Hello my name is Matthew Blumhardt and I am hoping to remake myself and my future with the help of AI and a support group.

Hey everyone 👋 I’m Preston, 24. I recently graduated college and am currently working in restaurant operations/management, alongside doing some part-time fitness coaching. I’m also exploring a future transition into sales and real estate. I’ve been using AI for about two years, and at this point it’s a daily tool for me. I use multiple AI tools to help with thinking, learning faster, research, planning, and generally optimizing how I run my life. The main area I want AI to help me with is optimization and efficiency — helping me identify what actually matters for my goals and building systems that allow me to move faster with less wasted time and effort. I joined this community to learn how others are using AI as a practical life and productivity tool, and to sharpen how I apply it to work, personal systems, and long-term goals. Fun fact: I used AI to help me polish this intro and I’m a huge Auburn football fan. Looking forward to learning with everyone here 👊

📝 TL;DR Retailers are quietly rolling out AI tools that scan your holiday returns for fraud before your refund is approved. With nearly one in ten returns suspected of fraud, AI is being hired as the new bouncer at the returns desk. 🧠 Overview A new AI system is being tested to catch fake or abusive returns as holiday return season surges. A major returns logistics company reports that U S retailers lose tens of billions of dollars each year to return fraud, with almost 16 percent of total retail sales coming back as returns and around 9 percent of those believed to be fraudulent. To fight that, they have built an AI tool that screens returns in real time, looking for suspicious patterns before the money goes back to the customer. Big brands are already piloting it across thousands of physical drop off locations. 📜 The Announcement A new report highlights that a UPS owned returns service has launched an AI system to flag suspicious returns at scale during the 2025 holiday season. The company handles box free, in store returns for online brands at thousands of locations and has seen how often fraud slips through when refunds are issued quickly. The AI tool is currently being tested with well known fashion and sportswear brands while retailers process an estimated eight hundred fifty billion dollars worth of returns this year. The goal is simple, reduce the roughly seventy six and a half billion dollars lost annually to return fraud without making honest customers feel punished. ⚙️ How It Works • Pattern spotting - The AI scans return requests from the moment they are started online, looking at timing, frequency, locations, order history and product details. • Risk scoring - Each return is given a risk score, most sail through automatically, but higher risk returns are flagged for extra checks before the refund is approved. • Network wide view - Because the system sits across thousands of drop off points, it can spot people trying similar tricks at different locations or across multiple brands.

You know the real gift you’re getting at the AI Advantage Summit in 4 days? Not the cost savings or the speed or the boosted productivity (although those are great)... We're talking about something different. Something better. Watch the video below to learn what that gift is. And more importantly, answer the question: What will you do with it once you have it? This is why the shift with AI is so important. And it’s why you absolutely cannot miss the Summit this week. So mark your calendars… And we'll see you then! ⏳ BEFORE THE SUMMIT: 🥇Give yourself the ultimate unfair advantage & elevate your Summit experience with the Elite Experience Upgrade for just $1. Click here to learn more and join before day 1. 📅 Don’t forget to add all 3 days to your calendar of choice. If you click here right now you can easily add the Summit to your calendar so you don’t forget.