If the only value lies in what machines can mimic, humanity will be over

Newslaundry · Sep 12, 2026

Back in 2019 it already seemed urgent to write something about human relationships with machines: robots, neural networks, and artificial intelligence. To me the extraordinary and undertapped creative potential of flesh-and-blood people was one of the reasons why we matter. Creativity defines humanity. One of us is unique and distinctive no matter how many extraterrestrial life-forms may exist. The idea that machines could or should take over making art or writing diminishes the work of teachers, of human-authored books about how to make art and to write, and the fact that people can learn…