AI is the key to future creativity and productivity, believes Mathias Sundin. Together
with his AI editor he challenges traditional working methods and shows how technology can both
improve quality and speed up work – from books to business documents. Image: AI/SUPERREALISM

Just as we still play chess even though computers are better, we will continue to create and write. AI will just help us do it at a higher level.

Mathias Sundin sits at his desk, surrounded by books, notes and a computer. On the screen, just
next to his own words, his AI editor works in the background.

A helper who not only helps him become faster but also to think sharper and see flaws in his own work.
“I was convinced that my structure was flawless, but my AI editor pointed out weaknesses I had never even considered,” says Mathias, who is editor-in-chief of Warp News, a member of the government’s AI commission and a former member of parliament. He describes the process as an interaction where AI does not take over but instead improves every step of his writing. It knows him, his style, his visions – and together they create something greater. In his book The Centaur’s Advantage, Sundin addresses this very dynamic: AI is not a competitor to humans but an enhancement of our own abilities.

“It is in the combination of human intelligence and artificial intelligence that the magic occurs,” he notes. It is easy to think that AI would only increase the speed of work, but for Mathias it is just as much about quality.

– You don’t just get faster, you also get better. More creative, more precise. Part of the discussion about AI has been about its limitations, or as Mathias Sundin calls it: its tendency to be ”the world’s
top guy guessers”. He is aware of the risks, but also sees how they are decreasing as technology improves.
improves. – The biggest problem is errors, but they are getting fewer and fewer with each update. AI makes me better. At the same time, it is not about copying AI's work outright. For Mathias, the threshold for using AI is one of the biggest obstacles for many.

– Everyday life is probably the biggest problem. It is a new moment to use AI. At the beginning it takes time and it may not always give the best results. But once you get past that threshold, AI quickly becomes an invaluable help. Mathias believes in using AI as much as possible to understand its full potential.
potential. – Use, use, use it is how you understand what AI is good at and what it is not good at. Companies that do not embrace the technology risk, according to him, being ”brutally abandoned”.

– AI is no longer a niche for the technically savvy. Anyone who can send an email can also use AI. It's about daring to test and experiment. While some, like Max Tegmark, have warned of the dangers of AI, Mathias sees it in a completely different way.

– Last year the debate was miserable, with a lot of doomsday talk. But now it's starting to get better.
The focus is more on the real possibilities and problems of AI, instead of the invented ones.
When he is asked whether in the future we will be able to see the difference between books written
with or without AI, the answer will come quickly:
– Eventually no, but people won't stop writing. Just like we still play
chess even though computers are better we will continue to create and write. AI just helps us do it at a higher level.