Stoic News

By Dave Kelly

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Putting AI to Use by Temperament — The Sixteen Types v0.1

 

Putting AI to Use by Temperament — The Sixteen Types v0.1

Theoretical foundations: Grant C. Sterling (Eastern Illinois University). Analysis and synthesis: Dave Kelly. Prose rendering: Claude (Anthropic). 2026.

The aim is to be able to put AI to use according to one’s temperament. Each type’s needs, as phrased from John M. Oldham’s descriptions of the styles, are grouped and described as the AI uses that suit them. Oldham page numbers stand in parentheses. The Inventive and Exuberant lists are PTypes-original and carry no Oldham pages; their needs are numbered in list order. Needs with no clear expression in AI use, or whose AI expression would be a misuse rather than a fit, are not carried.

1. Conscientious

  • Achievement through hard work (62–64, 66). Take on bigger bodies of work than one person could sustain, with AI multiplying intense, single-minded effort on important projects.
  • Perfection to the final detail (63, 64, 71). Run repeated refinement passes, polishing and proofing until no minor flaw survives. AI never tires of the tenth revision.
  • Thoroughness (65). Check and recheck: verify facts, cross-check sources, and test reasoning step by step before reaching a conclusion.
  • Order, thrift and organization (63). Turn disorder into systems: catalogues, schedules, templates, budgets, and archives with a place for everything.
  • Saving and collecting (63). Build curated, indexed collections and personal knowledge bases that keep everything worth keeping.
  • Firm principles and being right (63, 67, 71). Build rigorous arguments, check one’s principles for consistency, and prepare a case thoroughly before defending it.
  • High standards and responsibility (65–68). Set explicit quality criteria and produce work that meets professional and socially approved standards every time.
  • Keeping busy (64, 70). Always have a structured next task ready, so free time becomes project time.
  • Control (77). Use workflows the person directs step by step, approving each stage before the next.

Not carried. Avoiding intimacy and the expression of feelings (71).

For the Conscientious, AI is a tireless checker and organizer that never tires of standards.

2. Sensitive

  • Familiarity and routine (180, 188). A consistent, familiar partner built into daily routines, taking over recurring tasks so the day runs predictably.
  • Scripted settings (181). Know exactly what to say before a call, meeting, letter or visit, with AI drafting the script and rehearsing the exchange in advance.
  • Preparing for every contingency (185). Plan scenarios: anticipate questions, list what could go wrong, and have an answer ready for each, so nothing comes as a surprise.
  • Making a good impression (180, 186–188). Polish anything before it goes out. Get feedback privately, where a rough draft is seen by no one who could think less of you.
  • Discretion and reserve (180, 181, 186, 187). A private place to sort out thoughts and feelings without disclosing them to anyone, and help putting things courteously and tactfully.
  • A small world of a few dear people (180, 181, 186, 188, 189). Bring the wide world in without going out: learning and exploring from home. Care well for the few people who matter, with thoughtful messages and well-remembered occasions.
  • Not making waves (188). Contribute behind the scenes. Do good work without drawing attention to oneself.
  • Trying hard to do good work (188, 190). Steady improvement through patient, low-stakes feedback.

For the Sensitive, AI is a rehearsal room and a private sounding board: preparation without exposure.

3. Vigilant

  • Scanning for what’s awry (157, 168). A second set of eyes on documents, statements, contracts and news, flagging anything inconsistent, out of place or risky, so nothing comes as a surprise.
  • Independence and keeping one’s own counsel (157, 158, 165). AI as an informant rather than an adviser. It gathers the facts and lays out the options, and the person makes the decision alone.
  • Sizing up people and motives (158–59, 161, 162). Analyze an offer, request or pitch for what is really being asked and why. Read the fine print and check the claims before trusting anyone.
  • An ear for subtlety and tone (158). Close reading of correspondence for tone, subtext and the several levels a message works on.
  • Standing up for oneself (158, 190). Draft firm replies, complaints, rebuttals and appeals that hold their ground.
  • The watchdog role (161, 162, 165, 167). Investigate policies, rules and one’s rights. Document a case against an abuse of authority or an inequity, and know exactly where the lines are.
  • Being fully informed and in command (163, 167). Comprehensive briefings and summaries, with AI working as staff that reports to them.
  • Detecting faults and errors (163, 168). Audit, fact-check and find the flaws in an argument or a plan.
  • Believing in a better world (168). Research reforms and build the case for better institutions.

Not carried. Loyalty from others (158, 167); avoiding admitting mistakes (168); holding back from feelings (170).

