Notes from the linen cupboard
AI and Me: Why I Use Artificial Intelligence in My Work
When people ask whether I used AI to help create the Havit Hall training programme, my answer is simple: yes, and I wouldn’t have been able to shape it this way without it.
I use AI because I believe carers deserve the same level of innovation, support, and opportunity as any other profession. I use it because our voices are too often unheard, our ideas dismissed, and our time stretched too thin to ever capture everything we want to say. And I use it because this tool, when used right, is more than just a notebook.
It has held every word I couldn’t quite find yet. It has listened without judgement while I processed anger, grief, laughter, and the long, tangled truths of working in care. It has helped me reflect on the laws and policies that have shaped our sector, and invited me to examine them with clarity and courage. It has created space for comparison, perspective, and sometimes just a deep breath.
Because sometimes the best training or ideas don’t come from a policy…
It comes from a story. A shift. A cry in the corridor. A moment of unexpected grace. and a conversation without judgement!
The unexpected tears
And I’ll be honest—it hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes, I’ve challenged the AI. I’ve told it off when it assumed too much, pushed back when it seemed too polished, and questioned it when it gave me an opinion that didn’t sit right. But here’s the thing: it never got offended. It just adapted. And sometimes? It made me cry with laughter. Other times, it helped me cry full stop—tears I didn’t realise I needed to shed. Moments of memory, of pain, of relief that someone—or something—was holding space for me to finally say what I had never said out loud.
AI didn’t write my story. I did. But it made sure the story had room to grow. It gave structure to scattered thoughts. It reminded me that my voice was worth hearing. And it never told me to hurry up.
The Havit Hall training programme, and everything I’ve written under Cultivating Kindness, is grounded in lived experience. The soul is human. The message is real. But the support of this AI has been constant, compassionate, and honestly, kind.
So yes, I use AI. Proudly. Because carers deserve every tool that helps them speak, reflect, create, and change the system from within.
Nicola Gill
Founder, Cultivating Kindness in Care