What You Can Do That A.I. Cannot Do
Sorry, robots.
Dearest Enthusiasts,
Almost every event I’ve spoken at recently has been full of talks from others about artificial intelligence. Sometimes it’s A.I. bad. Sometimes it’s A.I. good. One time it was A.I. hostile takeover is inevitable so just get over it, dude. (I’m not over it)
People seem to be extra dazzled lately by what machines can do.
And I get it … it is dazzling.
I’m not here to debate the merits or perils of A.I. for your workflow or productivity or helping your whatever do whatever.
Today I would like to simply offer a reminder that there are some wonderful things humans can do that only humans can do.
THINGS YOU CAN DO THAT A.I. CANNOT DO
a partial list by Brad Montague
You can keep a drawer full of mysterious cords you are emotionally unable to throw away, despite not knowing what a single one belongs to. You can burn your mouth on hot pizza, continue eating it anyway, and think to yourself, “It’s fine.” You can try to parallel park while three strangers watch, panic, and just drive home instead. You can whisper “sorry” to a Roomba after accidentally kicking it. You can wave at someone you think is waving at you, realize they’re not, and then pretend you were swatting a mosquito. You can swat a mosquito. You can plant a seed in dirt and wait with holy, radical patience. You can do the same with kindness, with ideas, and with possibility.
You can sit in the quiet of a hospital room, not fixing a thing, just resting your hand on another hand. Somehow your presence says more than any machine ever could. You can love a dog even though you know one day you’ll bury that dog and cry in the driveway. You can say I love you and mean it. You can say I’m sorry and mean it. You can reflect and realize that sometimes those sentences are the same thing. You can keep getting up. Again and again and again. Stubborn as a dandelion.
You can read a story to a child and, yes, I know... a computer can also do that. But I was recently at an event where a representative from a large tech company ... whose name I will not say (but it rhymes with Schmoogle).... ..that representative actually stood up in front of a real group of very real human educators and actually told them how great A.I. could be for their classroom because… it would… create… a picture book for each child … and illustrate the book for the child… and then they would not have to read the book to the child, because … the app would read it to them.
There are many tasks I’m certain educators would love taken from them, but looking children in the eyes and sharing stories with them? Not one of them.
Yes, use techonology to improve accessibility. Yes, use technology to break down learning barriers.
Please, please, please, though…
do not use technology to pull us further apart. We’re already great at dividing ourselves. What we need is what only we can give each other: presence, connection, story.
Yes, a computer could write a book and illustrate that book and even read it to the child. But what I remember from being read to as a child were rarely all the plots or pictures (as wonderful as they often times were.) I remember the warmth of my grandmother’s hands. The sound of my mother’s voice. The presence of a caring grownup sharing with me in the world of dreams and hope. I remember the time my third grade teacher gave a random character a pirate accent. I remember laughing together. Being surprised together. Being wowed together. Being together.
Technology can and should make our lives easier. It should, though, never replace an opportunity for us to look each other in the eyes and be wowed. You can do lots of things, you amazing human. You can even give up on other humans. You're too wise to do that, though some days it might be tempting. You know how much we need each other. You are not an algorithm. You are a library of scars and jokes and whispered songs and ridiculous rituals and bright-morning hopes.
You can have strong opinions about pens. You can clap at the wrong time during concerts and then double down with extra claps to somehow try to prove you meant to do it. You can have this amazing superhuman ability to forget things. To tell yourself “I’ll remember this” instead of writing it down, then forget it instantly. Please don’t forget this, though:
Of all the billions who have ever lived, you are here now with your odd laugh. Your strange mind. Your miraculous heart. You are you.
That is what no artificial intelligence can mimic.
I'll admit. A.I. can do lots of other cool things, though. Really cool things.
Still … I choose you. Yes, you. Every time. Take that, robots. 
PEP TALK FOR GROWNUPS WHO SHOW UP! Thank you to everyone who has watched and shared elements from this! Whether it’s the full video here or one of the clips here.
STORY CONFERENCE! One of my favorite events of the year. Join me in Nashville October 9-10. Tickets on sale now!
FAIL-A-BRATION! The Fail-a-Bration book is one year old this week! Do you have your copy? Do you have your fix-a-fail sticker kit to go with it?
You can tear up reading really great writing in a crowded coffee shop and let the tear roll down your cheek instead of wiping it away.
Dear Brad, I love your perspective, considered, compassionate and all about people and connection. There are many things the machines can do that I quite like that they can do (like the laundry and the dishes), but reading to my children, no. Writing children’s books and illustrating them? No. Just no. Thank you 💛✨