Why AI Is a Catalyst for a New Kind of Human
I’m sure, like me, you’ve had countless conversations about artificial intelligence over the past few years. Some of my peers are the first early adopters and feel incredibly energized by AI, whilst others feel exceedingly cautious. And some folks are deeply disturbed and quietly unsettled, even if they are not saying so publicly.
Beneath the noise of productivity hacks and automation tools, there is a deeper question emerging: one that feels far more important than ‘which platform to use’ or ‘how to write better prompts.’
The real question is this:
What does it actually mean to remain fully human in an age where machines can simulate almost everything we do?
That question is at the heart of my recent live conversation with my longtime friend Derek Rydall about his powerful new book, A Whole New Human: Ten Ways We Must Evolve to Survive and Thrive in the AI Age. Derek has spent decades guiding leaders, creatives, executives, and spiritual seekers into deeper alignment with their true nature. What he is offering now feels especially timely… not because he is reacting to AI, but because he sees AI as a MIRROR reflecting something far more fundamental about us. And I completely agree with his premise.
The full replay is embedded below. Would you like to watch it?
One of the most striking insights Derek shared during our live conversation is that the greatest danger of AI is not that machines will REPLACE us. The deeper risk is that we will slowly become more like them.
We may begin outsourcing our thinking, our discernment, our creativity, and even our personal authority, until what remains is a highly optimized version of our conditioned self… our ‘not-self.’ And that conditioned self is precisely what can be automated.
Build The Ark, A Flood Is Coming…
Years ago, long before ChatGPT entered everyday conversation, Derek experienced what he describes as a clear inner directive during meditation. The message was simple and urgent: build the ark, a flood is coming. At the time, the full meaning was not yet obvious. Looking back now, he recognizes it as a call to prepare humanity for an unprecedented acceleration of artificial intelligence and automation.
Like me, Derek is definitely not anti-technology. In fact, he has always loved tech. What he loves more, however, is the HUMAN SPIRIT. And I’m right there with him.
His perspective is not theoretical. In his twenties, Derek had a near-death experience while trapped underwater in a coral reef. In that moment of surrender, he saw clearly that the self he had been trying so hard to fix and improve was largely a construction of his own mind. Beneath that constructed identity was something untouched and whole. That revelation eventually became the foundation of his teaching on the Law of Emergence, which suggests that:
just as an acorn contains the inherent pattern of the oak tree, we each carry a unique blueprint that does not need to be manufactured, only aligned with.
When I listened to Derek describing this, I heard echoes of the Human Design system. A body of knowledge I’ve been passionately studying, now in my sixth year. In Human Design, the “not-self” is the layers of conditioning that accumulate through family, culture, and collective pressure. And one of the most powerful aspects is that each of us has our own inner or personal AUTHORITY. AI can replicate conditioned patterns. It can aggregate collective data. It can simulate consensus. What AI cannot replicate is your unique life code, your embodied experience, your lived authority.
The Ten Evolutions We Must Embrace Now
In his brand new book, Derek leads us through what he calls the ten evolutions we must embrace if we are to thrive in the AI era. Rather than simply listing threats, he reframes each technological pressure as an INVITATION TO EVOLVE.
- AI Will Think for You: Think for Yourself
- Robots Will Replace You: Become Irreplaceable
- AI Progress Will Outpace You: Become a Visionary
- Deepfakes Will Deceive You: Live by Insight, Not Eyesight
- AI Will Expose You: Become Transparent
- AI Will Widen the Wealth Gap: Build an Abundance Mindset
- AI Will Commoditize You: Become the Artist of Your Life
- AI Will Weaponize Intimacy: Upgrade Your Heartware
- AI Will Increase Powerlessness: Reclaim Your Soul Power
- AI Will Divide Us: Build Community
Each of these evolutions points to something deeply human that cannot be mechanized. Discernment cannot be outsourced without cost. Vision requires imagination and courage. Transparency requires alignment between what we say and how we live. Community requires presence and relational intelligence.
In my own field of social media marketing since 2007, I see this clearly. AI can now generate posts, outlines, ad copy, headlines, and even entire campaigns… not to mention complete end-to-end workflows with emerging agentic AI. (Something Mark Zuckerberg is laser focused on with the recent acquisition of Manus AI, for example).