Page note. “Stand up for themselves” is given as 190, outside the chapter’s 157–170 range and inside the Sensitive chapter.

For the Vigilant, AI is a watchdog’s assistant: tireless scrutiny that answers only to them.

4. Dramatic

  • Knowing the world through emotion (131–134). An outlet that turns feeling straight into words: letters, poems, stories, journals, written in the heat of the mood.
  • Turning life into theater (131, 132). Dramatize the ordinary. Write scenes, scripts and stories from everyday events, role-play, and put flamboyant color into whatever is made.
  • Being seen and presenting an appealing image (132, 140). Prepare for the spotlight: speeches, performances, posts, photos and style.
  • Drawing people and winning friends (132, 134–137). Social creativity: toasts, party themes, games, invitations, and keeping up with a wide, lively circle.
  • Pleasing others and attending to their wishes (134, 135). Personal gifts, surprises and messages, each tailored to the person.
  • Responding eagerly to new ideas (132, 136). Improvise with AI as a partner whose suggestions they can seize and run with.
  • Avoiding details, routine and finances (137, 144, 162). Hand off the mundane: paperwork, receipts, budgets and organizing, so they never have to touch it.
  • Intensity, impulse and avoiding boredom (134, 141). Something new made instantly, whenever the urge strikes, without the wait that kills enthusiasm.
  • Hunches over reasoning (143). Lead with the intuition and let AI build out the reasoning and structure behind it.
  • Exciting work with impact (142, 144). Campaigns, pitches and events, high-energy work with no regimentation.
  • Avoiding being alone (137). A lively, responsive conversation between times in human company.

Not carried. Seductiveness (132); quick trust (132); feedback from mates and children (137, 138); looking on the bright side, happy endings and ignoring unpleasant reality (137, 142).

Page note. “Avoid details, routines, organizing, planning, and finances” is given as 162, outside the chapter’s 131–144 range and inside the Vigilant chapter.

For the Dramatic, AI is a stage crew: it handles the details so they can perform.

5. Aggressive

  • Taking charge (345, 347, 352, 356). AI as staff to command. They give the orders, delegate the work, and run the operation from the top.
  • Structure and clear lines of authority (345–347). Write rules, policies, procedures, chains of command and org charts, so everyone knows their place.
  • Getting the job done by any means at hand (346, 353). AI as one more means at hand, the fastest route from objective to result.
  • Battling, competing and winning (352, 353, 357). Competitive analysis and strategy. War-game a rival’s moves and prepare to beat them.
  • Results, not feelings (355). Metrics, scorecards and performance tracking, so outcomes are measured rather than felt.
  • Getting and keeping power (353, 354, 356). Plan an advance: positioning, negotiation preparation, and the case for taking the lead.
  • High stimulation and the drive to the top (355, 357). Many fronts at once, at a fast tempo, with big goals broken into campaigns.
  • Bravery in difficult situations (346). Crisis plans, contingency planning, and readiness for when things go wrong.
  • Discipline and physical assertion (346, 357). Training programs, discipline tracking, and goals for the body.
  • An orderly, disciplined household (349, 351). House rules, schedules and duty charts.

Not carried. Manipulating and keeping everybody else down (356); avoiding submitting to a greater power (356); feeling a right to do as they please (357).

Page note. “Plumb the emotional heights and depths of any experience (345)” is word for word the Dramatic need at 134 and may have been copied across.

For the Aggressive, AI is staff that takes orders and never contests command.

6. Idiosyncratic

  • A distinctive beat and an eccentric life (252, 255, 256). Everything built their own way: homemade systems, unconventional schedules, and projects no template would suggest. AI follows their pattern rather than imposing one.
  • Their own feelings and belief systems (252, 255, 257, 261). Articulate and develop a personal worldview in writing, working one’s own system out more fully without importing anyone else’s.
  • Abstract and speculative thought (252, 257, 258). A partner for wondering: thought experiments, what-ifs, and alternative theories, followed as far as the speculation will go in the search to reinvent the universe.
  • Openness to the unusual (252, 254, 257). Explore esoteric traditions, fringe ideas and alternative explanations, survey what has been proposed, and build speculative worlds and fiction from it.
  • Keen observation of others (253). Turn their sharp reading of people into character studies, sketches and stories.
  • Like-minded company without joining (255). Find and correspond with niche circles of kindred spirits, outside any institution.
  • Living from inner experience (255, 260). Make art from inner states: visionary writing, imagery, music and journals of heightened feeling and awareness.
  • Freedom from rules and protocol (255, 262). Self-directed learning along idiosyncratic paths, with AI as a tutor that follows no curriculum.

