Written for the people who have to decide.

Artificial Intelligence has hit an inflection point. ChatGPT has popularized its use, and the implications are staggering. Machines are gradually but relentlessly encroaching on what was once believed to be the exclusive realm of tasks performed by humans. The displacement of jobs and consequent technical unemployment is inescapable. But those who can collaborate with AI will be highly rewarded.

Soulful describes the proliferation of AI and its broad implications for the world of work and society in easy-to-understand language. It explains how human-AI collaboration will increase productivity in education, healthcare, science, manufacturing, service, and many other areas. The book discusses the human condition, what motivates and sets us apart from robots, and how to use our intuition to collaborate with AI. It teaches how to identify and develop the uniquely human capabilities that will be highly valued in the future, such as empathy and lateral thinking.

It explains how increased productivity and a new creation-based production system could generate abundance, changing how we think about the economy and the meaning of work. Alongside abundance, technology’s unstoppable deflationary force may lower the cost of our basic needs (energy, food, communications, transport, education, housing, healthcare) so that most humans could enjoy a high-quality, low-cost standard of living. It also considers the difficulty of crossing the chasm between today’s realities of inequality, environmental degradation, and economic uncertainty and that new environment.

Soulful examines the threats and opportunities of advancing AI and instigates deep reflection, drawing on technology, neuroscience, social psychology, economics, philosophy, and theology. It concludes with a discussion of the soul, the uniquely human trait that is difficult to describe and impossible to impart to machines.