What is it like to turn over your life to artificial intelligence for an entire year? Emmy Award–winning tech journalist Joanna Stern found out.
Stern was on stage at CHM Live on May 19, 2026, to share insights from her new book, I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, in a discussion with The Verge cofounder and editor-in-chief Nilay Patel.
The event was sponsored by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.
Patel opened the conversation by asking what’s up with students booing AI advocates at their graduation ceremonies? Stern recalled that only a year ago, her Union College commencement speech about AI had inspired only yawns, but young people are much more aware today.
There’s a backlash growing among young people, even those who actively use AI. Their concerns range from job displacement, the ethics of training models on creative work, the environmental impact of data centers, and wariness shaped by having grown up as guinea pigs for social media.
That skepticism reflects a difference between AI and earlier tech innovations. Stern and Patel remembered how tools like smartphones empowered users to create and explore. People were in control, said Stern, but with AI, the tools are increasingly acting on our behalf.
For AI to be most useful, Stern said, people often have to adapt themselves to the technology—to essentially become a data set. She shared an example from her book—a wearable device that recorded her conversations and generated summaries and to-do lists. While powerful, it raised significant privacy concerns and underscored the trade-offs between convenience and personal control.
Many jobs will increasingly outsource tasks to AI systems, a bigger shift than earlier technological disruptions. What’s even more worrisome is when we outsource our own thinking.
Joanna Stern describes AI and human shifts in jobs and information.
Stern’s goal was to incorporate as much AI into her life, exploring technologies like robotics, autonomous vehicles, and more. She framed her approach around systems that can see, hear, think, and act like humans. And it was important to set boundaries.
Some things, Stern found, should not be handed over, especially personal communication. Using AI for automated email responses still feels generic and impersonal, and maintaining genuine human connection required her own voice. Other tools, like an AI-powered toothbrush, fell short and are clearly not ready for prime time.
Her family became an essential part of her story. Watching her children interact with AI, including using a self-driving Waymo car on vacation, helped Stern see AI tools through their eyes and shapes how she thinks about a future where its embedded in so much of their lives.
She wanted to understand the pull of AI relationships that people are experiencing today, but she did NOT introduce her AI “boyfriend” to her kids.
Joanna Stern describes interacting with her AI boyfriend.
Stern is optimistic about AI’s potential in areas like making transportation safer, enhancing education, and advancing important discoveries in healthcare. While she loves her computer, she predicts that the next generation of computing may move beyond screens entirely. Today’s children are already interacting with technology through voice and touch rather than keyboards. New tools, such as wearable devices and smart glasses, point toward a more ambient form of computing—systems that continuously observe and interpret the world. Conversational interaction with AI is already becoming natural.
AI played a significant role in Stern’s professional work. While she wrote her book herself, AI tools were invaluable for editing, analyzing transcripts, structuring ideas, and even helping launch a business around the project. From setting up payroll systems to designing a website, AI made complex processes feel more manageable and accessible.
Stern says that AI companies want to make AI that is smarter than any humans ever could be. But she thinks the models we have can do enough already.
Joanna Stern thinks AI tools must be more accessible.
Despite rapid innovation, Stern does not see AI replacing the smartphone anytime soon. She described the phone as “the pinnacle computer,” a platform that democratized access to technology in an unprecedented way. AI developments are more likely to build on that foundation than replace it.
Closing with questions from the audience, Stern had advice for young people wondering how to navigate the rapidly changing AI landscape: keep reading, and keep thinking critically.
My Year with AI | CHM Live, May 19, 2026
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