The Collaborithmic Age
Creativity, Rights, and the Future of Human Expression in a Time of Intelligent Machines.
A new nonfiction title from E.R. Burgess, founder & CEO of Credtent, on how we build AI that embraces the whole of humanity, instead of consuming it.
The e-book and the Living Book are available now
The conflict between AI and creativity is an existential threat to both sides, and it's time for them to come together in an ethical and commercially safe fashion before it's too late.
A practical guide to bringing AI and human creativity together.
Artificial intelligence is not going to save everything. It is also not going to ruin everything.
What it is going to do, if we let it, is hollow out the creative economy that makes it valuable in the first place, while simultaneously offering the most powerful set of tools for human expression that has ever existed.
The choice between driving AI innovation and ensuring creative people are paid for their work is a false one. The Collaborithmic Age shows how we build AI that embraces the whole of humanity, instead of consuming it.
E.R. Burgess started as a journalist, has led technology at a creative agency, and has named and rebranded products for Fortune 500 companies. He is a novelist, and this is his second published book. His latest act: the first independent IP valuation for AI training, at Credtent, where the question of what human work is worth stopped being theoretical.
Read the opening of the book, no commitment.
The opening of the Introduction tells where this book started, what it is and is not about, and what these machines are. About 2,600 words. Take ten minutes and decide if the rest is for you.
E.R. Burgess
Founder and CEO of Credtent, a Public Benefit Corporation building the licensing infrastructure for ethical AI. A novelist, short story writer, game and gamification expert, and creative technologist.
He has spent three decades building technology that understands people: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire at Disney Interactive (where he wrote dialogue for Regis Philbin and was embedded with the Walt Disney Imagineering team), the industry-standard Earned Media Value Index, enterprise CRM and content curation systems, and, with eHarmony founding scientist Dr. Galen Buckwalter at psyML, brand and cultural personality instruments that brought human understanding to software.
MBA, Quantic. BA in Literature & Writing, UC Santa Cruz. Graduate screenwriting studies, UCLA Extension.
Three ways to read it
The e-book (EPUB and PDF) and the Living Book are available now and arrive by email with download links right after purchase. The paperback is a preorder and follows once a printed proof copy is approved. The paperback date is not set yet, and everyone who ordered a paperback will hear it by email as soon as it is. Paperback preorders are charged at purchase. Paperback orders stand and ship once a printed proof copy is approved. Anyone who would rather not wait can ask for a full refund by replying to their order confirmation email.
E-book
The complete book in EPUB and PDF, delivered by email right after purchase. Yours to keep, read anywhere.
Paperback
A printed book with a spine, from Credtent Press. Ships once a printed proof copy is approved.
Living Book
The book, and the years after it. Includes the Living Book Edition in EPUB and PDF, and an updated version of the book every quarter through 2027 and 2028, revised as the law, the technology, and the creative world change. In 2029, you will also receive the fully revised new edition of the book.
The e-book (EPUB and PDF) and the Living Book are available now. Every e-book and Living Book preorder has been delivered, and new orders arrive by email with download links right after purchase. The paperback is still a preorder and follows once a printed proof copy is approved. The paperback date is not set yet, and everyone who ordered a paperback will hear it by email as soon as it is. Paperback preorders are charged at purchase. Paperback orders stand and ship once a printed proof copy is approved. Anyone who would rather not wait can ask for a full refund by replying to their order confirmation email.
Three editions: paperback ($19.99), e-book ($9.99), and the Living Book ($49). The paperback and e-book prices are launch pricing, a promotion through 2026. Audiobook is planned for a later release.
Paperback $19.99 and e-book $9.99, both launch pricing through 2026, and the Living Book $49. The e-book (EPUB and PDF) and the Living Book are available now and arrive by email right after purchase. The paperback is a preorder, charged at purchase, and follows once a printed proof copy is approved.
Credtent Press, the in-house imprint of Credtent Incorporated. The book is self-published by E.R. Burgess under the Credtent Press imprint and sold direct through collaborithmic.com.
No. The Collaborithmic Age is an AI-assisted work, written and researched by E.R. Burgess, with AI tools used for research retrieval, organization, and editorial support. The AI-assisted badge appears on the cover, per Credtent's own Creative Origin disclosure standard. The book is not AI-composed; it is human-composed with transparent AI assistance.
Yes. Press, academic reviewers, and industry leaders can request a review copy. Email eric@credtent.com with your outlet or affiliation.
Hear when the paperback ships.
The e-book and the Living Book are available now. The paperback ships once a printed proof copy is approved. Preorder it now, or leave your email below and decide once the shipping date is set.