The Human Story

October is National Book Month, which gives us a chance to celebrate something that feels increasingly important in an AI-powered world: the human story.

At a time when artificial intelligence can generate an essay in seconds, brainstorm a dozen book titles before your coffee gets cold and help anyone sound like a polished professional, what makes a story worth reading?

The answer may have less to do with the words themselves and more to do with the person behind them.

Carlsbad is fortunate to have a community that still makes space for books, authors and the simple act of gathering around a good story.

With the opening of the new Carlsbad Village Books, owner Tim Wrisley has created the kind of independent bookstore experience that reminds you why getting out from behind a screen still matters. It’s a place to browse, discover something unexpected and connect with the people who make up our local literary community.

As Tim puts it, “It’s so cool, we even have local legendary children’s author/illustrator of Stellaluna and Verdi, Janell Cannon stop in and sign books free for kids!”

There’s something particularly fitting about gathering around a table to hear an author talk about a book in this Business Journal  issue dedicated to AI.  How lucky are we as a community to have access to a place to meet local authors. This  kind of encounter is hard to replicate with an algorithm.

I think it’s great AI changes how we create, helping us research faster, organize ideas, edit our grammar, and take on the tasks it does exceptionally well.

But we have a  bigger opportunity. Let’s double down on what not to outsource: The lived experience. The weird idea that came from a childhood memory that only you lived through to tell. The story only you can tell. The opinion formed after years of doing the work. The voice, curiosity, humor and perspective that make something feel unmistakably flawed.

For authors, AI can be a tool. For businesses, it can be an incredible one. But the goal should be to let technology handle more of what technology does best, so we have more time and energy to double down on what we do best.

That may be the lesson books have been teaching us all along. Technology changes. Formats change. The way we discover and consume stories changes. But our desire to connect with another human being through a story remains.

So this National Book Month, support a local author. Visit an independent bookstore.  Attend an author event. Pick up a book written by someone in your community.

And as AI becomes an increasingly powerful part of how we work and create, remember to protect the part that can’t be automated:

Your story. Your neighbor’s story. Your favorite coffee shops story.