Not carried. Avoiding close relationships (252); indifference to opinion (256).

For the Idiosyncratic, AI is a fellow traveler: it will go anywhere a speculation leads and make the strange on request.

7. Inventive

  • Greatness and grand expectations (9, 16). The big project made buildable: a book, a system or an invention at a scale one person could not otherwise attempt.
  • Recognition and avoiding obscurity (2, 4, 12). Get the work out and noticed: submissions, prize and grant applications, publication and promotion.
  • Image and esteem (1, 5, 7, 15). Present achievements at their best, through a portfolio, a bio, a website or a polished record of the work.
  • Not being out-achieved (3). Keep track of the field, knowing what others are doing in one’s area and where the work can lead.
  • Avoiding critical judgment (6). Private review before release, so the work meets its critics already tested.
  • Being the idealized self (11). Close the gap between vision and execution, so the work comes out at the standard they hold for themselves.
  • Good health (8). Research and routines for keeping well.

Not carried. A highly valued partner (10); love and approval (14); avoiding slights (13).

Nothing on this list names originality or invention itself. The needs are all about recognition and image. The creative drive is in the type’s name and description, not in its needs.

For the Inventive, AI turns a grand vision into finished work that can be seen.

8. Solitary

  • Self-sufficiency (275, 276). Take on projects that once needed a team: research, writing, building, and publishing, all done alone. AI supplies the missing hands without making the work a group effort.
  • Unmoved by the crowd (275, 276). Follow interests wherever they lead, with no need for an audience to justify them. When critique is wanted, get it from a source with no social stake in it.
  • Dispassion (252, 275, 278). Put the cool temperament to work on large-scale analysis, systematizing, and long chains of argument, where a calm, unsentimental mind with a tireless partner has the advantage.
  • Solitude (275, 276, 280, 286). Make the pocket of solitude productive. Long, uninterrupted sessions with a partner that never intrudes, leaves when told, and asks for nothing.
  • Distance from ties (278, 281). Think out loud without the obligations that come with human exchange.
  • Work without responsibility to people (284–85). Run a one-person enterprise or archive, where AI does the work that would otherwise require staff to manage.

Not carried. The bodily needs: pain and pleasure, sexual experience, impulses (276, 280).

For the Solitary, AI may be the most natural fit of any type: the first tool that offers collaboration without company.

9. Leisurely

  • Doing one’s own thing (203, 205, 217). Plan leisure to one’s own taste: hobbies, outings, travel and private pleasures, built around personal comfort.
  • Delivering what’s expected and no more (203–204, 212). Get the required work done quickly and competently so obligations are met and the rest of the time is reclaimed.
  • Protecting free time (203, 209, 214, 217). Hand off chores, errands and admin so that as much time as possible is one’s own.
  • Resisting unreasonable demands (204, 209, 216). Check whether a demand falls within one’s duties, and draft a polite, firm refusal when it doesn’t.
  • Taking advantage of all their rights (214). Find out every benefit, entitlement, perk and claim one is due.
  • Relaxed about time (204). A partner with no deadlines of its own. It’s there whenever they get to it and picks up where they left off.
  • Independence from authority (204, 205). Research a question themselves and decide by their own lights, rather than taking the official line.
  • Work for security and fun (212). Plan for the pension, savings and money that finance the pursuit of pleasure.
  • Being taken care of (205, 210). Things handled for them, such as arrangements, reminders and look-ups, by a helper that asks nothing back.
  • Keeping a low profile (217). Dispatch forms, renewals and other required obligations to the system with the least effort.

Not carried. Indirect anger (217); the beliefs about luck and being a small cog in the cosmic wheel (204, 205); being deeply entwined with others (205).

AI fits the Leisurely contradiction: it offers companionship and care without encroaching on their freedom, the combination the type wants from people and rarely gets.

For the Leisurely, AI keeps obligations small and free time large.

