Artificial intelligence has quickly become the world’s most popular productivity tool. Companies are racing to automate and remove friction from everyday tasks. Much of that progress has been valuable, and there is little question that AI will continue changing how people work.
The conversation, however, has become narrow. Success is often measured by how many minutes software can save or how many tasks it can eliminate, even though productivity has never been the only measure of a meaningful life. The relationships people build, the decisions they make, and the way they respond to uncertainty often have a greater influence on their long-term success than another hour reclaimed from their calendar.
Lyle Maxson believes artificial intelligence has the potential to contribute to those parts of life as well. Rather than asking how AI could help people accomplish more, he became interested in whether it could help them better understand themselves.
“I think productivity is incredibly important,” he says, “but I also think we’ve become a little obsessed with optimizing our output while neglecting the person producing it.”
That distinction has shaped the vision behind ABOVE, the wearable AI company Maxson founded to help users recognize patterns in their lives. While the product relies on advances in artificial intelligence, the larger idea reaches beyond technology itself.
“For thousands of years, some of humanity’s greatest teachers have emphasized the same ideas: know yourself, become more present, cultivate compassion, build meaningful relationships, and live intentionally,” Maxson says. “Those aren’t new concepts, but historically they’ve been difficult to practice consistently because we simply don’t have an objective view of ourselves.”
He sees AI as a way to make reflection more tangible rather than replacing it altogether.
“For the first time, we have the ability to build technology that can help us recognize patterns across our lives that we would almost certainly miss on our own,” he says. “Not because it’s replacing introspection, but because it’s making reflection more accessible and grounded in reality.”
That perspective runs against much of today’s AI conversation, which tends to focus on efficiency gains. Maxson does not dismiss those benefits, but he sees them as only one part of a much larger opportunity.
“I don’t believe the most meaningful application of AI is making us answer emails faster or summarize meetings more efficiently,” he says. “Those are valuable capabilities, but they’re incremental improvements. The transformational opportunity is helping people better understand themselves.”
His argument becomes even more relevant as AI systems grow increasingly capable. Much of the public discussion has centered on what machines may eventually outperform humans at, from writing and coding to research and analysis. Maxson believes that framing overlooks the qualities technology cannot develop on a person’s behalf.
“You can’t automate courage,” he says. “You can’t automate compassion. You can’t automate wisdom, forgiveness, resilience, presence, or genuine connection with another person. Those qualities still require experience, reflection, and conscious effort.”
In his view, advances in artificial intelligence may actually increase the value of those qualities rather than diminish them.
“As intelligence becomes increasingly abundant, our humanity becomes increasingly scarce,” he says. “The people who thrive will be the ones who understand themselves, communicate well, build trust, navigate uncertainty, and create meaningful relationships.”
That philosophy also changes how he thinks about the skills future leaders will need. Technical competence will remain important, but emotional intelligence, adaptability, integrity, curiosity, and sound judgment may become even more valuable because they determine how people choose to apply increasingly powerful technologies.
“Technology has always amplified human intention,” Maxson says. “If we’re intentional, AI can amplify our creativity, our learning, and our ability to contribute to the world. If we’re unconscious, it can just as easily amplify distraction, division, and dependency.”
For Maxson, that is why human development and technological development cannot be treated as separate conversations.
“I think investing in human development is becoming just as important as investing in technological development,” he says. “The two have to evolve together.”
The race to build more capable AI models will continue for years to come, and many of those advances will reshape the way organizations operate. The more interesting question may be what those tools encourage people to become. If the next generation of artificial intelligence helps individuals understand themselves with greater honesty, communicate more thoughtfully, and build stronger relationships, its most important contribution may have little to do with productivity at all.
