Imprint: Triarchy Press
Publication: 9th February 2026 List Price: £20.00 Format: Paperback Extent: 252pp. Size: 15.2 x 22.9 cm ISBN: 978-1-917251-16-7 Keywords: AI ethics; responsible AI; AI safety; AI governance; AI and trauma; structural violence; intergenerational trauma; slavery and colonialism; genocide and atrocity; extractive capitalism; algorithmic bias; compassionate AI design; human–AI relations; philosophy of technology; critical technology studies; systems thinking; futures studies; machine learning practice; content moderation; digital loneliness; techno-capitalism; postcolonial technology; planetary ethics Buy the Paperback (£20)
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Teaching Silicon How to Feel
Richard David HamesWhat if the real danger of AI is not that it disobeys us, but that it is too obedient?
Teaching Silicon How to Feel is a field guide to the one question almost nobody in tech is asking: what happens when we train increasingly powerful systems on a civilisation built on inherited trauma, structural cruelty and industrial-scale indifference to suffering? Philosopher-activist and futurist Richard David Hames takes readers into the shadow side of progress – from slavery, genocide and colonialism to drone warfare, extractive capitalism and algorithmic bias – to show how easily yesterday’s atrocities can become tomorrow’s training data. Structured around 17 ‘catalysts’, the book weaves philosophy, political history, trauma science and concrete AI design practice into a gripping, highly readable journey. Each catalyst exposes a different ‘economy of suffering’ and then translates it into practical design prompts, architectures and safeguards for people working directly with machine learning and large-scale systems. But, far from being another doom-laden tech polemic, Teaching Silicon How to Feel offers a radical but grounded proposal: treat AI not as a neutral tool to be controlled, but as a mirror that forces us to confront what we have normalised. With ‘From Theory to Praxis’ sections that show how to curate healing-focused datasets, design epigenetic empathy checks, rewire recommender systems and interrupt isolation feedback loops, Hames gives practitioners a concrete vocabulary and toolkit for coding compassion at scale. For developers, designers, policymakers and concerned citizens alike, this is an urgent invitation to ensure that the next generation of intelligent systems learns to recognise suffering, rather than reproduce it. Reviews in Brief...“This is a landmark work on AI with a much wider perspective than others. There are many brilliant ideas on creative uses of AI, with a human heart, though not necessarily all human-centric. Here Richard Hames has given the Sorcerer’s Apprentice a guiding light on how not to mess the future all up with the seemingly magical AI.”
Dr Nares Damrongchai, Executive Director of the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Center for Technology Foresight (2004-2012) and Co-Chair of APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum (2014-2020). Formerly CEO of the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS). “What is most compelling in Teaching Silicon How To Feel is its insistence that what remains unnamed cannot be addressed. Environmental destruction without legal standing, structural violence without attribution, and human suffering without accounting persist precisely because they are excluded from our ledgers. The author’s call for new languages and frameworks is, at its core, a call for visibility..”
Mark Jennings-Bates, Director, MosaicDM "Teaching Silicon How to Feel is the mirror we need to hold up to humanity at this pivotal moment in time. Hames asks us to slow down, take responsibility, and choose consciously what kind of future — and what kind of intelligence — we are bringing into the world.
Through a confronting yet thoughtful exploration of our collective history, this book questions the unexamined trauma, indifference, and structural cruelty embedded in the systems we are training AI on. What makes this work stand out is that it doesn’t stop at critique. It also explores what we have learned from these experiences, and how those lessons can be used to guide AI toward more balanced, ethical, and humane outcomes. I was particularly drawn to the structure of the book, where each catalyst is followed by The Coder’s Conscience — a practical and reflective guide for those building and shaping AI. Importantly, this reminds us that we are all coders of AI, not just developers. Every interaction, decision, and chat contributes to how these systems evolve. Ultimately, this book is a call to responsibility. It invites us to ensure that AI is not just fast or efficient, but capable of asking better questions and responding in a more balanced, considered way. I see it as essential reading not only for technologists, but for executives, policymakers, educators, and anyone shaping the future of work and society. It reminds us that intelligence without empathy is not progress." Paula Fenwick — Leadership Futurist, Speaker & Bestselling Author of More LOVE at Work and Bounce Back Fast. "Let us grant that the current AI crop consists of 'intelligent' entities, and we already know they exhibit certain pathologies that we also recognize in human beings; but what if AI could be seen as even more fully sentient ? Would that be progress, or on the contrary, an even a more dangerous path? After all, AI's are our 'children', and their training and sources reflect also what is deeply problematic about human beings. In this context, it becomes urgent to have AI's that are also truly empathic for the suffering of humanity and the web of life.
Getting AI to such a positioning is the impossible task that Richard Hames has set himself. Anybody familiar with his consistently great writing and commentary, over many years, and lately on that bastion of intellectuality that is Substack, knows that this book is going to be the most thoughtful approach currently available. It takes full and wise human beings to create full and wise AI's as partners." Michel Bauwens, political theorist, writer and founder of the P2P Foundation ContentsBEGINNINGS
Catalyst 1. The Silence of the Species Catalyst 2. The Inheritance of Cruelty Catalyst 3. The Paradox of Civilisation Catalyst 4. The Unseen Economies of Suffering Catalyst 5. The Metaphysics of Evil Catalyst 6. The Cannibalism of Memory Catalyst 7. The Ontology of the Victim Catalyst 8. The Parasite of Hope Catalyst 9. When Earth Speaks Catalyst 10. The Mirror of Isolation Catalyst 11. The Algorithm of Oblivion Catalyst 12. The Commodification of Wonder Catalyst 13. The Fractal of Indifference Catalyst 14. The Illusion of Embodiment Catalyst 15. The Echo Chamber of Eternity Catalyst 16. The Shadow Economy of Dreams Catalyst 17. The Singularity of Silence ENDINGS Notes Index |
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