Funded by Microsoft AI, The Humanist Review of AI is a new title confronting a world in which we coexist with artificial intelligence, aiming to shed light on debates surrounding an industry that often feels out of our control. In a note to readers, publisher of the Review and CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, positions the publication as a space in which conversations can converge and become liberated from inter-industry echo chambers. A sceptic might assume the entire project is a one-sided puff for the technology, but with copy editing from the Delayed Gratification team, the Review delivers a more nuanced and eclectic perspective on this evolving technology.

This first edition—themed ‘People and Technology’—brings together a range of contributors, from philosophers and artists to investors and technologists, and asks: ‘In a world we now share with intelligent machines, what does it mean to create, to work, to love, to struggle, to matter?’

Divided into three movements—systems, stakes, and soul—readers can expect a variety of essays and perspectives. Including, an analysis from psychologist Alison Gopnik drawing on folkloric fables to illustrate how children can explore and develop in ways currently inimitable to AI; philosopher Elizabeth Anderson muses on the work free world hypothesised by AI optimists and argues that in reality our subsequent loss of purpose might not be so compelling; Alain de Botton positions AI as an unlikely saviour in matters of the heart, rather than a force driving social isolation; and musician Nick Cave shares a selection of correspondence from his online advice forum ‘The Red Hand Files’ featuring a note on AI songwriting generators.