This is a book review of Human Again in the AI Age: Are you using AI or is AI using you? by J.D. MacPherson
Stars: ****
Cairnstone Press (2025)
Technology>AI
266 pages
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: In a world where algorithms shape thought and automation floods the creative field, Human Again is a field-tested playbook for staying awake, original, and alive in the age of machines. Part reflection, part practical guide, it invites readers to explore identity and inspiration in real time, learning to think with AI rather than be replaced by it.
Blending cultural insight, personal experience, and practical tools, Macpherson explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping creativity, work, and identity, and how to harness it without losing yourself.
You will learn how to:
- Ask sharper questions that create leverage, not noise
- Build a High Signal Question Engine to think deeper and faster
- Use the Socratic method and mindfulness to train deeper thinking
- Recognize the “qualia,” the unspeakable textures of human experience, that no algorithm can touch
- Protect your authenticity, taste, and voice while others sound the same
- Learn how to compound clarity and creativity
Whether you are a professional, a creator, or simply curious about what is next, Human Again shows how to use AI better than anyone around you while keeping what no algorithm can replicate: your judgment, conscience, and imagination.
Because finding identity and inspiration in the AI age begins with remembering what it means to be human.
Human Again in the AI Age
This book was very interesting. It is written by an everyday woman and gives her take on AI based on her experiences and research she has done. This isn’t a book on how AI works or anything but more how and why you can use it for so many things, and how we can keep the humanity in our dealings with AI.
There are lots of stories of how the author uses AI and her answer to the critics as well. I feel very similarly to this author and got new ideas for using AI. The end of each chapter includes a toolkit which gives suggested prompts or suggested ideas for using AI. There are a lot of chapters so there are a lot of ideas.
I also appreciate that the author includes tips for how to get AI to think deeper about more accurately about what it’s saying.
This book is an interesting take on AI from the regular person.
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