Saturday Feeling: With a little help from AI

There’s no doubt that 2025 has been the year of AI. Artificial Intelligence has permeated every aspect of our lives, from dating to work, and it is impossible to cover culture and living without factoring in its influence. It crept into many of the stories we did in the past year even when we didn’t set out to do a story about AI—bots that help people sound wittier on dating apps; tech-based assistants that sort the closets of the rich; AI companions who offer friendship and then create dependence in teens; apps that help tell your fortune; even AI companies helping people “resurrect” their loved ones for a day.

On a more regular basis, AI helps us draft emails to sound “politer”, provides solutions to knotty workplace situations, turns the scraps in our fridge into edible meals, or plays stylist to pick an outfit for the day. It got us thinking about what AI does to everyday creativity when we depend on it for simple tasks like cooking and texting. Outsourcing decision-making can free us up, but it could also make us more dependent. Our stories are not just about how we use AI today but also about how we could use it better. It’s when the realm of possibility widens that people can do truly creative work. AI’s tremendous power expands those possibilities, but it needs people in the driver’s seat so that we understand it better and deploy it with responsibility.

Ideas about the form and future of creativity continued to inform our reporting this week. Uday Bhatia was at the International Film Festival of Kerala, which foregrounded love stories. Tarang Mohnot spent three days at the Aarey Music Festival in Mumbai and came away with new ideas about music festivals and events that connect visitors back to the earth. And on a lighter note, pick some Christmas goodies from our list of the best menus of the season.

Kabir’s teachings on the Ganga’s ghats

The ninth edition of the Mahindra Kabira Festival expands its exploration of the 15th-century mystic’s teachings. Varanasi’s ghats will come alive with music till 21 December as the three-day festival features a diverse mix of traditional and contemporary art forms. The highlights include reflections by educator and theologist Umesh Kabir, a qawwali by Rehmat-e-Nusrat, a Kumaon-based ensemble and a performance by Carnatic rock band Agam.

Luxury is now all about longevity

Most conversations about longevity science are jargon-heavy and rely on terms like biological ageing, biomarkers and full body scans, making the science seem out of almost everyone’s reach. A new wave of Indian retreats has woken to the potential of this niche but growing trend in wellness, writes Anushka Patodia. A number of luxury retreats are turning the focus on longevity and are customising programmes to people’s needs, without making science the sole focus of the stay.

Why India needs the right to disconnect

Last week, NCP MP Supriya Sule introduced the Right to Disconnect Bill in the Lok Sabha, which ignited a heated discussion online and in drawing rooms about when and how long employees should be online. In theory, it would not only bring humane policies into the workplace but also improve business outcomes. But logic doesn’t stand a chance before corporate dogma, which insists that workers must clock long hours to prove their worth, writes Somak Ghoshal.