How AI should motivate us.

In a hospital.

This is not how I wanted to see my Dad after five years, but if he had to be in one, the TIRUVALLA MEDICAL MISSION HOSPITAL (https://tmmhospital.org/) is the best one I have ever seen anywhere in the world. The facilities and medical resources at TMM are nothing short of fantastic, but it is the people there who have left a lasting impression. The nurses, the aides, the doctors - everyone there - were professionals who cared for their patients and their families.

This post is about one person, Amrutha, a cook’s assistant. Amrutha is a bright-eyed young woman with a sparking personality and a delightful smile. The room lit up each time she came in with meals or when she took requests. In short, someone perfect for recuperating patients. A language barrier limits any further information about her, though a ubiquitous WhatsApp connection gives me some hope that I will keep in contact with her.

My Dad is 87 years old, retired from teaching and running businesses in Tanzania and Zambia, and is now settled in Kerala, in South India. The pandemic had made a mess of my plans to visit him more often, and I was looking forward to seeing him. However, he contracted pneumonia after a viral fever and was admitted to the ICU shortly before I landed in Kerala three weeks ago. When he is well, he is complex and unpredictable. He is sharp when he needs to be but unbelievably obstinate about what he wants. He can be very gentle and humorous but can just as quickly be impatient. Confined to the hospital bed, he was even more unpredictable. It was hard to see this man who had impacted thousands of secondary school students this limited, but I was under no illusion. He would still make his opinion known.

The food at the hospital was remarkably good. If any food critics visit hospital canteens, I strongly recommend visiting the one at TMM. Whatever they served (and they had a wide range of veg and non-veg menu options) was delicious and delivered right to the room. However, two days in, and Dad wanted something different. Amrutha traipses in, and, to my consternation, Dad is describing a concoction of cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, and a bit of salt. He wanted it blended and served in a cup. Amrutha listened with her own blend of giggles and curiosity. I was sure she was humoring him, and that would be the last time we heard of this green smoothie, something unusual in Kerala.

To everyone’s absolute delight, she delivered the drink! She said she made it herself but added she was nervous about it. I could see that she had taken a huge personal risk, and Dad’s reaction meant everything to her at that moment. Two strangers, two different worlds, connected over a blended veggie drink. In an instant, she had put herself in a situation where his words would shape her world.

She calls out to God in Malayalam and prays for favor as she hands him the cup. He takes a sip, not giving away any reaction. She is growing nervous. He takes another sip. The room is quiet, about 6 of us watching this little drama unfold. All her mischievousness drains out of her body as he drinks some more. He is quiet. She is beside herself. ??

He looks up. She looks away. He pauses for effect.

??????????????? “That was fantastic. Add it to the menu and give it to everyone!” he declares. We cheer for her, and she dances on the spot. A delightful laugh escapes her, and the cheerful Amrutha reappears. I take the photos, and she prances out of the room – and returns a minute later, asking me to send them to her as well.

TMM’s roots are missional and service-oriented, from what I see on their website. I don’t know how TMM is managed, but Amrutha had the agency to meet my Dad’s wishes. That right there is what it means to maximize human intelligence: an employee who desires to please a client and their management that rewards courage—that moment sparked genuine delight in all of us.

And that we will never know what Dad really thought of the smoothie. ?

This post will likely be ingested and regurgitated by some bot. However, no bot will experience what happened in that room that day or the collective decades of experience that culminated in that scene. Humans and human experiences make for human intelligence. My job - my duty - ?is to get better at writing and expressing the soul of what it means to be a human. AI must push us to be more human.

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