"Human Power is exactly the book needed to bring perspective and wisdom to current AI debates. While a paragon of technology criticism, the book also exemplifies hopeful vision. Hasselbalch balances philosophical and intensely practical perspectives, identifying love, defiance, emotion, and creativity as vital forces in human life that must be respected and served (rather than mastered) by machines. Her enthusiasm and genuine interest in the well-being of others shines through on every page." --Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law, Cornell Tech & Cornell Law School, USA
"In an age of AI hype, it's far too easy to sell humanity shortto see ourselves through an atrophied imagination that distorts our self-understanding and shortchanges our individual and collective potential. The antidote is Gry Hasselbach's bold, rigorous, and creatively interdisciplinary call to appreciate and cultivate seven fundamental traits at the heart of human power. Her profound existential and political book justifies the most urgent of demandsto resist seeing the depth of the human condition accurately reflected in seductively reductive technological imitations." --Evan Selinger, Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
The fundamental and existential question "What does it mean to be human?" is at the heart of Gry Hasselbalch's new book, Human Power. Since the beginning of human history, we have been able to gain and consolidate our human power through interaction with the nature and artefacts that surround us, at least until the last decade. Today, as AI continues to expand its reach into our society, while dramatically increasing productivity, efficiency and competitiveness, this virtuous circle of human power and artefacts could be reversed. Better to prevent it before it happens! Gry accompanies us on this journey, trusting in our human capacity. --Yuko Harayama, Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University, Japan
"In making the case for a human-centric contextualization of the power of new information technologies, Gry Hasselbalch deploys reflections from a vast range of sources, from popular culture to the history of science to newly relevant philosophical luminaries, especially Henri Bergson. Human Power offers a bold, informed and deeply human alternative to the seductive tyranny of the algorithm." --Jonathan Moreno, Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, USA
The author explores the intricacies, unpredictability and irreplaceability of seven traits - Creativity, Intuition, Feeling and Emotions, Life, Defiance, Love and Compassion, and Wisdom - that cant be emulated, echoed or surpassed even if AI has invaded every aspect of our existence. This book is a clarion call for the preservation and reinforcement of these traits of human power, constructing an alternative, theoretically and culturally rich technology politics with a humanistic face. --Renuka Singh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
"Grys new book is a must-read for anyone who is trying to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of AI. The book challenges us to look past the AI hype, and beyond narrow definitions of AI, to be more creative about what AI can do for humanity. She outlines a humanistic perspective on AI, advocating a nuanced understanding of AIs real potential, where AI is not designed to replace human power, but to enhance it." --Serge Belongie, Director and Professor, Pioneer Centre for AI and Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
"In times when the inclusion and unbounded expansion of AI systems are taken for granted, this book provides a forceful as well a nuanced approach to rethink where we are heading, as humanity becomes more embedded with these technologies. By focusing on human traits that are unique to us as a species, they are a powerful reminder of who we are. They also provide the necessary time and distance from techno-solutionist and dystopian approaches that are essential for critical thinking. This is why I am now using it with my university students on a digital ethics course for undergraduates." --Carolina Aguerre, Professor, Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU)
Hasselbalch argues that AI should be designed in such a way as to provide us with tools that may further human potential and power, not replace them. Her humanistic approach to technology allows her to explore human power on its own terms and to delve into human creativity as flowing from lived experiences, emotions, and feelings as well as from human struggle. One particularly successful narrative device are the questions scattered throughout the book. Can AI love or feel the environment, can a machine understand culture, and could AI ever empathize and identify with others? These examples speak to the emotional and/or philosophical side of human existence, but Hasselbach is also interested in the more societal angle. Do AI systems feel injustice, could it ever defy or rebel? The seven human traits referred to in the books subtitle are core human traits that could form the basis of what Hasselbalch calls the humanistic technology politics of the 21st century that we sorely need. Read this thought-provoking book and become wiser! --Helle Porsdam, Professor of History and Cultural Rights, UNESCO Chair in Cultural Rights, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Gry Hasselbalch's book Human Power is both a well-founded critique of a simplistic mindset of current technological developments and a constructive vision for a human-centred AI policy that will give Europe a new leading position in the race for the digital infrastructure of the future. Her extensive knowledge of the EU's work on data ethics and the development of responsible technological solutions that create good lives for both people and the environment within the framework of current legislation is a great strength of the book. Human Power not only provides a highly-documented contemporary diagnosis of the significance of technology for human creativity, but also points to a hopeful path for AI policy in the EU that keeps humans at the centre of technological development. The book is aimed at anyone who feels that we humans are capable of more than a data process can attribute to us. And we can hope that it will be read by politicians who need more knowledge about the connection between technology and politics and more confidence in the European approach to AI and the tech sector in general. --Agnete Braad, Copenhagen Review of Communication, April 2025 (translated from Danish)
