---
title: What can AI not do
date: 2026-08-20T16:15:00+08:00
categories:
    - llms
---

Over the last few weeks, I asked 166 people:

> What’s something you did not ask AI last week, because it can’t do it?

There were 4 groups of responses.

**37% said "Reliability"**. AI tries but fails often enough. Like:

- Verify & return exact source of information.
- Generate accurate images.
- Completing PDF accessibility reliably according to the WCAG 2.2 standard.
- Converting 2D interior design to 3D view as vision models are not good keeping things as per scale.
- Create a user manual based on my codebase. I have asked this before and it has failed.

**27% spoke about "Reach"**. AI can't access tools, data, or do something.

- Book my tickets for a vacation.
- Update my to do list.
- Open my application at 5pm, after execution, Open GChat and Send Files…
- Read … API documentation that is not openly published on the internet.
- Run a Business Objects Report…

Interestingly, agents are steadily improving on both the reach (with more tools and permissions) _and_ reliability (with deterministic verification and better models).

**14% said "It can do everything"**

- I think it has all the answers
- I have used AI for all possible tasks
- Nothing in fact, but decide whether to take its answer or not later. Anyways try it to see what it says.

**12% argued "Presence"**. Things that need interpersonal or physical presence.

- Attend my meetings.
- Have a difficult conversation with a colleague.
- Talk to stakeholders for requirement gathering.
- Doctor's appointment.
- Play ... with me.
- Eating.

That's in order of decreasing frequency - but also increasing correctness, I think.

1. Reliability: [model intelligence](https://llm-stats.com/ai-trends) and [agent reliability](https://metr.org/time-horizons/) are consistently improving. I rarely worry about hallucinations.
2. Reach: [connectors](https://glama.ai/mcp/connectors) are growing and [agents can use cards](https://www.agentcard.sh/) to buy stuff. I expect reach is fading faster than we think.
3. It can do everything: Well, it can probably replace the brain, like machines can replace the body, but maybe there's more than that?
4. Presence: This feels like one of those things which, almost by definition, seems hard to delegate.

![](https://files.s-anand.net/images/2026-08-20-what-can-i-not-do.avif)