Island Park resident and Cause of a Kind co-founder Justin Abrams drew an audience to the Island Park Public Library on Nov. 5 for a wide-ranging conversation on how everyday people can navigate, and benefit from, a rapidly advancing AI landscape.
The discussion ran well beyond its scheduled time, with attendees staying nearly an hour after the program ended to continue asking questions and seeking hands-on guidance.
Abrams, who co-founded the mission-driven software development and startup studio Cause of a Kind, framed the evening around a central idea — the power of the individual in an AI world. Rather than focusing on technical deep-dives, Abrams urged attendees to view AI tools as natural extensions of skills they already possess.
“The goal is to leverage the tools that are available to us, just like we stopped sending snail mail and adopted email 30 years ago,” Abrams said. “We’re not trying to get everybody here to become an expert in AI. We want them to feel comfortable utilizing the Internet and its resources.”
Given the largely older audience — many either retired or nearing retirement — Abrams geared the session toward practical, accessible examples of AI already embedded in daily life.
He pointed to features people often overlook: predictive text in messages, generative responses at the top of search results and personalized recommendations when shopping online.
“These are all ways AI touches your world,” Abrams said. “We have to notice the tooling we’re already using without realizing it.”
During the program, Abrams asked audience members about their professional backgrounds and offered tailored examples of how AI could support their work.
One former early-childhood educator learned how AI could help draft more efficient lesson plans or write individualized materials for students with special needs. Another attendee, a former illustrator, heard how AI could help iterate design ideas faster and more effectively pitch concepts to leadership.
In each scenario, Abrams emphasized that AI enhances, but does not replace, human expertise.
“You still have to proofread, verify and bring the vision to life,” he said. “AI can’t replace some of these things. This was really about emphasizing the skill of the individual and leveraging modern tooling, which is rewritten throughout history time and time again.”
Throughout the night, attendees raised questions about privacy, data protection and the pace of technological change. These concerned were acknowledged and explained along with “rules of the road” for using modern tools safely and effectively.
“Everyone thought they were really late when it comes to AI,” Abrams said. “We broke a lot of misconceptions.”
Just as the Library’s program emphasized, Abrams’ Cause of a Kind focuses on embracing technology rather than creating it from scratch or shying away from it. The program’s message closely aligns with the company’s philosophy as it uses existing AI tools to increase productivity and deliver more cost-efficient solutions for clients.
“My business existed before the advent of AI,” Abrams said. “What’s changed is how AI improves our internal workflow and what that allows us to deliver back to our clients. But we are not building AI, we’re implementing what already exists.”
For many, Abrams’ message was reassuring. AI is not a looming threat but a set of tools meant to be explored, questioned and used with intention.
