Book Review: Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI (2024)
Volume 11, Issue 2 (2025), pp. 157–171
Pub. online: 31 December 2025
Type: Book Review
Open Access
Published
31 December 2025
31 December 2025
Abstract
This review assesses Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI (2024), which conceptualises artificial intelligence as a collaborative “co-intelligence” rather than a mere tool or autonomous agent. While recognising the book’s clarity, accessibility, and balanced treatment of AI’s potential and limitations, the review adopts a cautious, albeit critical, perspective in an effort to balance against Mollick’s overarching optimism. It foregrounds concerns related to safety, equity, sustainability, and risk. The book’s discussion of education is identified as a key strength, particularly its emphasis on AI literacy and human oversight. Considered through the lens of Professional Military Education (PME), Mollick’s advocacy for experimentation is shown to sit uneasily with risk-averse, high-stakes environments. Nonetheless, the review concludes that Co-Intelligence offers a timely, pragmatic, and valuable contribution to debates on human-AI interaction.
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