By Lori Milhaven
August 26, 2026
In short: AI can plan, measure, and inform, but it can’t supply motivation, creativity, or human judgment. The same gap tends to show up in business and AI transformations. Technology can help you move forward, but it’s the people who decide where to go, why it matters, and whether to keep going when the path gets hard and what matters.
This weekend, I hit 10 miles on my NYC Marathon Training long run. Somewhere around mile 8, sweaty and questioning my life choices, I started thinking about AI. (This is what happens when you run long distances. Your brain runs out of better things to do.)
I have spent a lot of time immersing myself in AI, how it works, where it works, why it works, and beyond all the noise, who is actually behind it. Somewhere between mile 8 and full regret, one thing became very clear. AI can help in some areas, but it can’t make me want to keep running!
What AI Can Do
AI can help me plan my training. It can measure my progress, down to the split second, whether I want to know it or not. It can overwhelm me with information on aches, pains, and how to avoid turning my knee into a weather forecasting device. Ask anything about tendonitis, hydration, or why your left hip suddenly hates you at mile 6, and it will happily deliver a tidy, well-organized, and in most cases a valid answer.
What AI Cannot Do - Yet
Sadly, what AI cannot do is train for me. It cannot be in my head when I need mental strength, creativity, and motivation to get to the finish line. No chatbot has ever talked me off a curb at mile 8 and convinced me mile 9 was a good idea!
On the last two miles, my number one fan showed up with water, snacks, and encouragement. He did not run an algorithm to know exactly when I would need it. He just knew me. AI cannot do that either. It has many talents. Showing up with a water bottle, a snack, and a smile at exactly the right moment is not one of them.
So yes, the AI tools are amazing. For certain things. Not everything. The gap between those two categories is where most of the interesting conversations, and most of the expensive mistakes, seem to be happening.
Human in the Loop, Literally
What I have noticed is that everyone loves to say,”human in the loop.” It has become one of those phrases that gets repeated in every meeting until it stops meaning anything, right up there with “synergy” and “circle back.”
But the concept has never felt more real to me than it did on mile 9, staring down mile 10, needing something no model could give me. No prompt gets you up that last hill. No output tells my legs to keep going when my brain has already checked out. That part is still all up to me.
Same Questions, Every Conversation
- Is AI going to replace me?
- Are we going to see measurable impact from this investment.
- Are the right people in the right roles, with the right workflows behind them?
- Do we know who owns this, what we want AI to accomplish, and what results we are expecting?
Progress or Just Activity?
I recognize there is far more nuance here than a few post-run observations can capture. Everyone has a framework, a pilot program, an AI roadmap. Some of that work is genuinely moving the needle. Some of it can be activity mistaken for progress. The real challenge is knowing which is which before the investment is already spent.
Closing Thoughts
AI can be incredibly helpful. It can hand you the skillset you don’t have, so you can pair it with the one you do and make something great happen. It can plan, calculate, inform, and optimize.
What it still cannot do is want something badly enough to keep you moving when everything in you says stop. So, training continues. The miles keep adding up. My playlists are awesome, and my number one fan is on standby with water and a smile.
Lori Milhaven
Executive Vice President at International Institute for Learning (IIL)
Our deepest purpose is to enable growth and success of individuals, teams and organizations with long-lasting, high quality learning in a technology-driven world. Lori is honored to have been with IIL over 30 years, and to make it her mission to focus on continuous improvement, client driven success and to go above and beyond to meet expectations.
