The irreplaceable value of human experts

I love people who know something; not just anything, but really quite a lot about a topic that might seem rather boring at first glance. But the deeper it goes, the more interesting it becomes for me. In conversation, new insights unfold, connections to other topics emerge.

To me, experts aren’t grey, bloodless people with an isolated talent - most of them are enthusiastic, have a fine sense of humour and are curious. But only when they feel appreciated and respected. And since they probably can’t talk much about their favourite topic with friends and family in everyday life, because nobody really listens or engages, experts are happy when someone listens to them and asks deeper questions. I love exactly this role. And yes, I am a sucker for nerds!

I am a sucker for nerds - and so should you be!

As a journalist, I was allowed to delve into unfamiliar subject areas where I could look around with experts and dig deeper for a while. I was aware that I would never completely understand the topic, but that wasn’t my goal either.

I wanted to bring something up from the depths to the surface, and then connect the essence with current developments or other topics. Like this: What influence does topic A have on topic B (where topic B was preferably a topic that surprised and had little in common with topic A at first glance). This approach mirrors how I view AI-supported content creation - as a partnership that requires human intelligence to achieve the best results.

Even after my journalistic career, I was able to talk with leading experts about climate change, engineering risks, cybercrime or deep EU regulations. Always present: dangerous half-knowledge and an uneasy gut feeling when submitting the article.

The art of extracting expert knowledge

I find it exciting to draw something out in informal conversations with experts. However, this can only work if the experts are open enough to speak with a non-expert and don’t immediately respond with an arrogant twist of the mouth, but instead make the effort to bring complicated and complex topics to the point.

I’ve now written a few paragraphs about experts; about people who still know something and don’t have to look in Google or ChatGPT every five seconds to form their own opinion. And this is precisely where the dilemma lies: Even these experts seem to be on the brink because especially younger decision-makers are fully backing AI, and AI supposedly has far more expert knowledge than an individual human who has made themselves comfortable in a specialist department.

The generational knowledge gap

Right now, many of these knowledge bearers are retiring - and with them, their knowledge. Not so bad, many might think. AI can certainly make up for it. Or can it? I want to take a different position here, but at the same time propose a way to optimally combine human and machine knowledge.

To better grasp this optimal collaboration, I’ve dived deep into the content and technology over the past six months. At times, I felt like I would never resurface and simply drown in this constantly flowing AI knowledge pool.

Instead of just talking about it and perhaps drawing diagrams and boxes without really getting anywhere, I decided to conquer the entire chain of artificial intelligence for myself. It has always been important for me to generate knowledge from data, observations, research and ideas, which then led to articles or concepts.

I was never concerned with quantity, but always with quality, with the few and the essential. It was the same this time. But to get there, I first had to fight my way through the many and trivial.

The human-AI partnership

The real question isn’t whether AI can replace human experts - it’s how we can create a synergy between human expertise and artificial intelligence. I’ve explored this synergy in depth through my own AI projects, which consistently demonstrate how AI amplifies rather than replaces human capabilities.

Through my exploration (which I’ll detail in a follow-up article), I’ve come to understand that AI systems are incredibly powerful but also fundamentally limited in ways that human experts are not.

Human experts bring context, intuition, ethical judgment, and creative connections that AI simply cannot replicate. They understand not just what we know, but why we know it and how it connects to our human experience. Meanwhile, AI excels at processing vast amounts of information, identifying patterns, and generating outputs based on that processing.

The way forward

The true value emerges when we pair human expertise with AI capabilities. This isn’t about replacing experts with machines, but rather augmenting human knowledge with computational power. As I’ve discovered through my journey into AI systems, the most critical component isn’t the model or the data - it’s the human evaluation and oversight that ensures the AI remains useful, accurate, and aligned with our needs.

For those interested in the technical aspects of AI systems, my overview of current AI models and their capabilities provides context on the tools that complement human expertise.

In my next article, I’ll share the technical details of my exploration into artificial intelligence systems, particularly focusing on how I built my own solution from the ground up to truly understand its inner workings. I’ll explain the entire process from data collection to evaluation, with special emphasis on that final stage - where human expertise becomes absolutely crucial for ensuring that AI systems deliver consistent, high-quality results.

The future belongs neither to human experts alone nor to AI systems in isolation - it belongs to those who can masterfully combine both, leveraging the unique strengths of each while compensating for their respective limitations. And that’s precisely the path I’m now walking.