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Co-Existence: The Next Phase of AI
The follow-up to the bestselling Co-Intelligence: a guide to thriving at the jagged frontier where human and AI capabilities collide.
AI isn't coming—it's already here. A billion people now use it every week. AIs can reason, plan, persuade, create, and collaborate in ways that once seemed impossible. Non-human intelligence is now embedded in nearly everything humans do.
But AI capability isn't uniform. It's jagged—a landscape of sharp peaks where AI excels beyond human ability and deep valleys where it fails at tasks a child could master. This unevenness creates profound confusion: the same system that writes elegant code might fabricate a simple fact, or produce brilliant analysis while missing obvious context.
In his bestselling Co-Intelligence, Ethan Mollick—a Wharton professor and author of the widely read One Useful Thing newsletter—showed readers how to use AI productively. In this urgent sequel, he argues that the jagged frontier, for all its instability, is where the future will be decided. If AI were uniformly better or worse than humans, the outcome would be clear: total replacement or marginal utility. Instead, uneven capability creates volatile overlaps between human and machine strengths. Most work now spans peaks and valleys—and humans are still best equipped to navigate that terrain.
Clear, practical, and written with Mollick's signature wit, Co-Existence is the essential guide for anyone who needs to understand not just how to work with AI—but how to thrive at the frontier where human and machine intelligence meet.
AI isn't coming—it's already here. A billion people now use it every week. AIs can reason, plan, persuade, create, and collaborate in ways that once seemed impossible. Non-human intelligence is now embedded in nearly everything humans do.
But AI capability isn't uniform. It's jagged—a landscape of sharp peaks where AI excels beyond human ability and deep valleys where it fails at tasks a child could master. This unevenness creates profound confusion: the same system that writes elegant code might fabricate a simple fact, or produce brilliant analysis while missing obvious context.
In his bestselling Co-Intelligence, Ethan Mollick—a Wharton professor and author of the widely read One Useful Thing newsletter—showed readers how to use AI productively. In this urgent sequel, he argues that the jagged frontier, for all its instability, is where the future will be decided. If AI were uniformly better or worse than humans, the outcome would be clear: total replacement or marginal utility. Instead, uneven capability creates volatile overlaps between human and machine strengths. Most work now spans peaks and valleys—and humans are still best equipped to navigate that terrain.
Clear, practical, and written with Mollick's signature wit, Co-Existence is the essential guide for anyone who needs to understand not just how to work with AI—but how to thrive at the frontier where human and machine intelligence meet.
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Review of advance copy
Ethan Mollick does a fantastic job setting the stage on what AI is, how AI behaves, and when to use AI (if at all) while retaining our humanity before opening up to the "what's next" conversation and frankly the conversation I was most looking forward to. Mollick's insight and commentary on the disruption we are (and will continue) experiencing in the workforce, in education, in our day to day as well as the broad unknown of the future give such great nuggets to chew on. While not a "how to" book prepping us for what is to come (as Mollick makes it quite clear he does not know), I do think the cogitation after reading Co-Existence will inspire meaningful change.
I highly encourage EVERYONE to read this book and by everyone I mean those AI apprehensive/adverse, those unfamiliar with AI, those who are comfortable using the technology, those working in the AI space, leadership, educators, parents, EVERYONE.
If you are one of my colleagues following me on here, chances are high you either have heard me talking about this book leading up to release, today, or will be hearing about it soon.
I highly encourage EVERYONE to read this book and by everyone I mean those AI apprehensive/adverse, those unfamiliar with AI, those who are comfortable using the technology, those working in the AI space, leadership, educators, parents, EVERYONE.
If you are one of my colleagues following me on here, chances are high you either have heard me talking about this book leading up to release, today, or will be hearing about it soon.
October 21, 2026
Review for the audiobook which my library released on 10/20/2026 - thank you Libby and our tax dollars!
That said, yes I indeed finished this in about a day, a short and to the point book clocking in at 5 hours of listening time which was enough to get Mollick's point across without overstaying it's welcome, so for that I definitely applaud Ethan Mollick and his editor for not being overly verbose in responses and examples.
As a huge fan of Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, preaching about it as a go-to book for people interested in learning holistically about using AI whenever I am asked, I am happy to report that this follow up also succeeds in providing a mostly tool agnostic look at the AI landscape and how it is intersecting with our world. Given the rate of development, it is hard to predict with certainty, such as data center funding, startup valuations, AI bubbles popping, the rise of open weight models in the future to compete with the likes of the frontier models from Anthropic, Google, Open AI, and so on. Mollick again tackles the implications of these technologies rather than this being a "How To" guide, providing researched insight into the capabilities and limitations of these systems. Maybe the citations are listed in the physical or eBook but the audio describes the various studies and research Mollick and his team has ton to test the assertions, and being a follower of Mollick and given his position at UPenn, I do not doubt his claims. The research does lend weight to the conclusions and recommendations that this is not just an "AI Bro" on LinkedIn hyping up their startup but rather a researched investigation to the claims about the limitations and possibilities of working in this new AI world. The closing prediction chapters were of course also great, admitting he can't predict this either, but giving us a few scenarios of how this might all play out.
