ANDRORITHMS
The human qualities no algorithm should ever replace.
Human Agency. Consciousness. Embodiment. Spirituality. Qualia. The Opposite of Algorithms.
The Androrithms Manifesto
Androrithms – not just Algorithms!
I coined the term “Androrithms” – a blend of “Andro” (human) and “algorithms” – in my 2016 book Technology vs Humanity. It has since become one of the central themes in almost all of my keynotes, and a strong meme across the Internet.
Androrithms are the human-only traits that we all possess: empathy, compassion, intuition, imagination, and of course agency and consciousness. They also include the increasingly endangered hallmarks of being human: emotions, mystery, serendipity, suffering, pain and making mistakes. The androrithmic view rests on a definition of intelligence that goes beyond mere logic and data- Humans have at least eight distinct kinds of intelligence (emotional, social, kinesthetic…see Gardner), while algorithms have just a single one: logical, binary, fact-based ‘intellectual’ intelligence.
Androrithms are the messy, organic, conscious essence of being human. While machines and AI are brilliant at answers, humans are the masters of imagination, context, common sense, intuition and questions.
My argument for nurturing our Androrithms is simple: for every spectacular algorithmic breakthrough, we must equally strengthen and protect our androrithms. AI is rapidly reshaping how we relate to one another; it is the first technology (and science) that changes who we are, and who we might become. AI is no longer just a tool – it is an Agent, a new, digital entity. This is why we have to recognise, nurture and boost our human-only capabilities, and avoid reductionism and dehumanisation. so they are not flattened or even erased by ‘too much technology‘ as it becomes the permanent middleman for everything we do.
Computers are for answers, humans are for questions (Kevin Kelly). Computers are useless – they only give you answers (Pablo Picasso)
The roots of Androrithms lie in a conviction I hold deeply: the core of our humanity cannot be predicted, copied or optimised by any algorithm. Organisms are not algorithms. Yes, we are living through the Intelligence Revolution, and we now inhabit a digital world ruled by analytics, automation and data – but the real engines of progress remain stubbornly organic: intuition, imagination, values, ethics, consciousness, spirituality – and the courage to embrace mystery.
Androrithms are the counterweight to machine logic – a rebuttal with the traits only humans can have, the very things that come alive where efficiency and probability runs out.
Below: Some ‘Androrithms’ graphics typically used in Gerd’s presentations
Androrithms 2026 Gerd Leonhard: Curated by Gerd, Generated by NotebookLM
GERD’S MEMES
Twice Upon a Time: Gerd’s 2022 film (still timely)
AI is gearing up to become the world's OS. Not humans - machines. Watch this film on 2 potential futures.
Twice Upon a Time: The Good Future or the Bad Future, 2030?
Education Futures
Human-only work is our future. Learn like a human not like a machine!
Gerd.TV Videos on Education
Awesome Humans
Flip the VUCA! Velocity, Unorthodoxy, Co-Creation, Awesomeness
WATCH this keynote excerpt→
HECI
/ˈhɛk.i/ · acronym · pronounced "hecky"
Humanity, Ethics, Creativity, Imagination — the four human layers that sit on top of every technological foundation. The thing your stack is missing.
See the essay→
Hellven
/ˈhɛl.vən/ · noun · coined 2018
Exponential technological progress could be heaven or it could be hell - it all depends on what we do with the god-like powers we are now accumulating. We don't just need tools we also need TELOS.
Read Technology vs Humanity book preview→
Androrithms
/ˈan.droʊ.rɪð.əmz/ · noun, plural
The human-only qualities no algorithm will ever replace — creativity, empathy, intuition, imagination, meaning, moral judgement. The antidote to algorithms. Gerd's neologism from his book "Technology vs Humanity"
Visit the Androrithms website→
Campaigns & outposts
GERD’S QUOTES
“Ethics is knowing the difference between doing what you have the right (or the power) to do and what is the right thing to do”
“We often don’t need to slow down technology – we need to speed up responsibility”
“In the era of AI, its no longer about knowing more – it’s knowing what matters”
“Trust isn’t digital, happiness isn’t a program, and relationships aren’t code”
“Our biggest challenge right now is not (yet) that machines will take over, but that we become too much like them”
“The biggest danger is not yet that machines will take over, but that we come too much like them”
“Your mindset contains your future”
“If you work like a robot, a robot will take your job. Machines and algorithms will soon learn any routine that does not involve unique human capabilities”
“Just as peace is not merely the absence of war, progress is not merely the presence of technology.”
“Technology is not what we seek but how we seek. The tools should not become the purpose.”
“Embrace technology but don’t become it. Radical human augmentation is a downgrade, not an upgrade.”
“Efficiency should never become more important than humanity — happiness cannot be automated.”
