I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

What happens when intelligent machines aren’t just in our pockets but are also driving our cars, making our decisions, folding our laundry, and educating our kids?

You’ve heard the hype: AI will make us healthier, give every child a personalized tutor, run our businesses more efficiently, return hours of free time to our overworked brains, and make discoveries previously unimagined by humankind. The AI future is going to be unlike any other technological revolu­tion. But what does that really mean? And will AI truly make life better?

To find out, award-winning journalist Joanna Stern surrendered her life to artificial intelligence for one year. The results are both hilarious and unsettling.

I Am Not a Robot is like a time machine trip to the very near future, where AI promises to be your doctor, chauffeur, teacher, masseuse, coworker, thera­pist, financial planner, chef, housekeeper, and even . . . romantic partner. Your colleague might be using ChatGPT to write emails at work, but Joanna used AI tools and robots to do household chores, to manage her health, and to transport her family on vacation. If there was a decision to make or a task to do, she let AI go first. Along the way, she conducted exclusive interviews with the tech leaders building this future, then reported back from the front lines as your funny, no-nonsense tour guide.

Of course, tech’s sunny promises never tell the whole story, and that’s what Joanna is here to share. Filled with illustrations and photographs, this book offers less hype, more clarity, and as little jargon as humanly (or robotically) possible. It’s an AI guide for ordinary people—not the tech bros who tried to sell you a cruise to the metaverse or an NFT of a cartoon monkey.

This book is not the definitive story, because we’re only a few years into the AI revolution. But after a year of living as a human lab rat, Joanna deliv­ers one of the clearest—and funniest—pictures yet of what’s really happening and what it means for you.

Joanna Stern is an Emmy-winning tech journalist and author of I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, about her year letting AI take over her life. She is the founder of New Things, where she publishes newsletters, videos and more. She’s also NBC News’ chief tech analyst, regularly appearing on TODAY, NBC Nightly News, and beyond. Stern spent 12 years at The Wall Street Journal, where her personal tech columns and videos made her one of the most-watched voices in consumer technology. Her 2021 documentary, E-Ternal, won an Emmy for Outstanding Science, Technology or Environmental Coverage. She is also a two-time Gerald Loeb Award winner and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She frequently appears on radio and podcasts, including The Vergecast. Previously, she was a technology editor at ABC News and The Verge. She lives in New Jersey with her wife, their two sons, a dog and more gadgets than a Best Buy.