AI can analyze trends faster than any human team. But what it cannot do is carry LIVED experience, LIVED personal authority. AI cannot transmit the frequency of someone who has tested ideas in the real world, made mistakes, refined strategy, and embodied the lessons.
Domain Expertise is Your Greatest Competitive Moat
I have seen firsthand how AI tools can hallucinate or misinterpret nuanced systems, including complex layers of the Human Design System. Without embodied understanding, training, and lived experience, we risk amplifying inaccuracies at scale.
One of the most compelling reframes Derek offers is around the so-called “AI alignment problem.” In tech circles, this phrase refers to the challenge of ensuring that artificial intelligence systems remain aligned with human values. Derek suggests that the deeper alignment issue is within us. If we are fragmented, misaligned, or disconnected from our own inner authority, then any tool we build will magnify that fragmentation. If we are coherent and grounded, those same tools can amplify our wisdom.
I’m sure you’ve come across AI hallucination, right? Here’s the thing: HOW do you know when AI is making a mistake—especially in the deeper layers of a topic—if you don’t already have deep, domain expertise? (Yes, I manually constructed this sentence complete with em dashes. I really don’t like how I’ve become self-conscious about use of certain grammar and punctuation, feeling concerned the self-appointed ‘AI police’ will call me out. Ha!! I wrote about this recently in my Social Scoop Facebook group).
Derek acknowledges that AI hallucinations remain a real problem. As AI makes it incredibly easy for anyone to create books, music, and chatbots, people who lack a deep understanding of the underlying craft, art, or science won’t be able to tell if the AI is just generating “crap”.
So, years of training and experience are actually your greatest competitive moat right now.
- Your domain expertise acts as a lie detector: Having deep knowledge and experience in a specific topic is a massive advantage because it allows you to immediately know if the AI is “BSing you”.
- Your domain expertise provides education and foundational skills that still matter: Derek strongly cautioned against skipping education, workshops, or building a knowledge base. It still deeply matters to develop your true talent and abilities. Without real expertise, AI-generated content simply becomes commodified “white noise”.
- Your domain experitse allows you to scale true wisdom: When you truly know your craft and have done the foundational work, you can use AI to scale your real knowledge and make a much bigger impact from an aligned, integral place.
The Greatest Single Opportunity of Your Lifetime: Billions of People Need the REAL YOU
In our interview, Derek stated that as we navigate the brave new world of the AI age, there will literally be BILLIONS of people who are “scrambling and afraid”.
These individuals will be desperately asking fundamental life questions, such as what they should study, how to get a job and make a living, how to heal, how to help their children, and ultimately, “who am I?” and “what am I here for?”.
For those who wish to be an author, teacher, coach, healer, creator, artist, leader, or changemaker, Derek emphasizes that this crisis presents “the greatest single opportunity of your lifetime“. He encouraged people in these roles to step in, utilize the personal development work they have already done, and live their destiny by helping these billions of people become what humans are truly meant to be.
YESSSSS!!!! This excites me beyond measure! Perhaps you feel the same way? Maybe you, too, have been spending years (behind-the-scenes or publicly) passionately studying and refining your craft. Whether it’s an additional layer to your existing expertise, or a whole new direction, our time is coming. This is the year!! This is our year!!
Want to take the Free Life Alignment Test?
This is where his free Life Alignment Test becomes practical rather than philosophical. The assessment helps you identify areas of misalignment across core dimensions of life.
When we are out of alignment, we often compensate through overwork, distraction, or external validation. AI can easily become another layer of compensation if we are not careful. But when we are internally aligned, AI becomes a supportive extension rather than a substitute for agency.
The Year of the Closing Door
From a Human Design perspective, this conversation feels especially relevant as we are currently in ‘the Year of the Closing Door,’ as Gene Keys founder Richard Rudd (among others) has dubbed 2026. That’s because on February 15th, 2027 the entire background frequency of our planet is making a massive shift, literally centuries in the making. On that date, planet earth and all her inhabitants (really, our entire solar system) completes a 412-year cycle and being a new one.
We are moving into an era where individual sovereignty, emotional intelligence, spirit awareness, and community coherence are becoming increasingly important.
