AI this. AI that. It is safe to say the tech world is obsessed with AI. If you listen to the ‘tech bros,’ AI is basically the sliced bread of the 21st century. There is hardly any tech gadget which does not come with at least some sprinkling of AI on it. But not all who have heard about AI are as gaga over it as the geeks. There are cynics too, who insist that AI will be the reason the world ends. And then there are those who know it exists, but have little to no knowledge about it to form an opinion.
What if AI controlled everything? Well, she let it do just that
To help people get a better understanding of it all and to figure out whether the hype or hate around AI is real, celebrated tech journalist Joanna Stern took one for the team and let AI into every nook and corner of her life. This was not just some one-day-one-column experiment. Stern dedicated one full year to this experiment where she let AI take control of whatever aspect AI could.
She used AI as her therapist, as her driver, to write her mails, let it decide what she ate, used AI to read her mammograms, her dental scans, as personal assistant, brought home an AI lawn mower and even went as far as to get herself an AI lover. After a year of being a “lab rat” to see how close the ‘AI future’ is and what happens after AI has taken over everything in your life, Stern has churned out an investigative-cum-deeply-personal-journal-cum-guide of a book – I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything.
Journal entries, doodles, experiments…
Stern makes it clear in the introduction itself that this is not a “traditional” book but a combination of “traditional chapters, journal entries, little scientific experiments, Q&As and a few other surprises”. She has divided the segments seasonally to keep you in touch with the basic ‘year-long’ experiment idea and reflect different stages of AI immersion.
Unlike many tech books and most of the literature around AI, Stern has tried to keep the book as tech-jargon-free as possible. She dwells a little on the history and provides the basic differentiation between all the AI that is around at present. She refers to it as the “AI Zoo,” highlighting how AI is an umbrella term and there are many different types of AI ranging from as simple as prediction ones that determine how your social media feed would look, to highly complex ones that are responsible for keeping you alive (self-driving cars).
This little introduction is simple, funny and jargon-free, and sets the foundation for even those who have never heard of AI (we doubt there are many). This done, Stern then dives deeper into her experience with the technology, but keeps that tone constant throughout the book – I Am Not a Robot does not feel heavy, or feel as if you are reading a book about some complex technology that is built on complex mathematical equations and trained using mountains of data. Which it actually is.
When AI works…and does not
Stern tries, tests and then decides whether AI should become a partner in her journey or if it needs to be discarded. She does so using humour and some incredible puns while navigating through some really complex topics. The book is not really very text-heavy, but the occasional illustrations in it still come as a breath of fresh air. Stern’s narrative is very balanced, as befits an award-winning tech journalist. She does not indulge in AI bashing, nor does she go gaga over AI’s ability to make her life much easier.
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I Am Not a Robot details Stern’s experiences when AI works and when it does not. For instance, when she lets AI respond to texts and emails, especially personal ones, she notes and points out how getting the nuance and the intimacy of a human connection right may still be some time away from AI. She also catches AI lying, although she does not call it lying, but labels it confidently passing on wrong information. On the other hand, she highlights and praises how AI tools managed to spot subtle patterns in reading scans that were missed by the human eye, and how, without even having any prior knowledge of coding, she managed to vibe-code a game with the help of AI. She sums up her experience in a single line:
“Machines [do] well [at] things humans find hard, while doing poorly what is easy for us.”
A light-hearted yet deeply personal account of life with AI
I Am Not a Robot puts out Joanna Stern’s very personal and insightful AI journey. Those who pick it up expecting to learn about the nitty-gritties of AI, or looking for inspiration on how to add more AI to their lives, might get a few ideas but are unlikely to find it enough. But those who are just curious about AI, and want a quick sneak peek into what a future full of AI might look like, will thoroughly enjoy her expedition on the AI side of life. As the world of technology and AI is ever evolving (and at a crazy speed), it is likely that her encounters and experiences might get outdated soon, but we would still recommend picking up this relatively slim, easy-to-read book for its light-hearted yet deeply personal account of a year spent with AI.
I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything
Joanna Stern
HarperCollins Publishers
320 pp
Rs. 1799
