I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything
I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything
by Joanna Stern
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About the Book
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.
About the Author
Joanna Stern is an Emmy Award-winning technology journalist. She spent twelve years at The Wall Street Journal, where her personal technology columns and video series made her one of the most-watched voices in consumer tech. She now runs her own media
company, producing videos and newsletters that help people navigate the tech reshaping daily life, and serves as NBC News chief technology analyst. Her 2021 documentary E-Ternal won an Emmy for Outstanding Science, Technology or Environmental Coverage. A two-time Gerald Loeb Award winner and Pulitzer finalist, she often appears on national television, radio, and podcasts like The Vergecast. Previously a technology editor at ABC News and The Verge, Joanna lives in New Jersey with her wife, sons, dog, and more gadgets than a Best Buy.
Editorial Reviews
"Stern is exactly the sort of writer you want to read on the question of how useful A.I. can be in real life." —The New Yorker
"Stern’s balanced, clear-eyed assessments and crisp, funny prose make this stand out among the growing crowd of books on AI." —Publishers Weekly
"A lighthearted, accessible account." —The New York Times
"'I am not a robot,' we say, to the website, to the algorithm, to one
another, to ourselves. Stern has written the clearest account yet of why it has become so difficult to say with conviction." —The Boston Globe
"In this slyly tongue-in-cheek, often unsettling account, technology
journalist Stern chronicles her AI-enhanced life. She tried out
self-driving cars, chatbot companions, digital fitness coaches,
AI-written emails, robot masseuses, mechanical pets—even AI-generated music, literature, and life advice. The result is a highly personal portrait of what it feels like to stand on the edge of technological transformation." —Kirkus
"Stern's witty and accessible book will appeal. Her personal story mixed with her expertise makes for a page-turning read." — Amazon Editor