Overview of Joanna Stern is PROBABLY Not a Robot
MKBHD sits down with Joanna Stern to talk about her new book, I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, and the broader state of AI-powered consumer tech. The conversation covers her yearlong experiment living with AI across everyday life, from wearables and medical imaging to self-driving cars and humanoid robots. They also dig into Apple’s AI strategy, Siri’s shortcomings, the future of smartphones, and why Joanna believes the next wave of tech will be defined by tradeoffs between privacy, convenience, and usefulness.
Key Takeaways
Joanna’s book is about real-world AI, not just chatbots
- She spent a year trying to use AI in as many parts of life as possible.
- The book covers a wide range of AI applications:
- generative AI and chatbots
- self-driving cars
- medical AI
- humanoid robots
- wearable AI devices
- Her goal was to answer the question: What does it actually mean when people say AI will change everything?
AI is already embedded in daily life
- Joanna argues that many people underestimate how much AI is already used behind the scenes.
- Examples discussed:
- AI-assisted mammogram and radiology reads
- driving assistance and self-driving systems affecting surrounding traffic
- algorithmic systems in normal products we already use
- Her point: you may not be able to “opt out” of AI entirely, because it’s already woven into the infrastructure.
Humanoid robots are exciting, but mostly not ready
- Joanna is fascinated by humanoid robots, but skeptical of their current usefulness.
- Her main argument:
- humanoid form is cool
- but single-purpose robots may be more practical and efficient
- She points out that many tasks are easier for specialized machines than for a human-shaped robot trying to imitate people.
- She’s especially skeptical of claims that humanoid robots are ready for home use or full autonomy.
Self-driving cars are more city-specific than people realize
- Joanna describes Waymo as adapting to local driving styles, which she found especially interesting.
- She tested Waymos in different cities and noticed how much the driving behavior changes by environment.
- She’s intrigued, but also a little uneasy about Waymos in dense, messy driving environments like New York and New Jersey.
Privacy vs. convenience is the big consumer AI tradeoff
- Joanna repeatedly returns to the idea that AI products ask you to give up data in exchange for utility.
- Her framework:
- more convenience often means less privacy
- products have to prove they’re useful enough for people to accept the tradeoff
- She sees this as the key question for:
- smart glasses
- wearables
- always-on assistants
- personal AI memory tools
Wearable AI is useful, but not without discomfort
- She talks about wearing Amazon’s Bee-style AI bracelet that records and summarizes conversations.
- Benefits:
- memory assistance
- automatic to-do extraction
- “another brain” for daily life
- Downsides:
- surveillance concerns
- discomfort with being recorded
- dependence on cloud processing
Apple, Siri, and the Product Future
Apple’s next CEO conversation
- They discuss the possibility of John Ternus becoming Apple’s future CEO and whether that could mean a more product-focused Apple leadership.
- Joanna agrees with the idea that a product-minded CEO would be good for the company’s narrative around hardware and software.
Siri is still frustratingly bad
- Joanna is blunt that Siri still fails at basic tasks.
- Her examples include:
- playing a simple podcast or radio show
- handling routine voice commands in the car or home
- She wants Apple to focus less on flashy AI demos and more on making Siri reliably do the simple, useful things.
The smartphone isn’t going away anytime soon
- They discuss “post-smartphone” visions like smart glasses or face computers.
- Joanna thinks the smartphone remains the central device in most people’s lives.
- Her view is that future devices will probably augment the phone rather than replace it.
Media, Independence, and Audience Building
Why Joanna launched her own media company
- Joanna explains that she wanted:
- more control over her audience
- more freedom to experiment
- the ability to make weirder, more niche, or more ambitious content
- Her new project is The New Things / New Things, plus her YouTube channel.
How she thinks about content now
- Her best ideas still come from curiosity and testing products firsthand.
- She wants to avoid becoming “AI YouTube” or overly reliant on trend-chasing.
- Her goal is to make tech coverage that:
- helps regular people
- stays grounded in real product use
- remains useful even as the tech changes quickly
Fun Moments and Side Topics
The “verified human” pin
- Joanna brings MKBHD a pin that says “Verified Human, I Am Not a Robot.”
- They joke about it as an AI-era trust badge.
- He tests it with a typing challenge, effectively turning “can you fold laundry?” into the new CAPTCHA.
The typing challenge
- A running joke becomes a mini contest where Joanna types A–Z as fast as possible.
- It ends up being framed as a better human test than old CAPTCHAs:
- if you can fold laundry, maybe you’re human
- if you can’t, maybe the robots are winning
Main Insight
The conversation’s core message is that AI is not one thing. It’s not just chatbots; it’s already shaping medicine, transportation, wearables, and everyday software. But Joanna’s perspective is refreshingly skeptical: many of the most hyped forms of AI are still rough, privacy-invasive, or simply not useful enough yet. In her view, the winning products will be the ones that solve real problems without making people feel like they’ve lost control.
Recommendations / What to Check Out
- Joanna Stern’s book: I Am Not a Robot
- Her new media effort: The New Things
- Her YouTube channel: Joanna Stern
- If you’re interested in:
- consumer AI
- self-driving cars
- Apple product criticism
- wearable tech
- the future of robots
this episode is especially worth watching/listening to.