Things That AI Cannot Do – #8 in a series

March 5, 2026

In War and Peace, Tolstoy says that “Chance created the position; genius took advantage of it”.

That one line got me thinking a lot about life and the circumstances it throws our way.  Sometimes a challenging situation can lead to an unexpected outcome in life.  We find ourselves presented with a chance that we did not think was possible. What we thought of as a defeat brought us down to a place where we could start over in a different direction.  Our life experiences guide us to be better about our choices. I guess that is where the genius part comes in.   AI could never believe in such a thing as chance.  That would be too risky or we might add … too human.   

Can AI even believe in anything?   When everything that it ingests and subsequently spews is carefully and deliberately programmed by its designers, then where is the possibility of chance?  Imagine what our lives would be like if chance did not play a role in the paths that we ultimately choose.  Or we might add, the paths that were chosen for us. 

So much of our human lives depend upon chance.  Whether we ask for it or not, we will often end up as its recipient.    A series of unrelated events by people outside our sphere of control can lead us to places that we never thought a possibility.  It could be a job opportunity or the house and garden of our dreams.  We might meet a cherished friend or the love of our life at an unexpected time and place.   We wake up and make our plans for the day.  We walk confidently or maybe even fearfully towards our goal.  Yes, it is the workings of our own brand of genius that brings us to our intended place … if chance allows it.

In the end, the great author concludes that “the words chance and genius mean nothing actually existing, and so cannot be defined.”  After a thousand pages of thoughtful discussion, he was still unable to come to a definition that suited him.  I believe the same can be said today.  Chance and genius are ideas that are hard to define, and they certainly cannot be programmed by any system. They are not mere points of data that can be manipulated this way or that.  Genius lies in the heart of every human soul.  It waits for chance to come by to give the wings to fly.

What is genius anyways?  The word has its origin from the Latin verb “gignere” which means: to give birth to, to bear or to beget.  Over the years, its meaning has morphed into many different guises and we can see it in words such as generic, genus and genes.  Today, we often associate the word with exceptional intelligence; but it is possible for any one of us to take a chance on the unknown and give birth to an idea.  We are all exceptional due to genius and its counterpart chance.  We wouldn’t want to will our lives to the two of them, but it seems we don’t really have a say.  We may even struggle to define them as Tolstoy did, but that won’t stop them from popping into our heads and into our lives at any given moment.  We cannot control that thing called chance nor can we seek to contain the limits of genius.  We are not on a programmed path like AI, and for that we can thank God.

P.S.  Does AI ever thank God for anything?