Civilisation Beta
Coming soon, Civilisation Beta is a grand exploration of how AI impacts society.
The AI revolution is not just another technological leap. It’s three historical turning points converging into one overwhelming wave: the expressive power of a new printing press, the cognitive force of a new steam engine for the mind, and the productive might of robotics finally completing the industrial age.
And it’s coming fast. Why? Because capitalists will capitalise. This relentless drive ensures the AI transformation isn’t a distant possibility, but an accelerating reality, forging a new, unstable, and uncharted era: Civilisation Beta.
The question is no longer if our world will fundamentally change, but how we will navigate it. Do we merely react to technological shifts, or do we consciously architect our future? This hinges not just on technical mastery, but on achieving profound Cultural Alignment—preparing our human systems for what’s to come.
In Civilisation Beta, Daniel provides an urgent and indispensable guide. Moving beyond hype, this book delivers a clear-eyed analysis of AI’s converging forces and its inevitable trajectory. More importantly, it champions the critical need for this Cultural Alignment: the intentional redesign of our societal norms, institutions, and values to ensure responsible and intelligent stewardship of this new epoch at a civilisational scale.
This is your roadmap to understanding the deep structures of the coming age and the proactive, human-centric principles—rooted in achieving Cultural Alignment—required to shape “Civilisation Beta” for the benefit of all. If you seek to grasp the true nature of the AI challenge and our collective power to forge a future by design, not by default, this visionary work is essential reading.
This is the only guide you need to how AI changes everything
Written for everyone to be able to pick up, the book starts in the current day with what this technology is and its challenges now, and takes you on a grand adventure to where it inevitably leads.
And it will be free
Why? Because the messages within are really critical and urgent. The world is about to enter a phase where labour, our human purpose for millennia, is about to be fundamentally changed.
We can either sleep walk into that and deal with the consequences, or we can intelligently design it and create a world that benefits and elevates us all. For the sake of my children, and for the betterment of those around me, I choose the latter.
To do that we need the Cultural Alignment this book defines and advocates for; addressing our human systems, and presenting an opportunity to realise a self-actualised populace. The rebalancing of the Social Contract is coming as we enter a new Enlightenment: let’s intentionally design what that looks like.
Get the eBook - for free
It is made available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence and is free to share and adapt under attribution and non-commercial terms.
Let’s make a better world together.
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Coming Q3 2025
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About the author
Daniel Ziekenoppasser-Powell is a visionary thought leader on how AI impacts society.
I’m the author of Civilisation Beta, a visionary exploration of how AI is reshaping business, society, and human ambition: blending systems thinking, futurism, and grounded insight to chart a path through our most pivotal transition yet.