SOULWARE

Turrettini blends memoir and spiritual commentary in this guide to surviving our technological age.

Though we live in an era of constant communication, where personal updates are shared daily on social media and conversations across the globe can occur with the press of a button, the author suggests that we are paradoxically experiencing an age of disconnection in which we have traded “presence for performance, intuition for algorithms, [and] connection for optimization.” In this analysis of what it means to be human in a time of technological dominance, Turrettini argues that it’s time to “reactive the soulware that has lain dormant within you.” This soulware (“a kind of software of the soul”) eschews the logic of modern routines and the calculated decisions designed to maximize productivity, allowing us to reconnect with our “true self-presence.” The volume’s 40 chapters are divided into four parts, beginning with an exploration of how social media and sociopolitical instability help to breed disconnection. Part Two posits that the true restoration of one’s soulware is not an individual act but one that is built on meaningful connections with others. Building on the book’s more theoretical first half, sections three and four offer pragmatic tools and practices to help overcome barriers to finding one’s true self, which include a carefully crafted use of AI. Emphasizing that AI is not inherently evil, the author argues that “when humans value life, AI will reflect that back,” offering readers specific examples of how she has used AI to maintain a “dialogue with [her] Higher Self.” A former attorney, speaker, and bestselling author of multiple books that span short story collections to true crime, Turrettini is a skilled storyteller who blends insightful commentary on modern society with memoir-style vignettes and a spiritual sensibility that embraces an ecumenical brand of ancient wisdom without proselytization.

Thoughtful, practical guidance for maintaining one’s humanity in the age of AI.