Human Again: In the AI Age

LoveReading Says

A narrative non-fiction that offers plenty of food for thought about the integration of AI in our lives. Author and journalist J.D. Macpherson shares their journey into using AI and integrating it into her life and work. From starting the initial query to improving prompts and having breakthroughs that allowed her to get even more from Chat GPT than a basic search engine response. Throughout the book the author reflects not only on how she utilises AI but also reflects on the bigger concerns some AI-sceptics have. Macpherson argues that AI tools are the technologically advanced equivalent to Google. Once the outlier, a replacement to trawling through books in the library, now such a widely used tool it’s a verb. As someone who is AI reticent, this is an analogy I used myself before reading this book in order to convince myself that I need to explore what AI has to offer. So this book is well placed for those looking to learn more as well as readers that are fully signed up users. Human Again offers plenty of food for thought, emphasizing that AI is a tool that doesn’t work in isolation. It’s the engine in the car that still needs you to drive it and give it a destination. There’s comparisons to other digital tools like spell check that help us tweak and reframe our work, but we never question whether the end result in that instance is ours. We give our information freely and without thinking on social media and across the web, but hesitate when it comes to putting it into Chat GPT. Macpherson raises clear and convincing questions about why we’re treating this new digital product or advancement so differently than any other. AI can offer a foundation to build upon and Human Again offers a pretty balanced view: cautioning against lazy usage (submitting the first thing that’s generated as a final draft) and proposing that it is a way to create space for more creativity in our lives. Human Again focuses on how we maintain our sense of self while using AI. It addresses many of the key concerns connected to gathering insight, maintaining an original voice and working past hallucinations to actionable and effective results throughout the book. Its focus on the user perspective means that this book in isolation may not convince the staunchest of opposition as it can't (and doesn't claim to) address weightier topics best answered by the companies - resource consumption and the ethics around people’s work being used to train LLMs and GenAI without consent. However, I think in the professional world, most people are using AI in some form. And if they aren’t, the impression is their competitors are, which creates a level of pressure to adopt it anyway. I think it’s this perspective that Human Again thrives. It has become important, if not essential, to learn more about AI, and I think Human Again offers compelling arguments in support. Not only that, Macpherson shares tips and step-by-step of thought processes, from incorporating AI into journalism to using it to learn more about personal projects like how to invest. Making this a practical and knowledgeable book that could allow you to discover the best ways to utilise AI in your own life.

Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador

LoveReading Ambassador

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