Everyone including myself is writing and talking so much about Artificial Intelligence, one could almost start to believe the hype that AI indeed is going to transform the way we live. But really… as much as yes, it will allow us to do things in an incredibly optimised way, let’s not forget we humans are wonderfully complex beings — we feel, touch, smell, think, cry, laugh, love, dream, …

99% of what we do in life does not benefit from any Artificial Intelligence:

Walking at 4am through the streets of Paris after having drunk slightly too much, enjoying the black sky and the reflection of the lights in the rain; waking up to a breathtaking view of the Wundanyi Hills; watching a thriller on Netflix that’s too scary to watch alone, and suddenly every squeak in your apartment instills a fear you can’t rationalise away; putting in place the last pieces of a 9000 jigsaw puzzle; savouring a lazy Sunday afternoon in bed in no hurry to get up; taking a road trip to you don’t know where yet; tasting a delicious homemade apple pie that reminds you of where you come from; making that home made apple pie yourself – actually: buying the ingredients for that home made apple pie – even PLANNING to buy the ingredients to make a home made apple pie; smiling when a dear friend texts you nothing but LIESBETH reminding you you’ve been hermitting for way too long; having a shisha on the balcony in the late afternoon sun enjoying the most magnificent saxophone music playing live from a nearby hotel; spending the day floating on your belly snorkelling, watching the most amazing tropical fish just a meter below; eating a perfectly prepared entrecôte with the freshest meat soft as butter; enjoying the fact that you have the perfect flakey smoked salt to accompany that entrecôte; listening to music that transports you into a perfect melancholy state; reading a book that you’re struggling to finish as your mind keeps wandering off to thoughts you can’t capture; walking home in the rain soaking wet all through to your underwear thinking about the nice hot shower that awaits you; feeling sorry for the suits in their Mercedes and Prados who don’t realise how nice it is to be dancing in that rain; crawling into bed dozing off immediately by the sound of that same rain; not having set an alarm but waking up early to a beautiful sunrise anyway; playing a game of chess on a beautiful wooden board with handcrafted pieces; loosing track of time talking to a stranger you just met at a party which you had no intention of going to; despite an addiction – being incapable of buying a bottle of coke just because it reads “Phyllis”, “Wambui” or “Oduor”; sharing travel tips with a friend who is now where you were ten years ago; shivering with delight when someone touches that soft skin right behind your ears; being stuck with humming “the colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky” for four days because you know the song, just… what was it again; cycling around lake Victoria by yourself because you didn’t find anybody crazy enough to join you; feeling a pinch of dread when saying goodbye to your parents likely for another year or two; lightning candles in the middle of the day because you can use a bit of warmth; having inspiring conversations with a good friend where both of you are convinced those many hours would have been amazing material for a podcast – if only you had been brave enough to hit record; gaining free time when the person you’re meeting is delayed; watching Bodyguard for the 6th time despite knowing all the twists and turns; spending 20 minutes dressing and undressing deciding which of the five nearly identical black dresses to wear that day; feeling on top of the world when the black dress you finally decided to wear invites nothing but compliments – which you accept with a very big smile; feeling incredibly proud when your nephew starts enjoying maths again and you had a tiny role in demystifying; embarrassing yourself speaking Kiswahili while still learning; playing cat and mouse with a matatu that drives-stops-drives-stops while you are walking; sharpening a coloured pencil simply because you like the swirl that comes out; feeling a hurricane of emotions when getting on a train to the airport realising you forgot your phone but the doors have closed and there’s no time to go back; itching non-stop after staying out way too late watching the stars and full moon at night accompanied by mosquitos; getting a chicken sandwich, a coke and bag of crisps to make staring out of the window of the SGR feel like you’re on a mini-break; feeling incredibly stupid for nearly drowning while wildwater rafting – especially after having ridiculed others for screaming; sliding into the bed getting ready to sleep under crisply ironed, silk bedsheets; going away on a road-trip carrying your late grand-mothers leather weekend bag; knowing nothing can go wrong when you pick the Star card while reading your daily tarot; anticipating beating your friend at snooker at the Sports Club he is a member of (so has every chance to practice while you don’t); being transported back to living in Barcelona when having tapas and a glass of Sangre de Toro; helping a fundi by carrying their heavy bike uphill just because they deserve a break; training for the half-marathon you plan to walk faster than the average runner; feeling emotionally weird for almost crying while cheering on friends and strangers as they push through exhaustion during their marathon; having an out of body experience during a job interview where you suddenly don’t remember why you even wanted the job you came in for and changing your destiny as a result; finding yourself moving into a penthouse and meeting famous football players as your neighbours in the elevator; finding yourself in the front of the television at 2:30 at night screaming an athlete of your tiny country to the finish line to win a gold medal at the Olympics; carving out a piece of wood to become a sculpture where the nerves follow the tension of the wood perfectly; opening the door to your apartment after a long day of outside meetings and being welcomed by the sweet smell of lilies…

So yes, Artificial Intelligence may change the way we work. But let’s not forget: it doesn’t change the way we experience life ✨