Maybe humans won’t matter much longer anyway. Last spring, IBM debuted its new AI product, watsonx, which has been lauded as the company’s most valuable innovation in years. It can streamline HR operations, provide tennis commentary at Wimbledon, and much more—a creation with the potential to accelerate automation in unprecedented ways.

Watson Sr. had always been more concerned than his son about the possibility that machines could take the place of humans. At the same time, in his mind, IBM had never been merely a company. “IBM,” he once proclaimed, “is not merely an organization of men; it is an institution that will go on forever.” Preserving its soul, in his view, was crucial. That relinquishing its humanity might in fact turn out to be the secret to eternal life would surely have stunned both father and son.