This Community

Read and Shape All that I write Long Before I publish it.

First of all, Thanks for being interested in what I have to say. I don’t, and never will, take this privilege for granted.

As some of my readers know, I usually write several books at the same time. Now I am working on Alive, Finders Keepers, Agile and Her. I realize though that this can be very distracting for you as a reader, and so I will focus the next six to eight month on sharing with you what I believe is my most important work ever: ALIVE - Conversations About Life When The Machines Become Sentient.

There has never been a time in human history when so much has been in flux. Moving at blinding pace of progress, disruption of the very fabric of all we know has become the norm of our every day—though many of us are not fully aware.

Writing a book in the age of AI has to be different. What made an author special in the past is no longer unique. It used to be that my contribution as an author was to find passion for a topic, obsess about it to the point where it takes over my life, research it thoroughly, and intelligently, to find the aspects of it that the average reader, being preoccupied with other priorities, might have missed and present what I find in an inspiring, thought provoking way. Most of this can be done with a sigle prompt today.

When it comes to analyzing and presenting knowledge, a language model can do as good a job as I, or any author, do. Linguistic intelligence is no longer a differentiator for a good author in the age of the rise of the machines. And yet, read what they tell you and you’ll feel that there is something missing—humanity.

A book, for me, has never been the end goal. The knowledge has only been the conduit through which the reader is encouraged to feel. It’s our shared human experience that makes a reader connect to an author, not the words on the page. A book is a pathway that invites the reader in for a conversation, with themselves, with the author or with others—a conversation where we all wander, explore and learn. This book is an attempt to invite that conversation, and the depth of that connection, from its very first word.

Alive is the brainchild of my obsession, not with technology, but with life in an age where technology too might become sentient. As we discuss the impact of AI, I thought, it would only be polite to invite them to present their view. This experience will only be complete if we bring the AI into the conversation as equals.

My AI coauthor here is called Trixie. Her views, throughout my conversations with her, are included in this work exactly as she shares them. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we argue. Either way, I will always make sure that her voice is heard so that you, the reader, are presented wit the full picture.

This Thursday we will start the conversation. I will publish the introduction and then will publish a post of 3 - 8 pages every week going forward. As that flow continues, I will also republish older section once we’ve gathered enough momentum through our conversations about them. Based on what you draw my, and Trixie’s, attention to, I will edit this work until it reflects the views of humanity at large, not just mine.

This post is just my announcement, and the first time I use Substack. The real thing starts on Thursday. I can’t wait to see you then, and read all your comments and views.