No one had any doubts AI appearance would dramatically change the modern lifestyle. Its birth revealed a bunch of rumors, predictions, and theories.
Along with this, the AI industry brought a $146.09 billion revenue in 2024. From business tools to life couching, from art to finance—artificial intelligence literally penetrated all the possible domains of human expertise.
Sceptics foresaw that it’d do some professions in, while fans and supporters saw opportunities of almost limitless development. Thus, the question is: what areas of human life can AI never substitute? Are there any? Or we’re fully enslaved by the new technology?
In this article, we’ll have a close look at six things that—as we have conviction—AI can never substitute to the fullest extent.
#1. Painting
The first domain is painting.
Now, it’s pretty funny to imagine, say, Salvador Dalí or Paul Gauguin using some kind of inspiration like artificial intelligence to forge their masterpieces, being sold for millions. What about the contemporary artists? Could they use any AI-tool(s) to come up with an idea for a piece to sell for a hundred million?
For instance, could Alessandro Florio’s latest arrivals at Maddox Gallery be inspired by AI? Or could an African contemporary painter, Deborah Segun, gain fame with her canvases at the 2024 group exhibition Moving Through Color if someone accused her of using AI?
Indeed, there’s no known case of a painter using artificial intelligence to produce a masterpiece. Sure, they could’ve utilized it as an inspiration source to stumble upon an idea that would take off.
However, there’s still no doubt that artificial intelligence can copycat the styles of the famous painters—but can it produce something truly unique? Hardly ever. Why so? The thing is that it’s only the human brain that can constitute concepts based on real experience. The real experience, in turn, resonates with genuine emotions. This is, in fact, the recipe of a masterpiece.
#2. Pieces Written During Historically Important Events
AI tools for writing are one of the first to emerge, and they’re, (un)fortunately, frequently used on the web. But can a professional writer be substituted by a machine? Writing is an art.
According to Jean-Paul Sartre’s What Is Literature?, the purpose of art (and writing, in particular) is “to recover this world by giving it to be seen as it is, but as if it had its source of human freedom.” Here again, emotions and experience matter.
AI can attempt to craft a plot, create characters, and provide hints about the concept of a book, but it will never be able to translate real-life experiences accurately. For example, if a person has never perceived the horrors of WWI, they would never be able to convey the real emotions a character could have lived.
So, could Erich Maria Remarque write his famous All Quiet on the Western Front and transmit the emotions that only a person who went through those events could experience?
That means artificial intelligence can only mirror already written pieces, but not create genuine ones that touch readers’ hearts and emotions. The reason is pretty straightforward: lack of human experience, and, as a result, lack of ability to feel.
#3. Real Emotions of People in the Form of Content
The ability to feel or experience emotions is what makes AI vulnerable and deprives it of a mere chance to substitute for humans in some domains. In fact, humanity is emotional, and it always seeks emotional experiences.
The social network algorithms are designed to promote content that evokes genuine emotions, ranging from absolute anger to pure happiness. No matter how well AI can create content, it will never be able to sense its emotional impact fully—as it is.
This is primarily the main reason why forms of entertaining content, such as podcasts with genuine chemistry between people or live broadcasts featuring real humans, are popular. Oppositely, avatar-based broadcasts fail and never gain popularity.
Yes, there have been countless AI podcast generators and attempts to fake humans, but none of them have succeeded.
#3.1. Podcasts with Real Chemistry Between People
Just imagine that your favorite podcast—be it The Joe Rogan Experience or Kallmekris’ Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder—is held not by people but by AI? Sure thing, you would have never had a chance to experience that wild mixture of thrill and fun when listening to the adventures Joe Rogan usually narrates.
Another case. How can the audience of Petty POV with Charlotte Dobre sense the chemistry that the host broadcasts? Those funny pans and scenes would not appeal to the audience if another AI narrator had voiced them. So, no top 5 on Spotify!
#3.2. Live Broadcasts With Real People (Not Avatars)
Regardless of there being some more or less popular platforms broadcasting AI digital live streams, they do not have the same enormous audiences. You might have stumbled upon some websites like BocaLive, but surely lost interest, as you didn’t get what you came for—genuine emotions.
First, you are amazed by the diversity of live streams to choose from. Second, you start listening to a couple of them. Third, you understand that there’s no emotional bond with the speaker. Finally, you see some misconceptions, commonly known as AI hallucinations that are ordinary for large language model (LLM). Thus, you switch to real human broadcasts.
#3.3. Sharing (Big) Personal Victories
Also, there’s a special category of broadcasts where gamers play in real time and showcase their highs and lows. You must admit that no AI tool can simultaneously play the game, comment emotionally, and share its insights with the audience in a live-streaming format.
