mouse and the government can’t keep up.
And the financial services industry is trying to stay ahead of these con artists, which are not just like con artists like these are massive in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe and even South America. These are organized crimes that are using artificial intelligence to simulate you as a person. So, I just want you to be aware of these security threats and just stay on top of it.
That’s number one. Number two, I think artificial intelligence is going to be the next great investment opportunity in the marketplace. We’ve seen Nvidia stock just blow up, but there’s going to be phase two. Not only companies that manufacture chips semiconductors, but also, you know, those that build data centers that need to provide the energy infrastructure to support data centers.
And then all the companies that manufacture the tools and the resources and those that even are protecting us from the bad guys, there’s going to be a whole new iteration of companies that are going to be opportunities in investment portfolios. And so, I want you to just know that there’s going to be some ups and downs in that journey.
But I do want you to lean into the opportunity to participate in this next industrial revolution in artificial intelligence. So that’s number two. And then number three, I want you to play around with it. You’re probably using some artificial intelligence. Now, if you think about it like Grammarly, if you use Waze, that’s an app to help get you from point A to point B.
ChatGPT should probably start messing around with that a little bit. They have a paid version that has a little bit more enhanced privacy. It’s 20 bucks a month, but just start playing around with it. It’s a really cool tool. I don’t want you to be ignorant in this space of artificial intelligence. I want you to start by being comfortable with it a little bit more.
I especially believe that, as you know, the Christian community, I don’t want us to be ignorant or live in fear. I want us to figure out a way to participate in this economy. I think the worst thing that we can do is get in our ecosystem, in our bubble and our safe place, and then we don’t have a voice.
And that’s happened too often in school districts. It’s happened in politics, and it’s happened in Wall Street. And it should not happen in artificial intelligence. So, I’m encouraging you to lean in and not, sit back and watch how things might, develop independent of a Judeo-Christian point of view. My interests will continue to continue.
My son is studying this stuff, so we talk about it a bit. My brother actually developed a Catholic version of a ChatGPT, so that’s pretty cool. And I think you’ll probably hear more and more about artificial intelligence and the innovation that’s taking place in 2025. So, I look forward to sharing more updates as we continue to understand how this works in our lives.
I want to make sure that we always think about it in terms of the security threats to your life, the investment opportunities, and then just the practical applications. So those are its three takeaways. Pay attention to the security threats. Look for those investment opportunities and then fiddle around with them. So, you’re not just completely out of the game.
Hope that all makes sense. It’s a lot of content to digest. And as always, have a wonderful day. And you think different when you think long term. Have a great day.
Resources:
make Travis’ first song in almost a decade — a song called, “Where That Came From.”
Artificial intelligence – Machine Learning, Robotics, Algorithms | Britannica
AI Trends 2025 | Info-Tech Research Group
Why you won’t find many options if you’re looking for AI gifts
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