You'll see the sentiment expressed in many of our AI Week articles, in other content at DMN, and even in AI-forward books like What To Do When Machines Do Everything. The human touch will still be needed. For marketing; for business in general. And that's correct. There's no doing without humans, not just for the immediate future, but possibly not at all. It's easy to agree with that, but in fact there's a very specific reason machines can't do what humans can do, and it's worth exploring what it is.

Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI) tracking ocean freight rates declined 2.6% this week, marking the fifth consecutive week of decreases.  The analyst in an update said that the trend indicates a significant shift in market dynamics following a volatile period induced by increased U.S. tariffs in April, and a subsequent China-U.S. tariff pause. Although the tariffs initially caused a lagged market reaction that saw rates climbing in May and surging into early June, this upward trajectory has not been sustained as rates have steadily dropped since mid-June. Trans-Pacific spot rates have also felt the impact, with prices from Shanghai to Los Angeles currently down by 4% to $2,817 per forty foot equivalent unit (FEU). Similarly, rates on the Shanghai to New York route have declined by 6%, to $4,539 per FEU.  Drewry said that despite these decreases, rates on both lanes remain higher than levels observed 10 weeks ago when tariff anxieties were initially escalating. Rates from Shanghai to Los Angeles are still up 4%, while those to New York have climbed by 24% compared to the figures on May 8.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.315; Month Ago: $3.805; Year Ago: $3.338. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $5.132; Month Ago: $5.357; Year Ago: $3.608.