This explains all the old infrastructure that is crumbling around us. But the new IS emerging. The new WILL emerge. Do not allow yourself to get sucked into fear. It’s not you!! It’s the background frequency and the manipulation of the masses. Stand strong, my friend. Lean into who you were genetically designed to be and flourish in this lifetime, bringing ALL your genius gifts to the world.
Human Design and Building Authentic, Aligned Communities
Derek’s tenth evolution, Build Community, resonates deeply with what I know about successful groups. In my 2+ decades of leading successful communities online and offline, I have seen that thriving ecosystems are not built solely on content or charismatic leadership. They flourish when members connect meaningfully with one another.
Only ONE THING matters to predict with 93% accuracy whether a community succeeds or fails… and that is how often members connect or collaborate with EACH OTHER.
~ Gina Bianchini, CEO & Cofounder, Mighty Networks
In fact, here’s another leader I respect, Tom Bilyeu CEO of Impact Theory. He said in a newsletter that STOPPED me in my tracks summer last year:
…roughly 90% of content posted daily will be AI-generated. In that world, if people don’t care who you are, you’re done. Smart creators are optimizing for community.
- Views disappear when AI floods the market. Community stays loyal when everything else becomes noise.
- Content is becoming a commodity. Community is becoming the only moat.
~Tom Bilyeu, billion-dollar entrepreneur & CEO of Impact Theory (source – Facebook post). (You can also learn more about this topic from Tom on his YouTube video).
No algorithm can replicate genuine peer-to-peer resonance.
It’s easy to approach AI from a place of fear. It is also easy to approach it from blind enthusiasm. What I appreciate about my friend Derek Rydall’s message is that it invites a third path. He acknowledges the immense power of these technologies while insisting that we must deepen our humanity in equal measure. He reminds us that we are not here merely to optimize output. We are here to evolve in consciousness.
If there is one thread running throughout my entire conversation with Derek, it’s this:
- AI can replicate what is generic. It cannot replace what is authentic.
- AI can process vast amounts of knowledge. It cannot metabolize lived wisdom.
- AI can simulate connection. It cannot embody presence.
We are not being asked to COMPETE with machines. We are being asked to REMEMBER WHO WE ARE.
YES, YES, YES! A thousand amens to that.
The machines are rising, but SO ARE WE!!! The choice is not between human and technology. The choice is whether we allow technology to pull us further into manipulation, control and conditioning, or whether we use this moment as a catalyst to return to our unique design, our unique personal authority, and our creative sovereignty.
If this conversation is stirring something in you, I highly encourage you to explore Derek’s brand new book: A Whole New Human. It offers both philosophical depth and practical guidance for navigating this extraordinary time.
I also recommend taking Derek’s free Life Alignment Test to gain insight into where you may be out of alignment and where your next evolution is calling you forward.
We are living in remarkable times, with extraordinarily powerful tools and an acceleration that none of us can ignore. Yet beneath all of that movement and momentum, the most valuable asset has not changed. It is your awareness, your integrity, your lived wisdom, and the uniquely coded way you move through the world.
That is something no algorithm can replicate.
And perhaps, in the end, that is the very point.
P.S. And if delving into esoteric and spiritual topics interrelated with AI appeals to you, you might also enjoy this compelling conversation I recently devoured: “TWO EARTHS” Is 6–8 Years Away… And AI Is the Trigger (ADAMUS Channeling / Geoffrey Hoppe). It’s definitely not for everyone! But if you can keep an open mind and heart, you might feel cellularly impacted after watching this video! I certainly did, as I shared on Facebook.
Affiliate Disclosure: the link to take the Life Alignment Test is 100% free with zero obligation. It is an affiliate tracking link. Derek may follow up with additional opportunities and if you purchase from him, I may receive a commission. Also, the link to Mighty Networks is an affiliate tracking link. You can get a free trial of the platform; but if you sign up for a paid account using my link, I may receive commissions.
Content Authenticity Statement: I used a blend of Fathom AI-Notetaker, NotebookLM, and ChatGPT to generate and structure some of the content of this article, entirely based on my interview (YouTube link) with Derek Rydall. Then everything was manually edited by me, fingers on the keyboard, with many additional segments added in. You’re welcome to read my company’s Generative AI Policy. As inspired by our friends at the Marketing AI Institute with their Creative Commons Responsible AI Manifesto for Marketing and Business.
