Many moons ago, I wrote a not very serious guide to using emoji to express sympathy. What an innocent time that was. In 2026, you need to wonder if the eulogy you’re hearing was written by artificial intelligence. Dan Brooks writes:

My friend recently attended a funeral, and midway through the eulogy, he became convinced that it had been written by AI…His sense was that he had just heard a computer save a man from thinking about his dead friend.

Writing demonstrates care. Don’t let A.I. take that away from you.

Brooks goes on to say:

I don’t want [friendships] to become more efficient for the same reason I don’t want a robot that pets the dog for me.

I think the idea of a robot that pets the dog for me is a powerful one, and it encompasses far, far too much of how folks are using A.I.