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Choose an edition on AmazonA book by Micah Voraritskul
Human Is the New Vinyl
Why Human Creativity Still Wins
in the AI Revolution
AI isn’t evil. AI is easy. And easy has a way of winning—even when it shouldn’t.
For anyone deciding when to use AI and what they want to keep doing for themselves.
What the book is about
Why does it matter
who made it?
Streaming made music easy to find and play. Yet people still buy records. Why?
For some listeners, choosing a record, reading the sleeve, and lowering the needle are part of the pleasure. They want more than a song playing in the background.
AI raises a similar question about writing, art, and music. It can produce them quickly. But does that give us everything we want from them?
When a person makes something, their experience and choices are part of it. We may care about what they noticed, why they made it, or what it took to get it right.
This book asks what we want people to keep making as AI becomes part of daily life. It’s a question for the work you do, the things you buy, and the people you choose to support.
From readers
“Micah's human storytelling is powerful — tangible and authentic.”
President, Belltower Pictures & Shockoe Records
“Terrific! A clear, down-to-earth guide to understanding AI's impact on the world.”
Bestselling author · Harvard visiting scholar
Reviewed in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication · June 2026
Available now
Read it your way.
Choose a print book, an ebook, or the audiobook read by me.
Paperback, hardcover,
In your headphones
Hear it from the author.
The audiobook, read by Micah. Available on Audible.
Listen on AudibleThree free resources
Explore the book’s free resources.
Try the playlist, browse the Experience Guide, or look at how you use AI in your writing. All three are free.
01Listen
The playlist
Sinatra. Prince. Pink Floyd. Fleetwood Mac. Caruso. Every song and album mentioned in the book, gathered in one place.
Listen on Spotify02Experience
The Experience Guide
43 ways to enjoy work made by people: live music, galleries, workshops, food, and more. Choose one that interests you.
Explore the guide03Reflect
How did you use AI?
Ten questions to help you see which parts of a piece of writing came from you and which came from AI.
Take the self-assessment
About the author
Hello, I’m Micah.
I’m the founder of VerifiedHuman, a community with standards for human-made work. I also run Sharp Pencil, where I help businesses with marketing and decisions about AI.
For two decades, I’ve helped organizations explain what they do and why people should care.
I wrote this book because I don’t want us to stop valuing people’s work just because a machine can produce something faster.
A note on the book’s first year
A year after publication, I’m still thinking about the question that started this book: what do we lose when we stop caring who made something? If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear what you think.
VerifiedHuman
Show people how your work was made.
VerifiedHuman helps writers, artists, and other creators tell people how they made their work and how they used AI. VerifiedHuman is a C2PA Contributor Member. C2PA develops standards for recording where digital content came from and how it has changed.
Explore VerifiedHumanAlready read or listened?
Would you do me a huge favor and leave a review? Even a few sentences will do. It means the world to me—and helps another reader decide.