What Machines Can't Create by Anna McPhee is a thought provoking read. McPhee explores how AI has an important place in our lives, but not at the expense of our creativity. One of the ideas that really stood out to me was "earned-ness" - the concept that the effort we put into creating something gives it value and makes the reward feel more meaningful.

I appreciated the discussion around experiences, rituals, and the satisfaction that comes from the creative process. AI can generate content incredibly quickly, but it can't recreate the feeling of excitement or accomplishment that comes from creating something yourself. McPhee also makes the point that our imperfections are part of what makes us human and often becomes part of our identity.

The book is well organised and peppered with conversation starters, useful AI prompts, and plenty of case studies to illustrate the ideas being discussed. I also found it quite ironic that McPhee openly explains how she used AI to help create the structure of the book. At first, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that, but I realised that was exactly the point. Later, she even demonstrates how AI helped write and structure an entire chapter.

Overall, this isn't an anti AI book. Instead, it's a thoughtful exploration of how AI can be a valuable tool without replacing the creativity, effort, and human connection that make our work meaningful.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

What Machines Can't Replace explores a question I've been thinking about a lot over the past few years. As AI becomes part of more jobs and more of our daily lives, what still belongs to us? Anna McPhee looks at that question through the lens of creativity, relationships, empathy, and the things that make us human. Rather than treating AI as something to fear or celebrate unconditionally, she makes space for a much more thoughtful conversation.

As someone who works in content marketing and uses AI as part of my job, I found myself nodding along more than once. The book doesn't argue that technology should disappear. Instead, it asks us to think more carefully about what we should protect as these tools become more capable. That felt like a much more useful discussion than the usual "AI will save everything" or "AI will ruin everything" debate. I closed the book with a renewed appreciation for the value of curiosity, judgment, and genuine human connection. My sincere thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advance review copy.