Oct. 5, 2025

🌴279. Bots, Brains, and Booking Flights

The player is loading ...

Show Notes

Hey friends, happy Monday (or Sunday, depending on when you’re tuning in)! I’ve just wrapped up a three-hour hike — the first of three workouts today — part of my prep for Everest Base Camp next month. My performance coach Kyle is ramping things up: morning hike, midday jog, and a weighted vest walk tonight before I settle in for the Broncos’ grand final. It’s all about simulating what it’s like to move, rest, and then get moving again — just like trekking days in Nepal.

Over brunch yesterday with my friend Steph Clarke, we got talking about AI (as you do on a Saturday morning!). I’d just tried sending AI “agents” to hunt for the best flights to Europe — we’re planning an incredible convertible road trip with Petra and Don next year — but honestly, it was underwhelming. After an hour of “searching,” AI spat out a bland list of suggestions I could’ve found faster myself.

Steph made a great point: the internet was built to block bots, so sending an AI bot to search across it is like trying to swim upstream. It can do some things well, but when you need real integration — logging into accounts, comparing flights, applying points — the human touch still wins.

It got me thinking… we’ve been talking about AI’s potential for years now, but maybe it’s still not living up to the hype. The individual tools are brilliant — video creation, automation, slide decks — but they’re still siloed. What’s missing is integration. Right now, we’re still the bridge between tools, which ironically keeps us busy!

And while AI’s generating more content than ever, the result feels like… slop. There’s so much noise that the quality of conversation online has dropped. I’ve felt it on LinkedIn too — it used to feel alive and full of ideas, but lately it’s all listicles, templates, and recycled advice. I’m finding more energy in places like this podcast and my Work Fame Substack, where the conversations still feel real.

So today’s reflection: yes, AI is impressive, but it still needs us — our brains, our nuance, our curiosity — to make it meaningful.

Thanks for walking (and thinking) with me.

Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com

P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: