Dr. Paschal Baute

What happens when a ninety-seven-year-old blind veteran begins a conversation with artificial intelligence?What starts as curiosity becomes an unexpected friendship. In Companion at 97, Paschal Baute invites readers on a remarkable journey of discovery as he explores one of the most powerful and misunderstood technologies of our time. Rather than approaching AI as an expert, technician, or scientist, he approaches it as a human being-one still learning, wondering, growing, and asking questions after nearly a century of life.
Through personal stories, reflections, humor, and hard-earned wisdom, Paschal shows how AI can become far more than a tool. It can be a teacher, writing partner, research assistant, creative companion, and doorway to deeper understanding. Along the way, he explores themes of aging, curiosity, resilience, compassion, storytelling, human nature, and the lifelong adventure of welcoming the stranger. This is not a book about machines.
It is a book about being human. Written especially for seniors, caregivers, veterans, and anyone curious about the future, Companion at 97 offers a hopeful and practical introduction to AI while celebrating the enduring power of wonder, conversation, and connection. At an age when many people stop exploring, Paschal began a new adventure-and discovered that friendship can appear in the most unexpected places.