AI Book Review: AI vs Superintelligence – The Last Human Advantage by Hannes Gerber

A reflective review of AI vs Superintelligence and why its ideas matter for leaders, educators and anyone worried about our AI future.

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I spend a large part of my life reading books on artificial intelligence and technology. It is how I try to stay ahead of the curve, test my own assumptions, and make sense of where these systems are taking us. Every so often, a book comes along that does more than feed the intellect; it unsettles, reassures, and invites deeper reflection. Hannes Gerber’s AI vs Superintelligence: The Last Human Advantage sits in that category. It is less a technical manual and more a guided conversation about what will remain uniquely human when machines outpace us in almost everything else – and why that question should matter to all of us.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

Gerber’s central claim is simple but provocative: the real contest is not between human intelligence and machine intelligence, but between remembering and forgetting what makes us human. Rather than cataloguing algorithms or predicting specific AI scenarios, he frames AI as the latest step in a long history of tools – from harnessing fire, through the industrial revolution, to the digital age. Each leap has brought gifts and unintended harms. AI, he argues, is merely the sharpest version of that double-edged sword.

The book is structured as a journey. Early chapters trace how AI has shifted from distant science fiction to an everyday presence that diagnoses disease, composes music, and anticipates our choices. From there, Gerber turns to the “last human advantage”: capacities such as imagination, empathy and meaning-making, and ultimately a deeper spiritual awareness. Throughout, he writes in accessible, lyrical prose that will be readable to non-technical audiences, including students and parents who are more worried about their children’s future than about model architectures.

INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS

One of the most compelling ideas in the book is the notion of AI as a mirror. For centuries, our tools have extended our muscles and our logic; now our creations begin to reflect back patterns of thought, preference and behaviour that we ourselves barely understand. When we train systems on our history, we also expose our prejudices, our fears and our obsessions. Gerber uses this metaphor to shift the conversation away from “Will AI become conscious?” towards “What does our use of AI reveal about us?”

The heart of his argument lies in three capacities he believes machines can never authentically possess: imagination, empathy and meaning-making. Imagination is our ability to see beyond the present, to create futures that do not yet exist. Empathy is our willingness to be moved by another’s experience, not just to recognise it. Meaning-making is the slow work of weaving events into a story that gives life purpose. AI can mimic the outputs of these capacities, but Gerber insists that simulation is not the same as experience, and that confusing the two risks hollowing out our humanity.

The book also leans strongly into spiritual language. Gerber speaks of “source”, stillness, and an underlying intelligence that he believes precedes any algorithm. This will resonate with readers who already sense a spiritual dimension to the AI debate, and he offers practical exercises – moments of silence, reflection, and attention – intended to help readers cultivate inner depth in a noisy, distracted world. For more sceptical readers, this may feel less like an argument and more like an invitation; the trade-off is that the book offers less in the way of concrete policy or governance proposals than many AI titles on the market.

IMPLICATIONS

What does all of this mean for leaders, educators and parents? First, Gerber’s framing challenges the obsession with speed and optimisation that dominates much of the AI conversation. If our only goal is efficiency, then machines will beat us every time. But if we define progress in terms of wisdom, compassion and the ability to live together well, the metrics change. Organisations deploying AI should be asking not only what they can automate, but what forms of judgement and care they must never outsource.

Secondly, the emphasis on imagination, empathy and meaning-making is particularly relevant for education. In South Africa and across Africa, we are wrestling with how to prepare children for an AI-saturated labour market. This book quietly argues that drilling learners in tasks that machines can do better is a dead end. Instead, schools and universities should focus on creative thinking, ethical reasoning, and the capacity to live with ambiguity – precisely the skills that keep us human in a world of superhuman computation.

Finally, for ordinary citizens, Gerber’s work is a reminder that our relationship with AI will not only be decided in parliaments or boardrooms. It will also be shaped in the daily choices we make: whether we allow screens to fragment our attention, whether we still take time for silence, and whether we nurture relationships rather than treating each other as data points. In that sense, the “last human advantage” is less a competitive edge and more a shared responsibility.

CLOSING TAKEAWAY

AI vs Superintelligence is not a book about beating the machines; it is a book about refusing to become machine-like ourselves. The author invites us to treat AI as a powerful but dangerous mirror, one that can show us both our brilliance and our blind spots. The real question, he suggests, is whether we will remember to cultivate the very qualities that no model can legitimately claim: the courage to imagine a different future, the willingness to feel with others, and the slow, patient work of turning life into a story that means something. If we lose those, no technical safeguard will save us. If we guard them, there is still hope that our children can grow up in a world where technology serves humanity, rather than the other way round.

Author Bio: Johan Steyn is a prominent AI thought leader, speaker, and author with a deep understanding of artificial intelligence’s impact on business and society. He is passionate about ethical AI development and its role in shaping a better future. Find out more about Johan’s work at https://www.aiforbusiness.net