01/07/2026
Are we slowly falling out of love with being human?
I've found myself sitting with a question that I can't quite shake: I wonder if we're slowly falling out of love with being human.
We live in an extraordinary time. Artificial intelligence can answer our questions in seconds, write essays, create artwork, coach us through difficult emotions and hold conversations that often feel remarkably compassionate. At the same time, we have access to treatments that smooth away wrinkles, sculpt our features and promise younger looking versions of ourselves. Our phones measure our productivity, our watches analyse our sleep, and social media presents endless polished versions of other people's lives. Everywhere we look, we're encouraged to optimise, improve and perfect ourselves.
I don't think any of these things are inherently bad. AI is an incredible advancement. Cosmetic procedures can help people feel more confident. Technology has transformed healthcare in remarkable ways. My concern is something more subtle.
I wonder whether, surrounded by increasingly polished versions of life, we're becoming less comfortable with the beautifully imperfect parts of being human.
AI is endlessly patient. It doesn't appear tired, distracted or emotionally overwhelmed (unlike I often feel). It often responds with confidence, clarity and validation. If these become the interactions we experience most often, do they begin to change what we expect from one another? Will we become less tolerant of pauses, uncertainty and mistakes? Will we expect therapists, partners and friends to always know exactly what to say?
Yet therapy has never been about perfection. Some of the most healing moments happen when two people simply sit together in uncertainty. Healing comes through feeling understood, not through hearing the perfect words. It grows through empathy, humour, vulnerability, silence and genuine human connection.
I also wonder if our pursuit of perfection is distracting us from what really matters. We spend so much time thinking about how we look, how productive we are and how we're perceived. But how often do we think about the qualities that leave the deepest impression on others? Kindness. Compassion. Wisdom. Integrity. Curiosity. Presence. What some might simply call the soul.
Perhaps the greatest risk isn't that AI becomes more human. Perhaps it's that humans begin expecting themselves, and each other, to become more like AI: always available, always composed, always polished and always right.
When I think about the people who have shaped my life, I don't remember them because they were perfect. I remember how they made me feel. They listened. They cared. They laughed. They made mistakes. They apologised. They were real. I felt them.
As technology continues to evolve, I hope we continue to embrace innovation without losing sight of the qualities that no algorithm can replicate. Because long after AI becomes even more intelligent, I suspect what people will still crave most is exactly what they've always needed: authentic human connection.
Are we becoming so focused on perfecting ourselves that we're forgetting what makes us truly human?
