Exciting ‘Walk With Me’ Documentary Rouses The Tremendous Power Of Intelligent Walking

In today’s column, I explore an exciting new documentary entitled “Walk With Me” that does a tremendous job of revealing the keystone power of walking. Yes, plain everyday walking is a kind of hidden treasure. You surely have had thoughts from time to time about the importance of exercise-related walking that can materially improve your physical well-being. It turns out that walking also likewise benefits your thinking processes and sense of mindfulness. Walking is a body-and-mind twofer.

Luckily, I am able to do a lot of walking for work and play, such that I have carefully intertwined the use of modern-day AI into my walking endeavors on a professional and leisure-focused basis.

Let’s talk about it.

This analysis is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in various impactful uses and applications of AI (see the link here).

“Walk With Me” Is A Gem

Readers might remember that I had previously discussed a stirring documentary entitled “Life On Wheels” that provided a fast-paced, easy-to-view, and thought-provoking analysis of the mobility revolution, which closely aligned with my extensive coverage on the advent of AI-based self-driving cars, see the link here.

Those same topnotch filmmakers, namely the seasoned and acclaimed duo of David Hodge and Hi-Jin Kang Hodge, have recently posted their latest documentary “Walk With Me” on Amazon at the link here, and it is once again a fantastic examination of a crucial societal topic – the act of walking. The 57-minute engaging film is an eye-opener about the culture, architecture, infrastructure, physical/mental facets, and a slew of other factors that impact whether we are encouraged to go walking or discouraged from doing so.

Per the official documentary recap, this is the essence of the film:

• “Walk With Me” follows filmmaker David Hodge as he transitions from a car-reliant American city to a walkable Scandinavian one. Along the way, he connects with a former mayor, a physician, a neuroscientist, urban planners, and a wildlife tracker, exploring the profound personal, societal, and political impacts of walking – and its ability to transform lives.”

What could have been a set of dry facts about walking has been energized and personalized by following the journey of having shifted from a car-dominant lifestyle to one that is principally based on walking. If you spend your days commuting in traffic, as I have done for many years, there is an undoubtedly recurrent clamor in the back of your head that there must be a better way to live.

Walking fits that bill.

Resonating With The Audience

A poignant irony pointed out in the film is one that I similarly have experienced. Here it is. When I was young, I grew up in a very walkable community. I walked to school, the library, the local parks, the grocery store, and other local sites. But I yearned to someday get my driver’s license and have true freedom.

Lo and behold, once I began to drive, I thought that freedom had arrived. Then, my adult life led me to routinely drive about 2-3 hours per day. Snarled freeways, bumper-to-bumper traffic, road rages, etc. This wasn’t what I thought freedom was supposed to look like.

Now, I am fortunate that I live and work in a locale that has me using my car at most once or twice per week, and the rest of the time I am walking. In a sense, true freedom is walking, rather than being stuck driving.

Life lesson learned.

AI Enters The Walking World

Going beyond the film, you might find of interest how I have incorporated the use of AI into my daily walking journeys. You are urged to consider enacting akin practices if suitable to your personal preferences. I will in a moment outline my approach.

Some might instantly object that any use of AI ought to be utilized when walking. The usual argument that I hear is that walking should be a fully natural act that is unencumbered by intrusions such as listening to music or podcasts. If you are going to walk then, by gosh, walk. Don’t clutter walking with gadgets and gizmos.

Hey, that is perfectly fine for those of you who take that purist attitude. I believe there is room for other viewpoints when it comes to walking. The crux is that if you do decide to use various augmented apparatus, do not let this overshadow the walking per se. Keep your eyes and ears open. Watch what you are doing.

Remain firmly nestled in the real world so that you and the real world will get along sensibly.

Ten Major Uses Of AI For Walking

Here are the ten major ways that I leverage AI for walking:

• (1) Preparation. Use of AI to prepare you for going walking.
• (2) Informative. Use of AI to inform you about your surroundings while walking.
• (3) Guide. Use of AI to guide you as you are walking.
• (4) Entertain. Use of AI to entertain you while walking.
• (5) Educate. Use of AI to educate you while walking.
• (6) Converse. Use of AI to engage in conversation while walking.
• (7) Multi-Task. Use of AI to do other tasks while walking.
• (8) Tracking. Use of AI to track and analyze your walking.
• (9) Review. Use of AI to post-journey review your walking.
• (10) Inspire. Use of AI to inspire you to do more walking.

Let’s briefly discuss those noteworthy practices.

Walking Along With AI

First, I customarily log into generative AI via my laptop before starting a walking effort.

I ask the AI for suggestions and tips about the geographical area where I will be walking. Please be aware that not all generative AI apps are real-time connected to the Internet in terms of being able to look up the latest status of an area. Thus, asking the AI might get you nothing more than a blank stare depending on which AI you are using.

There is also a rare chance that the AI might encounter a so-called AI hallucination, which entails the AI confabulating or making up something that is false, see my discussion at the link here. The key is that whatever the AI tells you, always review the output for factual accuracy and whether it exhibits common sense as a response.

Next, once I am underway with my walking activity, I use generative AI via my smartphone for avid on-the-go interaction.

Most of the latest AI apps will allow you to verbally chat with the AI, similar to using Alexa or Siri. This is handy so that you don’t have to be holding your smartphone and tapping on the keyboard. Instead, I simply talk with the AI. This also keeps my eyes free to watch my surroundings, plus my hands are free in case I need to lean against something or catch myself if I start to stumble (okay, to be clear, I don’t stumble — I’m just saying if that ever perchance happened, I would be ready for it).

What do my chats with AI encompass?

Well, seriously, anything that I want to talk about.

It could be something of an educational element such as how did Abraham Lincoln come up with his famous Gettysburg Address? Or maybe I am looking for a trivia contest and I get the AI to ask me questions about offbeat topics. Another possibility is to tell the AI about some ideas I have for a new invention and get immediate feedback to mentally chew on.

All in all, this is a far cry from just listening to music or a podcast. Those are passive goings-on. My AI usage is conversational and mentally engaging, turning AI into a walk-along partner.

Walking In Cities Is A Tough Haul

Some concluding remarks for now.

The sad state of woe about walking is that few cities these days are particularly walkable. You pretty much must go to a wilderness area to get any substantive walking under your belt. Getting to that locale is bound to require driving, perhaps a lot of driving. Ugh.

Fortunately, the “Walk With Me” documentary identifies ways that cities can potentially become more walkable.

Admittedly, it is likely a tall order to get entrenched priorities to give the time of day to walking. You see, it takes a village to shift and transform a low-walkability city into one that supports and harkens the act of walking. Stakeholders must first recognize the value of walking. Many probably are stuck in the pervasive driving-only mindset and haven’t put much thought toward the incredible benefits that walkable cities accrue.

One can remain hopeful and optimistic that the future will give walking a fairer chance. Meanwhile, I will keep conversing with AI as I undertake my walks. I’m sure that AI can help find a suitable path to transform our society into a professed cheerleader for walking.

That’s a prime example of AI for goodness and AI being supportive of humankind. I guess you could cheekily say that AI walks with me.