Final note that this disorganized mess of a review was definitely NOT written with AI or edited and refined by any tools. Any similarities to AI speech patterns are due to me interacting with AI for all of the other tasks in the Jagged Frontier as a Conjurer :)
That said, yes I indeed finished this in about a day, a short and to the point book clocking in at 5 hours of listening time which was enough to get Mollick's point across without overstaying it's welcome, so for that I definitely applaud Ethan Mollick and his editor for not being overly verbose in responses and examples.
As a huge fan of Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, preaching about it as a go-to book for people interested in learning holistically about using AI whenever I am asked, I am happy to report that this follow up also succeeds in providing a mostly tool agnostic look at the AI landscape and how it is intersecting with our world. Given the rate of development, it is hard to predict with certainty, such as data center funding, startup valuations, AI bubbles popping, the rise of open weight models in the future to compete with the likes of the frontier models from Anthropic, Google, Open AI, and so on. Mollick again tackles the implications of these technologies rather than this being a "How To" guide, providing researched insight into the capabilities and limitations of these systems. Maybe the citations are listed in the physical or eBook but the audio describes the various studies and research Mollick and his team has ton to test the assertions, and being a follower of Mollick and given his position at UPenn, I do not doubt his claims. The research does lend weight to the conclusions and recommendations that this is not just an "AI Bro" on LinkedIn hyping up their startup but rather a researched investigation to the claims about the limitations and possibilities of working in this new AI world. The closing prediction chapters were of course also great, admitting he can't predict this either, but giving us a few scenarios of how this might all play out.
Final note that this disorganized mess of a review was definitely NOT written with AI or edited and refined by any tools. Any similarities to AI speech patterns are due to me interacting with AI for all of the other tasks in the Jagged Frontier as a Conjurer :)
Want to Read
April 8, 2026Beyond The Jagged Frontier by Ethan Mollick is a forward looking exploration of how AI is reshaping the way we work, learn, and live. Mollick stands out for his balanced perspective, cutting through both hype and fear to focus on practical, real world applications of emerging technologies. The book offers valuable insights into how individuals and organizations can adapt to rapidly evolving AI tools while maintaining human creativity and judgment. What makes it compelling is its clarity and relevance, presenting complex ideas in an accessible way. Even ahead of its release, it promises to be an essential guide for anyone looking to understand and navigate the future of AI with confidence and intention.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Co-Existence meets the moment!
Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence helped me learn how to think about and work with AI. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to have a front row seat to Ethan’s incredibly sharp and thoughtful analysis of the unprecedented time we’re all living in. Co-Existence has come out at the perfect moment, and given me updated ways of thinking of how to live and work in a time when AI is everywhere.
For business leaders, Co-intelligence is signature Ethan: it’s a firm nudge not to wait this out. He has four questions in the book that should be brought to an upcoming leadership meeting or offsite: what useful work is no longer valuable, what impossible thing can you now do, what are you building that doesn’t work yet, and where are your leadership, lab, and crowd?
I can’t recommend this book enough (and Ethan’s substack, while I’m at it!!).
Enjoy friends.
Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence helped me learn how to think about and work with AI. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to have a front row seat to Ethan’s incredibly sharp and thoughtful analysis of the unprecedented time we’re all living in. Co-Existence has come out at the perfect moment, and given me updated ways of thinking of how to live and work in a time when AI is everywhere.
For business leaders, Co-intelligence is signature Ethan: it’s a firm nudge not to wait this out. He has four questions in the book that should be brought to an upcoming leadership meeting or offsite: what useful work is no longer valuable, what impossible thing can you now do, what are you building that doesn’t work yet, and where are your leadership, lab, and crowd?
I can’t recommend this book enough (and Ethan’s substack, while I’m at it!!).
Enjoy friends.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This is the must-read book on AI by the man who has been the most clear and far-sighted in how AI works and what its impact will be. He's a great writer. It's a fun read, but it's also an important read. He's laying out a real vision for how we human beings can and will beneficially coexist with AI. It's certainly not a naive book. He's well aware of the risks and addresses them in a smart, clear way. But he also cuts through the hype, the overly positive and overly terrifying, to guide us through this confusing age. Get it. Read it.
October 26, 2026
It wasn’t as good as his first book, either because there was nothing new about the capabilities and threats of these agentic AI systems that I haven’t read about from the news, or my understanding of AI implications has increased significantly for the past 3 months. Nonetheless, still very informative. I was hoping for more illustrative examples like in his first book though. Not as entertaining also, his jokes were getting old.
October 25, 2026
Disappointing
October 26, 2026
Only problem is that it came out 10/20 but is already out of date by no fault of the author
October 25, 2026
Required reading for all of humanity. Best précis of current state of play available in text, anywhere. (As of today 25/10/26, as the book states: things are not static…).
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews