For an entire year, technology journalist Joanna Stern turned herself into the subject of an unusual experiment: allowing artificial intelligence to become part of almost every aspect of her life. From household chores and healthcare decisions to work tasks and personal relationships, she spent 2025 exploring what life looks like when AI moves from being a tool to becoming a constant companion.

The experiment became the foundation of her new book, I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, which examines the promises, risks and strange realities of living alongside increasingly capable machines. Throughout the year, Stern used AI to answer messages, suggest meals, help around the house, analyse medical scans, manage daily tasks and even simulate emotional companionship.

Stern entered the project with years of experience covering technology. After more than a decade as a personal technology columnist, she had built a reputation for hands-on product testing and creative reporting. Her work often pushed devices to their limits, but this experiment took things much further placing AI directly into the routines and relationships that shape everyday life.

What began as a professional investigation gradually became a personal transformation. By the end of the experiment, Stern had left her long-time journalism role, launched a new media venture, expanded her digital presence and embraced AI as an ongoing collaborator in her work. Rather than simply testing products, she found herself rethinking how technology could reshape careers, creativity and productivity.