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 arrive Wednesday, October 21, 2026
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 Introduction, no commitment.
The Introduction lays out the whole argument: why “collaborithmic” is a new word we need, what AI has already done to creative work, and what the book is (and isn't) arguing for. 2,900 words. Take 15 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, the PDF and the Living Book arrive on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and the paperback and the signed paperback follow once a printed proof copy is approved. The paperback date is not set yet, and everyone who ordered a paperback or a signed copy will hear it by email as soon as it is. Preorders are charged at purchase. Orders for the paperback and the signed paperback 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, delivered Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in EPUB and PDF. Yours to keep, read anywhere.
Paperback
A printed book with a spine, from Credtent Press. Ships once a printed proof copy is approved.
Signed by the author, $45. First 100 only.
Living Book
The book, and the years after it. Includes the e-book in EPUB and PDF and every quarterly update for the life of the book. First tending due when the leaves turn.
The e-book, the PDF and the Living Book arrive on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and the paperback and the signed paperback follow once a printed proof copy is approved. The paperback date is not set yet, and everyone who ordered a paperback or a signed copy will hear it by email as soon as it is. You can preorder any edition right now, directly from this page. Preorders are charged at purchase. Orders for the paperback and the signed paperback 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 ($24.99), e-book ($14.99), and the Living Book ($49). Audiobook is planned for a later release. Signed paperbacks ($45) are limited to the first 100 and shipped directly by the author.
Paperback $24.99, e-book $14.99, signed paperback $45 (first 100 only), and the Living Book $49. Preorders are charged at purchase. The e-book, the PDF and the Living Book arrive on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and the paperback and the signed paperback follow 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 an advance reader copy. Email eric@credtent.com with your outlet or affiliation.
Be one of the first 100.
The first 100 signed paperbacks come signed by Eric and ship directly from the author once a printed proof copy is approved. Preorder yours now, or leave your email below and decide closer to launch.