What AI can't teach

With recent advancements in artificial intelligence, the new technology can teach a dedicated learner virtually any verifiable fact. What it can’t teach, though, is the human experience — people’s emotions, failures, ambitions and sacrifices. Understanding these elements are just as essential to being a productive citizen as any discipline of reasoning or arithmetic. It helps us prioritize what truly matters in our lives and encourages virtuous decision-making in pursuit of human flourishing — or eudaemonia, as Aristotle would call it.

Most of all, understanding the human experience helps us connect and engage in fellowship with others, learning a piece of knowledge from every relationship. In times of temptation to scan your phone while with loved ones or in public, someone’s wisdom lies ready for extraction like a ripe fruit from a low branch — a truth many of America’s greatest men understood. Even after his rise to success, Benjamin Franklin engaged with people from all trades and walks of life, always absorbing knowledge where he could. Abraham Lincoln was known for intentionally seeking differing perspectives — even placing political rivals in his administration.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Every man I meet is in some way my superior, and in that I learn of him.”

All around us are walking archives of lived human experience. There is timeless wisdom and deep fulfillment to be found in building meaningful relationships with the people in your life and community. The acquisition of this wisdom makes us well-rounded leaders and contributors to our families, our professions, and our country.

In an age of technological revolution, it’s more important than ever not to let this generational knowledge — the human experience — be quietly replaced by ones and zeros.

Dalton Henderson

Joliet