Don’t Panic

Artificial intelligence and human intelligence differ not in degree but in kind; they’re different phenomena that happen to share a word: intelligence.

AI excels at pattern recognition across vast datasets. It can analyse millions of medical images, play chess at superhuman levels, and generate coherent text by prediction. But it doesn’t understand what it’s doing. When AI diagnoses cancer, it recognises patterns in pixels without comprehending disease, mortality, or fear. It processes information without experiencing meaning.

Human intelligence, by contrast, is embodied and contextual. We understand because we’ve lived in bodies that feel pain, joy, hunger, and exhaustion. We grasp metaphor because we’ve physically experienced what it means to carry a burden or feel light-hearted. Our intelligence isn’t just computational: it’s somatic, emotional, and social. We learn not just from data but from making mistakes, feeling embarrassed, being surprised and forming relationships.

AI has no stakes in the game. It doesn’t care about its answers, fear being wrong, or hope to be understood. It lacks intentionality, that incredible human capacity to be about something, to direct consciousness toward meaning and purpose.

Perhaps most crucially, human intelligence is creative in a way AI isn’t. We generate novel ideas-and ideas for novels-by combining experiences, emotions, and knowledge in ways we don’t always understand ourselves. We have intuitions, hunches, and insights that emerge from the mysterious depths of consciousness. And by standing at a bus-stop for a delayed No.39.

AI can augment human capability brilliantly.

But. No, don’t panic. But Be Human. Every Minute of Every Day.

Pen & Paper

are still remarkably effective in planning and creating the life you seek.

Books, AI chums and networks will all add support.

But start by putting pen to paper.

Don’t Wait

Build your skill set: buy your own trainings; read the classics; meditate on a mountain-top; cook from scratch; source your network; find the best free news-letters; build quality sleep.

You get the idea.

Don’t wait: invest in yourself.

Quantity or Quality

The question isn’t whether quality or quantity matters more; it’s knowing which one serves you best in any given situation. Some things demand uncompromising quality.

Your morning coffee should be exceptional, not merely plentiful. A proper Apfel strudel-layers of pastry thin as tissue, apples fragrant with cinnamon-is worth crossing a city for; three mediocre ones aren’t. When you build a garden fence, construct it well enough that your grandchildren might lean confidently against it. And political thinking? Here quality is essential. One well-reasoned position built on evidence and principle outweighs a dozen populist slogans designed to inflame rather than illuminate.

But quantity has its place too, and it’s not the consolation prize. The miles you cover on foot matter; each one strengthens your heart, clears your mind, builds the habit of movement. The colours of vegetables on your plate should multiply: red peppers, purple cabbage, orange carrots, dark greens. Variety isn’t just aesthetic; it’s nutritional wisdom encoded in a rainbow. And quiet moments of reflection? Take many. Brief pauses throughout the day compound into clarity better than one long session of forced contemplation.

A mark of wisdom isn’t choosing quality over quantity or vice versa. It’s recognising that coffee and political philosophy require excellence, while daily steps and moments of stillness require accumulation.

Master this distinction and build a life that’s well-crafted and abundant; quality where it counts, quantity where it compounds. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is more.

Know the difference. Go be human.

Dogs Love a Good Walk

We humans are not so different; go give it a go. Walk long, walk hard. In the wind and rain if necessary. And ideally with your trusted companion.

Go be human.