A list of what AI (Large language models or LLMs) can’t do.
AI cannot teach you how to think critically.
LLMs can generate huge amounts of text-based answers in mere seconds but it cannot sharpen your thinking. To cultivate clear thinking takes the effort of meticulous reading and practised writing. It takes the effort of tinkering with ideas to see what works and what doesn’t. Clear thinking requires grappling with concepts, sometimes over years, to grasp a fuller picture.
AI cannot help you to connect with your intuition or emotions.
Deep intuitive understanding is more valuable than detached analytical knowledge. (Here’s a related post.) We can usually spot when someone doesn’t feel well. This is not a data thing. It’s a feeling thing.
We can usually feel when something doesn’t feel right. For instance, a certain decision (or trajectory, or person) might make us uncomfortable. We can feel when something feels off. That is unless we are completely reliant on thinking.
Rationality has its place, but it cannot replace the wisdom that we gain from emotions. I would go so far as to say that an over-reliance on seemingly rational ideas can be destructive. I’ve seen this countless times. A certain surgical procedure might seem “rational” while being entirely destructive to the body. It might seem “rational” to stay married for financial reasons but years of anger and insults can eat away at the soul. Also, an over-reliance on thinking keeps difficult emotions at bay. We need to feel difficult emotions if we want things to change on a fundamental level.
AI cannot create your magnum opus.
Your magnum opus is heavily reliant on your uniqueness. The way you grew up. The lessons you learned. Your culture. Your interests. Your traumas. Your disappointments.
It’s the thing you came here to do. It’s not the thing you do to gain fame. It’s not the thing you do to gain money. It’s the thing you feel you have to do, even if it means that you’ll get rejected, even if it means that you’ll obtain no money for it. It is your soul work, if you will.
Your magnum opus might not be one thing; it might be many things that are related to one another. You might not even know what it is until you’re retired. But one thing is for sure: It’s not easy work. It will challenge you. It requires emotional maturity. It requires deep integration of stormy emotions and traumas.
AI cannot give you a sense of connection and love.
Excessive time around screens doesn’t energise us. Nothing can replace a walk amongst majestic trees. Nothing can replace a hug from a partner. Nothing can replace the awe we encounter in nature. Nothing can replace the delight we find in pets and animals.