I think the crux of the author’s statement is in the definition of “what humans do”. You seem to be thinking that he means “read a bunch of prior work and come

I think the crux of the author’s statement is in the definition of “what humans do”. You seem to be thinking that he means “read a bunch of prior work and come up with something similar” where I think that the author meant something more like “navigate the emotional landscape and write something that evokes emotions in others”.