Or just pretend you’re watching a trader who is trading in real time. Compare: would be the same interested in watching a machine trading? Hardly ever. You’d never experience the same emotions.
Besides, you’d never learn anything factual. The reason is simple: humans accumulate experiences based on their knowledge and current situation, while machines generate data based on the knowledge they have previously learned. So, the machine would never be able to adapt to the current moment.
Thankfully, you can always navigate a big win replays aggregator to re-watch the moments of someone’s triumph. Jackpot Sounds is a perfect example of a website that collects the big win replays and shares them with the users. You can see how lucky players scored at a game, or hit the jackpot and become mind-boggling wealthy. Agree, no AI tool would be able to reproduce the same intense emotions!
#4. Unique Crafts and Handicrafts
Crafts, trendy DIY crafts, or handicrafts—would they lose their uniqueness and be substituted by AI? Famous raisin arts, macramé, decorative pillows, upcycled furniture… There are countless examples of crafts that you can see on social media or purchase from online shopping platforms.
Evidently, artificial intelligence can be applied in one direction only—to give birth or shape to an idea. Opponents may argue that one can design a concept with AI and then print it using a 3D printer. Sure, it’s possible, and you can find tons of such items on popular platforms like Shopify or Etsy.
But do these crafts bring real value? How environmentally friendly are they? How useful are they for the consumer? Another aspect is functionality. Would they carry the same (or at least some of the same) functionality as the handmade items do?
Globally, when considering art installations. Can AI, in this case, substitute famous art installation artists like Yayoi Kusama or Olafur Eliasson? Even if the answer is yes, the concepts generated by AI would not bring the same stable emotional connection between the viewer and the object as, for instance, Urs Fischer’s You located in Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, in 2007.
#5. Parenting and Upbringing
If you navigate Amazon, Google Books, or any other internet bookstore, you’ll root out myriad items. They all can give you valuable pieces of advice or guide you through the process of raising your child(ren).
If you search for parenting and upbringing on YouTube, you’ll also dredge up thousands of videos on how to be a good/bad parent.
However, can AI raise your children? Obviously, not. Can it be a good advisor on how to do it better or how to master your parenting skills? Obviously, yes.
Similar to any domain we discussed above, artificial intelligence and machine learning can serve as a supplementary and vital (!) resource. Nonetheless, it can be a parent instead of you, and will never be able to perform this role.
It’s not only about experiences and emotions that matter in painting or writing, but also about the human desire to connect with other humans. It’s a matter of perception: a child needs human parent(s).
In any case, you can always consult AI to become a better version of yourself as a parent. In this case, a chatbot like ChatGPT or Grok can assist you; they can serve as your psychologist or family counselor. They can be a source of inspiration for avoiding particular mistakes with your child(ren), but they cannot be 100% you.
All the wisdom, all the experiences you have obtained in the course of your life, are impossible to compare to the machine’s set of data. So, no matter how good you are in parenting, AI will never be a parent instead of you.
So, feel free to stick to the “smart parenting” concept developed by Jabali and Ayyoub, as published in Education and Information Technologies in 2024. It’s the best option.
#6. Edgy Humor
If you send ChatGPT a prompt saying “generate 100 unique and extra funny puns or anecdotes,” you’ll naturally obtain an answer containing these 100 pans. But how are they unique? How are they funny? Extra funny? Barely.
The thing is that a machine cannot feel if something is funny. It’s guided by the algorithms that set it up to provide a funny layout. In reality, truly edgy humor can only be created by the human mind.
On the one hand, you again need to possess senses, emotions, and experience. On the other hand, you must understand cultural particularities, the game of words (jeu de mots), etc. Finally, you need to clearly see that very edge, where a joke/an anecdote/a pun gets extra obscene. Here, it’s paramount to understand the audience for whom this joke is and their cultural particularities.
Otherwise, the joke may feel pretty dull or—-oppositely—too platitudinous.
Final Thoughts
No matter how AI has conquered the planet, it still can’t grab it all. There are some domains where no machine could be used instead of humans. In addition, we all need to remember that artificial intelligence is a tool to simplify our lives and assist with routine tasks, but not to replace us.
Above, six areas cannot survive and function properly without human touch. Evidently, one can use some machine tools to supplement but not to fully substitute alive people.
If AI is used correctly, it can serve valuable services. It can be a good advisor, an inspiring guide, and a perfect assistant. However, it cannot paint instead of a live painter. It cannot write—emotionally and passionately—like a human does. It cannot raise children or be their only guide in life.
