A friend of mine recently bought a fancy new digital camera. It focuses faster than he can, calculates exposure more precisely, and even removes red-eye and graininess on its own. Yet, his pictures? Just… okay. His hardware and software are top-notch. The weak link? The wetware—his brain.

If you’re a technologist, you get this equation. As HAL calmly stated in 2001: A Space Odyssey, any problems must be “attributable to human error.” But with AI’s meteoric rise, that long-standing wisdom is shifting. Machine errors are everywhere, from misfiring chatbots to self-driving cars with an affinity for traffic cones.

In such a landscape, it’s crucial to remember where true intelligence comes from—people. It’s human creativity, not just hardware or software, that leads to groundbreaking innovation.

The Humane Acquisition: A Case Study in Wetware Value

Recently, HP announced its acquisition of Humane, an AI startup that raised nearly $250 million in VC funding, only to be acquired for less than half that. Whether the company’s AI “pin” was a success depends on your perspective:

• Pro: It was an ambitious attempt to move beyond smartphones, selling $9 million worth of devices in year one.
• Con: It didn’t do much a phone couldn’t do and returns started outnumbering sales—never a good sign.

So why did HP buy them? Not for: ✔️ The operating system – HP could build a better one. ✔️ The user base – Humane sold 10,000 units in a year, a number HP moves in an hour.

The real value? The people.

• Humane’s founders, Apple veterans with a track record for launching visionary products, are now part of HP’s innovation team—with Fortune 100 salaries and stock options.
• Their engineers? Many will join HP as well.
• The rest of the company? Not so lucky. Operations and customer service staff will be let go, and existing products will be bricked.

The Big Takeaway: Creators vs. Creations

Technology doesn’t spawn itself—at least not yet. The Humane Pin may have been a flop by traditional investor standards: 🚫 No existing demand 🚫 Questionable market fit 🚫 Poor execution 🚫 Unhappy customers

Yet, the brains behind it still made the deal worth eight figures. Why? Because real innovation doesn’t come from AI regurgitating past ideas—it comes from human ingenuity.

As AI floods the market, expect a lot of me-too products. The real breakthroughs? They’ll come from the same place they always have.

Maybe even the back of a cocktail napkin. (Do people still use those?)

Lew Brown, Senior Partner, is a consummate team builder, leader, deal maker, strategist and implementer in Consumer IoT, Consumer Technology and Consumer Goods.

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