Tattooed Tech

I spent two decades as an Air Force Air Traffic Controller — working radar at Whiteman, stood tower watches at Eielson, McGuire, and Offutt, and spent four years teaching the next generation of controllers at the ATC schoolhouse at Keesler. In that world, bad information doesn’t just waste time. It gets people killed. That shapes how I think about everything.

I retired in February 2018 with a degree in Computer Information Systems and a complicated relationship with technology. I understood it. I just couldn’t build with it. Coding was a wall I kept running into.

Then, earlier this year, I found AI — and the wall came down.

I’m approaching 50. I’m not a developer. I’m not from Silicon Valley. What I am is someone who spent a career making complex, high-stakes information simple and actionable for the people who needed it most. Turns out that’s exactly what AI needs too.

Tattooed Tech exists because I’m not the only one who felt like this train was leaving without them. If you’ve ever thought you’re too old for this, or not technical enough, or that AI is built for someone smarter or younger — this is for you. It’s built for me, and people like me.

The tattoos? That’s just who I am. Pretty covered, still adding to it, not apologizing for it. It’s part of the identity. So is this site.

No jargon. No gatekeeping. Just what works.

— Scott Middleton, Retired USAF | Air Traffic Controller