A year-long experiment used more than a hundred AI-based products across daily life, including wearable devices, vehicles, robots, and a toothbrush. The experiment included conversations with an AI therapist, replacing a research assistant with an AI agent, and using an AI boyfriend and AI-drafted bedtime stories for children. The goal was to observe what happens when intelligent machines become part of everything. The approach emphasizes practical usefulness for people who already manage work and home effectively, rather than chasing sci-fi fantasies or automating life without considering real needs. The premise is that AI can help when applied to concrete tasks and personal circumstances.
"“I, Joanna Stern, do solemnly swear to live with the machines for the next 365 days.” Thus begins the year-long experiment chronicled in Stern's book, “ I Am Not a Robot,” a romp through the landscape of applied artificial intelligence, published this month. Early in 2025, Stern, a former technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal, decided to “cram artificial intelligence into as many corners” of her life as possible."
"In the course of a year, she used more than a hundred A.I.-based products, including glasses, bracelets, cars, robots, and a toothbrush. She talked with an A.I. therapist; replaced her research assistant with an A.I. agent; opened her marriage to an A.I. boyfriend; and let an A.I. draft bedtime stories for her kids. The project was, she writes, “an honest attempt to see what happens when AI and intelligent machines become part of everything.”"
"Stern is exactly the sort of writer you want to read on the question of how useful A.I. can be in real life. She's made a career out of being a normal person who knows a lot about technology but never gets carried away by sci-fi fantasies. Instead, she prioritizes everyday reality. On YouTube, it's easy to find videos in which recent college grads explain how they've automated their whole lives with A.I.; in a sense, this is easy for them, since their routines and careers haven't been built yet."
"Stern is forty-one, with a wife and two kids, and she's fully immersed in a career at which she's extraordinarily competent. Like many people in midlife, she already knows how to do what she needs to do. You, similarly, may consider your prodigious skills, honed through untold hours of real-world training, and wonder how an A.I. could possibly aid you. If you can already read, write, and thrive, at home and at work-and if you don't need to code, make a websit"
#artificial-intelligence #personal-productivity #everyday-technology #ai-agents #human-ai-interaction
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