“AI accidentally made me believe in the concept of the human soul. ~Unknown
What is intelligence?
I have asked this question all along in my life – when teachers, filmmakers, researchers, and now someone is losing my vision for macular degeneration.
When I see a student find his or her voice, I ask.
When I hear about my best friend, a world-renowned cosmologist, I ask. He can discuss a black hole for a minute and quote the following taotin: He’s not just about knowing the facts. He knows how to listen. He knows how to explain something complicated without making you feel small. That’s true intelligence for me.
Still… I began to notice something strange.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to resemble people like him. You can write fluent writing. You can summarise books I haven’t read. Sometimes it surprises me. And I myself wonder: is this also intelligence?
AI is right and what it never feels
Let’s be clear about this. I’m grateful for AI. This essay was shaped with the help of that. Macular degeneration is progressing. It’s difficult to proofread your own writing. Sometimes it’s not possible. Tools like this are not luxury for me. They are gifts. Lifeline. Without them I can’t keep writing. That’s why I’m grateful.
However, there is an intelligence that AI never knows.
You don’t feel the panic of forgetting your lines on stage, or the panic of Rush remembering them. Whether your work is important, it doesn’t wake up at night. When your mother doesn’t remember your name, it won’t cry. Don’t get nervous before the job interview. It has not failed, recovered or loved.
It helps to express emotions, but you can’t have it.
Tools, not minds
We call it “artificial intelligence,” and it’s like artificial ency. It’s fast. It’s competent. It can impress you. But that’s not what we know. I have not spent years practicing instruments in the darkness or teaching students who don’t believe in themselves. It doesn’t grow from experience.
That’s not sad. It won’t heal. It won’t change.
So when people say, “AI will replace us,” do you think I’m always part of us? What part of you filling out the form and writing a report, or doing other absurd tasks? perhaps. But what is the part where you tell a story that no one else can tell you authentically and honestly? Never once.
Teach students to show up
In every class I taught, I said some versions of this:
“Don’t stop by research. Don’t stop at what AI gives you. You will learn to show up in your work.”
Some students are hiding behind the information. It’s safe. But I say to them: You mean. You are insight. You are a risk.
I once had a student who wrote technically perfect papers. But there was no voice. She hesitated when I asked her what it meant. She then told me about her father, who lived through the war in which paper existed. Her entire relationship with the topic shifted at that moment. That was true intelligence. It’s not a quote. It’s not a syntax. The courage to speak with all my heart.
When your eyesight deteriorates, you can see something else
Losing your vision is more than just reading. That’s about looking differently. It’s about slowing down. Listen more. Learn to trust what you cannot verify with your eyes.
It also deepened my appreciation for tools like AI. I rely on them every day. But I also realize their limits. They help form, but not in essence. They clean the windows, but they can’t show you what’s outside. You still need it.
Intelligence is not the same as wisdom
My amazing cosmologist friend once told me, “The more I learn, the more I realized I didn’t understand.”
ai doesn’t say that.
I don’t know about humility. Or a mystery. Or a feeling of adoration.
Intelligence in the deepest sense is not about control or answers. It’s about how we carry with uncertainty. It’s about bounty under pressure. The presence of pain. Humor of despair. Kindness without reward. None of them will be displayed at the prompt.
The final lesson: Tools are not replacing the soul
If there is one thing I have learned, through vision loss, through education through using AI – this is:
Tools can help you build something. But I don’t know why it’s important.
Yes, use the tool. Use AI. Let it support you. i will do it.
But never forget: you are more than a tool. You are the story behind the sentence. Silence between notes. Work is totally important.
It’s not artificial. That’s true.
And it’s irreplaceable.
About Tony Collins
Tony Collins is a documentary filmmaker, educator and writer whose work explores creativity, caregiving and personal growth. He is the author of: Windows to the Sea. This is a moving collection of essays on love, loss and existence. Creative Scholarship – Guide for Educators and Artists is rethinking how creative work is valued. Tony writes to reflect on the important things and help others feel less lonely.