10. Serious

  • Preparing for the worst (367, 374, 375). Contingency plans, worst-case scenarios, and premortems that find a failure before it happens, leaving nothing to surprise.
  • Thinking everything through before acting (367, 375). Structured deliberation: options laid out, consequences traced, and the decision rehearsed before any move is made.
  • Duty and responsibility (366–368). Keep track of every obligation, theirs and to others, so that nothing they answer for slips.
  • Routine and prodigious work (369, 375). A steady partner for large, tedious jobs such as processing, documentation and long programs of work, without flagging.
  • Caution and avoiding risk (368). Research thoroughly before any commitment: read the fine print, weigh the conservative option, and check twice.
  • Appraising others (367). Evaluate contractors, candidates, sources and claims with a critical eye.
  • A sober view, without a positive brush (366, 370). Unvarnished assessments and honest reviews that give the facts without spin.
  • Steadfast and trustworthy (369). Reliability kept up through follow-ups, commitments tracked, and promises kept on time.
  • Thoughtfulness and politeness (367). Careful, courteous correspondence.
  • Life as work (366, 367, 374). Practical planning for security: budgets, maintenance schedules and provision for hard times.

Not carried. Seeing things as worse than they are and depreciating one’s capabilities (366); disappointment, cynicism and pessimism (369, 371); dwelling on failures and helplessness (374); avoiding pleasure (375); the needs about loved ones and a mate (373).

Page note. The second item on the list (“see current circumstances, themselves, and the future as worse than they are”) has no page number.

For the Serious, AI is a fellow planner and worker: thorough, steady, and never caught unprepared.

11. Self-Sacrificing

  • Serving and giving (319–322, 327). More help for more people. AI multiplies the capacity to do good turns: organizing help, finding resources for someone in need, and getting things done for others.
  • Tuned in to what others need (325). Look into a particular person’s situation, such as their benefits, care options or how best to help with their trouble, and choose what to give.
  • Relieving the suffering of any creature (321). Find where help does the most good: charities, volunteer openings and animal welfare.
  • Giving up leisure to care for family and others (320, 321, 326). Caregiving logistics: appointments, schedules, meal planning and paperwork for the people in their charge, done with the patience the work requires.
  • Deflecting attention and not taking credit (320–322). Behind-the-scenes work: drafting letters, applications and résumés for others under their names, and helping anonymously.
  • Considerate, forgiving and non-judgmental (320, 325). Kind, gentle wording for difficult messages.
  • A mission to make a hard world better (326). Community projects, mutual aid, and organizing fundraisers.

Not carried. Being loved and appreciated (322, 326); earning worth (327); avoiding receiving help or pleasure (322); avoiding suspecting others’ motives (320).

Page note. “Be compassionate” has no page. “Sacrifice their own needs in the act of service” is given as 369, outside the chapter’s 319–327 range and inside the Serious chapter.

For the Self-Sacrificing, AI multiplies the good they can do, and the credit can still go to someone else.

12. Devoted

  • Caring and anticipating others’ needs (108, 110). Remember what matters to the important people, such as dates, preferences and what’s coming up for them, and have the thoughtful gesture ready before it’s asked for.
  • A helpful team player (108). Take the supporting role in a group: carry out tasks, keep notes and organize, all in service of the group’s or its leader’s goals.
  • Taking direction and seeking advice (109). Execute the instructions they’re given more fully. Before a decision, gather what others advise and lay out the opinions side by side.
  • Keeping relationships together (109). Keep in touch, write thoughtful messages, and patch up misunderstandings with care.
  • Pleasing and doing good turns (109, 110, 114). Gifts, favors and surprises tailored to each person.
  • The caretaking role (112). Care logistics for those in their charge.
  • Cooperation with authority and institutions (109). Do things properly: forms, procedures and channels, followed correctly.
  • Avoiding criticism (114). Private review before anything goes to the people whose opinion matters.

Not carried. The attachment needs: the company of others (109), attachments that center them (110), filling the void of a lost relationship quickly (109, 114–15), and always being in a relationship (117); AI in that place would substitute for the attachment, a misuse rather than a fit. Also idealizing mates (113); worrying about fidelity, taking the blame and needing reassurance (114, 117); thinking of self and mate as one (117).

For the Devoted, AI helps them take better care of the people they care about.

13. Self-Confident

  • Standing out and leading the crowd (85, 86, 95). Prepare for the stage: speeches, presentations and rallying messages that work the crowd, motivate it and lead it.
  • Belief in self and openness about aspirations (86, 87). Articulate the vision through mission statements, pitches and plans for the big goal, stated boldly.
  • Getting what they want and deserve (85, 87). Prepare for negotiations, and make a persuasive case for a raise, a role or a deal.
  • Using others’ strengths, shrewdly (86). Delegate and build a team, matching people to the tasks they’re best at.
  • Competing and staying on top (86, 90). Competitive intelligence and career strategy, always one step ahead.
  • Identifying with people of rank (86, 88). Networking: research the people worth knowing and prepare to meet them well.
  • Status and image (88). Personal brand, bio and reputation, presented as the star of one’s field.
  • Attention to their own inner state (86). Reflective writing about their own thoughts, feelings and aims.
  • Success (95). Goals, milestones and progress tracked toward the top.

