Young Adult · Personal Growth
Irreplaceable
Who You Are Becoming in a World of Algorithms
by May Lee
This is not a book about what’s wrong with young people. It’s an honest, warm guide to growing up human while AI changes everything around you.
Publishing 1 November 2026
About the book
Today’s teenagers are growing up with an algorithm that knows their mood better than their form teacher, group chats that run past midnight, and AI that can finish their homework in seconds. What they rarely get is someone willing to sit with them and talk honestly about what it all means. Drawing on twenty-five years of working with young people, and on life with her own two children, May Lee does exactly that.
Through the stories of twelve students — from Priya taking fourteen photos to hold onto a forty-second moment, to Daniel sitting alone with four hundred and twelve friends — Irreplaceable explores attention, social media, friendship, body image, performance pressure, identity and values. Each story comes back to one truth: the things that make you human are the things no machine can replace.
Written for readers aged 13 to 16, with passages that speak directly to parents, this is a book to read on your own or together.
Book details