Superagency

What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future

By: Reid Hoffman, Greg Beato

Narrated by: Scott Wallace

Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller.

Tech visionary and co-founder of Manas AI Reid Hoffman shares his unique insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future, making the case for its potential to unlock a world of possibilities.

"An essential companion."—Fei-Fei Li

"An important read."—Bill Gates

"Brilliant mind. Compassionate heart. Bold ideas…Read this book!”—Van Jones

"Refreshingly optimistic and welcome perspective."—Ariana Huffington

"A fascinating and insightful book."—Yuval Noah Harari

As taught at UPenn's Wharton and Stanford.

Superagency offers a roadmap for using AI inclusively and adaptively to improve our lives and create positive change. While acknowledging challenges like disinformation and potential job changes, the book focuses on AI’s immense potential to increase individual agency and create better outcomes for society as a whole.

Imagine AI tutors personalizing education for each child, researchers rapidly discovering cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and AI advisors empowering people to navigate complex systems and achieve their goals. Hoffman and co-author, tech and culture writer Greg Beato envision a world where these possibilities, and many more, become a reality.

Superagency challenges conventional fears, inviting us to view the future through a lens of opportunity, rather than fear. It’s a call to action—to embrace AI with excitement and actively shape a world where human ingenuity and the power of AI combine to create something extraordinary.

Entrepreneur Reid Hoffman is a co-founder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI. He is also host of the podcasts Possible and Masters of Scale.

©2025 Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

lighthearted or naive view of what could go right

lighthearted or naive view of what could go right. book is overly focused on what could go right in the long run. underestimates or overlooks the short term harm it causes. using what if competing nations is not an answer to anyone is not a billionaire.

Reid & Greg See a positive future for AI & Humans

Read Hoffman and Greg Beato do a great job of taking us through the the history of the development of artificial intelligence, while they also revisit the sociological impacts of technological advancements . At times the book is very academic, and I learned a ton. However, there is a philosophical aspect to Superagency that has a very positive drum beat for what AI will bring to the world moving forward. My take away?.... Every major technological advancement has created more jobs and more opportunities for human beings. with some discipline, AI should be no different. (No AI was used to write this review.. and it shows)

mostly tech bro cope

there were a few interesting takes and ideas that were drowned out by the screaming of “don’t regulate me bro”

An Advertisement for AI

A smooth talking pretentious voiced AI brings hours of corporate AI advertising directly to your cell phone like magic!

This audiobook is soul crushing and reads like a consolidation of billionaire propaganda promoting the use of their proprietary algorithms.

I regret every hour I endured until I finished this book.

Neoliberal propaganda

I'm very optimistic about AI and I agree with many of the points made in this book regarding the technology's potential, but on the whole this is just a very transparent attempt to reinforce the neoliberal mythology and drive investment. The author assures us that, although he is in a place to benefit from interest in the tech, investment, and deregulation, that is not his intention in writing the book.

He then spends the majority of the book contradicting this by very clearly trying to pull you over to a way of thinking that would benefit him. He also accuses anyone who raises valid concerns about AI as "problemist".

If you're interested in the technology and want to explore all of its possibilities, philosophical implications, problem points, and benefits in a complete and balanced way, you're better off reading a mixture of different authors like Tegmark, Kurzweil, Bostrom, etc. and considering all factors together.

If you want a biased, largely one-sided take from the point of view of a board member of Microsoft who stands to benefit from you reading and agreeing with this book (whether he admits it or not), then this is a good listen.