The Feeling Economy

How Artificial Intelligence Is Creating the Era of Empathy

By: Roland T. Rust, Ming-Hui Huang

Narrated by: Sara Sheckells

As machines are trained to "think", many tasks that previously required human intelligence are becoming automated through artificial intelligence. However, it is more difficult to automate emotional intelligence, and this is where the human worker's competitive advantage over machines currently lies. This book explores the impact of AI on everyday life, looking into workers' adaptation to these changes, the ways in which managers can change the nature of jobs in light of AI developments, and the potential for humans and AI to continue working together.

The book argues that AI is rapidly assuming a larger share of thinking tasks, leaving human intelligence to focus on feeling. The result is the "Feeling Economy", in which both employees and consumers emphasize feeling to an unprecedented extent, with thinking tasks largely delegated to AI. The book shows both theoretical and empirical evidence that this shift is well underway. Further, it explores the effect of the Feeling Economy on our everyday lives in the areas such as shopping, politics, and education. Specifically, it argues that in this new economy, through empathy and people skills, women may gain an unprecedented degree of power and influence.

©2021 Roland T. Rust and Ming-Hui Huang (P)2021 Gildan Media

Very interesting AI evolution

Being an academic researcher, I get to read these books for fun, the real work is the research (papers) behind them. I think the idea of a feeling economy is very applicable if you take into account that AI will soon (debatable on how soon) master the STEM jobs, which is what today's education and training marketplace are narrowly focused on. Huang and Rust did some extensive research and validate their posit that the more human we are, the more we will succeed, survive, engage, complement, and interact with AI. A significant amount of research pits the 'sky is falling' against the utopia of AI, but these authors really dive into where should society evolve to. Clearly, I need to get my EQ up and learn more from women.