Sixty Years Later

From a jail cell at 22 to a revelation at 80 — this is why I’m building AI in Corrections.

I was 22 or 23 years old, locked in a jail cell, scared and alone. No guidance. No explanation. Just the hollow ache of continued failure, disappointment, and a complete lack of direction. But I wasn’t aware enough to know what was wrong — not with the world, and certainly not with me. The best I can say now is that I was clueless. I knew nothing. I had no insight, no awareness, and no understanding of how I had ended up where I was. I didn’t suspect I was different. I didn’t suspect anything. I just knew I was losing, and I had no idea why.

I remember it with painful clarity: rolling on my side to face the wall and silently screaming, "God! Why is this happening to me?" At best, I was an agnostic. I was not a religious person. I hadn’t been raised in deep faith, and I had no structured belief in God or eternity. I wasn’t someone who prayed or sought out sermons. In fact, I would’ve told you back then that I didn’t know what to believe. I didn’t read scripture. I didn’t reflect on the soul. I didn’t even think if there wasa soul. I knew nothing — about myself, about the world, or about whatever force might be out there holding things together.

And yet, in that moment I cried out. Not to anyone I could describe. Not from doctrine. Just raw instinct — some last ember inside me sparking into a silent scream. At the bottom, with nothing left but the question, I called out to something I couldn’t define. And in asking that question, something inside me shifted.

That question stayed with me. Not just for a day or a year — but for decades. It became the pulse behind every success I earned, and every setback I endured. I wasn’t looking for excuses. I was looking for truth.

The truth is this: I had ADHD. And I had lived my entire early life in a world that didn’t understand it — while being judged by people who didn’t know it existed. The impulsivity, the disorganization, the internal chaos — they weren’t moral failings. They were signs of a brain that struggled to sort reality from noise. I had never been given the words, the tools, or the understanding to explain any of it.

“I never knew I had ADHD until long after it had shaped me.
Not diagnosed. Not explained. Just misunderstood.”

Inside ADHD: A First-Person Account

Sixty years later, the answer has arrived. But it wasn't pursued. I began as a tiny ant, knowing nothing. Each insight came slowly, one piece at a time, only after I made the thought changes required to receive them. And recently, the answers have come like an avalanche of confirmation.

Answers like this don’t come unless the receiver has adjusted his thinking to receive them. You have to be tuned to the same frequency as the answer — not intellectually, but spiritually. It was the accumulation of my lessons and failures, combined with a sustained relationship with our Father in Heaven — my Lord — that opened the channel.

And once it opened, the pieces came. One by one, quietly, clearly — until the entire picture finally came into view. I saw it shortly after reading of and speaking to Judge David Admire. This was a man who loved his children and never gave up. His words and his example struck something deep in me — a recognition that this journey wasn’t just mine. It was shared. His belief in people, in change, in redemption — it affirmed what I had only just begun to see clearly myself.

But even before that, there was something else shaping me. In my late thirties, I began to study religious principles through the lens of metaphysics. I learned a foundational truth: you get what you give. That life flows in a cause-and-effect rhythm — that thoughts are causes, and conditions are effects. This understanding changed everything. It taught me that I wasn’t a victim of fate. I was part of a system that mirrored what I carried inside. When I changed my thinking, my world began to respond. Slowly. But surely.

In the summer of 1968, on the yard of the Nevada State Prison, two remarkable individuals, Boyd Marsing (Math) and Jerry Nielsen (English), asked me a question that would shape my life's mission: "What would you do about incarceration?"

I shared with them a vision born from the pain of my own experiences: each offender would reach a changed mindset, as I felt I had—a true transformation. In this vision, every sentence would be six months to life, with the ultimate goal being for the offender to achieve this new mindset. If they did not, they would remain in prison. 

Decades of Shaping a Vision

Over the decades, my views on criminal behavior and why it happens have evolved, shaped by personal experience and continued learning. My advocacy for mental health treatment for offenders with ADHD/LD surfaced just a few months before the Nevada 82nd legislative session, driven by a growing understanding of the connection between untreated ADHD/LD and criminal behavior.

During this time, I discovered that England had implemented a treatment process based on the approach used by former Seattle Judge David S. Admire. Reading the judge’s attached document on ADHD/LD was a pivotal moment—it was as if the pieces of a long-unsolved puzzle suddenly fell into place. It’s hard to believe this discovery happened less than two years ago.

The Convergence of Past and Future

What I am proposing now is rooted in that vision I shared on the yard of the Nevada State Prison in 1968. However, that vision could not be fully realized until Elon Musk released his OpenAI system, ChatGPT, to the world in November 2022. For the first time, being with the offender 24/7 became possible, providing the correct intervention exactly when needed.

Current technology allows us to create a future where transformation is within reach for everyone on the wrong side of the law. This culminates in a lifetime of reflection, learning, and relentless pursuit of a better way.

Invitation to Explore:

 I invite you to explore the rest of our website to see how this vision is being brought to life. We stand on the cusp of creating a system that could become the gold standard for correction facilities worldwide.

Closing Note:

Before our design was even complete, it became clear that TMC.ai would have the capacity to interact with at-risk children, helping to prevent criminal behavior from developing later in their lives. This ability to intervene early and effectively represents a technological advancement and a transformative approach to addressing the root causes of criminal behavior. 

James R. Wadsworth, Founder and CEO, AI in Corrections, LLC

References

Homelessness, Addiction, and Cognitive Support Needs

Culhane, D. P., Metraux, S., & Byrne, T. (2011). A prevention-centered approach to homelessness assistance: A paradigm shift? Housing Policy Debate, 21(2), 295-315.

This paper examines the connection between homelessness, addiction, and the need for alternative intervention approaches that focus on stability and independence.

Innovative AI Solutions for Social Challenges:

Hamet, P., & Tremblay, J. (2017). Artificial intelligence in medicine. Metabolism, 69, S36-S40.

This research discusses how AI applications can support personalized approaches, especially in complex social and health issues. It reinforces the potential of AI to address individual needs in programs targeting homelessness.

 AI and Behavioral Health:

Gao, S., Calhoun, V. D., & Sui, J. (2018). Machine learning in major depression: From classification to treatment outcome prediction. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, 24(11), 1037-1052.

This study discusses the use of AI in behavioral health settings, supporting the concept that AI can help understand and address complex mental health issues often present in homeless populations.

 OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT-4: Generative AI model. Used for research, ideation, and drafting. Accessed via the OpenAI platform, https://openai.com. 

Intellectual Property Disclaimer 

All content and materials on this website, 

including the AI in Corrections initiative, 

are proprietary and cannot be reproduced

without explicit permission.

Copyright © (2024-2025) All Rights Reserved.