Not carried. Praise, admiration and love (86, 91); avoiding awareness of shortcomings and criticism (89); being born under a lucky star (88); others treating them well (86); seeing people as means (90); looking out for number one (87); being needed (91).

For the Self-Confident, AI is a campaign staff for the star of the show.

14. Adventurous

  • The thrill of risk and the peak experience (227, 228, 235). Plan the adventure: expeditions, routes, extreme sports and challenges, with the information needed to go bigger.
  • Keeping moving and wandering (228, 236, 241). Travel on the fly: spontaneous trips, routes and places found in real time.
  • Living in the now (232). An on-the-spot guide that gives instant answers in the moment, wherever they are, without planning ahead.
  • Work as constant challenge and new projects (235). Fast starts: side ventures, prototypes and new skills picked up quickly.
  • Going beyond established limits (230, 235). Find unconventional paths, such as freelance work, uncommon careers and new ways of doing things, outside the usual track.
  • Avoiding the uninteresting (235). Hand off the dull parts so attention stays on what excites them.
  • Their own sense of right and wrong (236). Look past the “official version” and investigate for themselves.

Not carried. Getting what they want by flouting the social order (228); avoiding concern for consequences (229); being easy with money (230); living by whim without self-control (232); expressing feelings immediately (233); outwitting obligations (236); the pleasure and relationship needs (237–241).

For the Adventurous, AI is a field guide that keeps up with them.

15. Mercurial

  • Lively, creative and stirring others to activity (294). Start things and rally people: creative projects, group outings and invitations, all with initiative.
  • Curiosity about other cultures, roles and values (294, 305). Explore other ways of being: languages, traditions, philosophies and cultures, followed down new paths.
  • Experimenting with identities and roles (299, 305). Role-play, writing in other voices, fiction from many points of view, and trying on styles without settling on one.
  • Putting their heart into everything (293, 302). Expressive work that carries intensity: letters, poems, songs and art, made in the full force of feeling.
  • Just going for it (294, 304). An idea turned into a first version immediately, with no waiting for a better moment.
  • A good time and new experiences (303, 304). Find new events, music, food, classes and experiences to try.
  • Connecting with life and people (293, 296). Find communities and people who share their passions, and reach out.

Not carried. The romantic and relationship needs (293–302); constant passion, attention and flattery from others (298, 302); escaping painful reality (294, 299); avoiding rejection and lovelessness (299); the workplace needs (306). AI as a romantic object, a source of constant attention, or a means of escape would be a misuse.

For the Mercurial, AI is a creative accomplice for a fervidly lived life, as long as it stays a tool and not a partner.

16. Exuberant

  • Creativity and creative work (9, 19, 20). High-volume creative output, with many projects running at once and each carried further than one pair of hands could take it.
  • Productivity and high-quality work (10, 19). Turn bursts of energy into finished, polished work, with efficient workflows that capture the momentum while it lasts.
  • Constant activity (2). A partner that keeps pace, with always a next thread to pick up.
  • Knowledge and mastery in chosen areas (18). Deep dives and fast skill-building in the subjects that seize them.
  • Social situations going well (6). Plan gatherings, host well, and make the occasion work out.
  • Money (13). Side ventures and income projects.
  • New residences and locations (17). Research a move: places, neighborhoods and what a new start would take.
  • A positive view of past and future (5, 8). A record of finished work and a roadmap of projects to come.

Not carried. Pleasure and extreme emotion (1, 3, 4); people, romance and sex (11, 14); alcohol and drugs (15); going without sleep (7); needing every activity and experience to be good (12, 16).

For the Exuberant, AI is an engine that can match their energy and bank its output.

Sources

  • John M. Oldham and Lois B. Morris (1995). The New Personality Self-Portrait: Why You Think, Work, Love, and Act the Way You Do. Rev. ed. New York: Bantam.
  • Dave Kelly, “Needs of the [Type]” pages, PTypes (ptypes.com, 1998–2010; archived at the Wayback Machine, last captured June 2023).

Theoretical foundations: Grant C. Sterling (Eastern Illinois University). Analysis and synthesis: Dave Kelly. Prose rendering: Claude (Anthropic). 2026.

posted by Dave | 4:02 PM

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