Everybody's Tech Starts Somewhere Local — Marie Doce on Bringing AI Home to Humboldt

Here's your show description for the Marie episode:Marie Doce spent 15 years in big tech. Then she came home, to Humboldt County, California, 300 miles north of San Francisco, where Google Maps is still wrong half the time and Amazon takes five to seven days. And instead of leaving her tech career behind, she built something new. Grounded AI is an AI consulting and learning firm helping rural businesses implement AI where it actually makes sense for them. In this episode Katie and Dr. Ericka sit down with Marie for an honest conversation about the rural tech gap, who AI actually belongs to, and why the people shouting loudest about it online are probably the least qualified to define it for the rest of us.What's Inside:The Rural Tech Gap — 20% of Americans live in rural areas but you'd never know it from the AI conversation. What the gap looks like on the ground and why it's about to get widerGrounded AI — How a coffee shop flyer, a local venture fund, and one conversation changed the trajectory of Marie's career and brought her expertise home where it was needed mostRandom Acts of AI — Why most small business owners are already using AI but saving zero time doing it, and what the next step actually looks likeHuman Enablement, Not Human Replacement — The framing that changed how Marie thinks about her work and why it should change how you think about yoursTotally Different Worlds — Why a business owner and an artist hear the word "AI" and think of completely different things, and why that gap matters more than the tech itselfEverybody's Tech — The case for local, grounded, community-rooted AI literacy before the big tech companies come in and define it for all of usWant to Learn More About Marie's Work? Marie Doce is the founder of Grounded AI, bringing practical, community-rooted AI consulting and training to businesses on California's North Coast, and showing the rest of us what it looks like when somebody who belongs to a place brings their expertise home. Find her at groundedai.coWant to Work With Us? If you are ready to bring AI into your work or your organization in a way that actually makes sense, we would love to talk. Visit us at empoweredailearning.com to learn more about our courses, workshops, and consulting. Subscribe to our Substack for weekly AI insights between episodes.Website: empoweredailearning.com Substack: empoweredai.substack.comConnect With Us: Have a question, a topic you want us to cover, or an AI win you want to share? Reach out — we want to hear from you.Contact: [email protected] Mixtape — where you understand the AI, and you stay human.