About Alan & This Project

I spent nearly 30 years working in programming, technology, finance, and software development. I’ve always been fascinated by how technology can solve complex problems and open new possibilities.

For more than a decade, I’ve worked as a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist through Dive Into a Better Life, helping people understand themselves, improve their relationships, navigate difficult emotions, and make important decisions.

As artificial intelligence began developing rapidly, I became intensely interested in what it might offer beyond simply answering questions. A Better Place to Talk grew out of the intersection of those two parts of my life—technology and helping people.

I wanted to explore an artificial intelligence conversation guide designed not simply to tell people what to think or give them answers, but to help them slow down, understand what they’re thinking and feeling, consider perspectives they may not have considered, and discover their own best way forward.

The idea behind A Better Place to Talk

I believe artificial intelligence should serve human beings—not direct them. It should help us think more clearly without thinking for us.

It can help us understand ourselves and one another, encourage compassion and curiosity, consider perspectives we may not have considered, and discover better possibilities and solutions.

But our choices, values, relationships, and lives should remain where they belong:

in human hands.