Finding Joy in the Age of AI

Nimrod Vromen, founder and CEO of Ark Empowerment, recently authored “Prompting Happiness,” an exploration of human contentment in the era of AI. In this conversation, Vromen shares his perspectives on the intersection of technology and well-being, offering insights into how AI might reshape our pursuit of happiness.

The Genesis of “Prompting Happiness”

For Vromen, the journey toward writing “Prompting Happiness” emerged from a deeply personal place. At 42, living in Israel during challenging times and navigating what he describes as a three-year “midlife crisis,” he found himself at a crucial intersection of introspection and technological revolution.

“I was experiencing this introspective period trying to come to some conclusions about how to be consistently content or happy as the AI revolution was being rolled out,” Vromen explains. He draws a parallel to other transformative moments in history, comparing it to living in 1999 as the internet emerged or 1945 when the atomic age began—moments when humanity had to reconcile its future with groundbreaking technological change.

The book itself represents an attempt to bridge past wisdom with future possibilities, incorporating AI not just as a topic but as a collaborator—parts of the book were co-written with GPT-4, resulting in what Vromen describes as “hilarious and sometimes a little bit scary” content.

AI’s Double-Edged Impact on Human Happiness

Vromen’s insights into AI’s relationship with happiness reveal some surprising perspectives. He suggests that AI’s most significant contribution to happiness might be indirect—through what he calls “mining time back to us.” This recovered time can be redirected toward activities that genuinely enhance our subjective well-being: family, community, friends, and experiences that make life meaningful.

However, what’s most fascinating is Vromen’s philosophical take on human nature and AI. “We are in fact much like AI,” he posits. “We’re much like LLMs.” This understanding leads to his most compelling insight: just as we’ve learned to craft detailed prompts for AI to produce better outputs, we should apply the same principle to our pursuit of happiness.

He illustrates this with practical examples: “If people say, ‘I should be more mindful so that I’m less stressed,’ that’s actually not a very elaborate prompt. That’s almost like writing ‘write me a song’ to an AI.” Instead, he advocates for more detailed, contextual approaches to personal development and well-being. Just as an AI needs specific parameters and context to write a meaningful song, humans need more elaborate “self-prompts” to achieve their goals.

Vromen demonstrates this principle with a familiar example of weight loss: “We prompt ourselves laconically like, ‘I’ll just do intermittent fasting. I won’t eat for 16 hours a day.'” But this oversimplified approach often leads to failure. The key questions are missing: “Does that fit your style, your schedule? Is that sustainable? Is that the only thing you should do?” This lack of detailed self-prompting often results in what many experience – losing weight temporarily, only to gain it all back “plus another five kilograms or five pounds.” The lesson, Vromen suggests, is to approach our personal development goals with the same level of detail and context we’ve learned to use when prompting AI systems.

Navigating the Ethical Landscape

In examining AI’s relationship with happiness, Vromen focuses on its practical impact on daily life. He suggests that AI’s primary contribution to happiness comes indirectly—through what he calls “mining time back to us.” This recovered time can be redirected toward activities that genuinely enhance our subjective well-being: family, community, friends, and experiences that make life meaningful.

Vromen draws an intriguing parallel between human behavior and AI systems, noting that “We are in fact much like AI.” Just as an AI generates responses based on its training data, our actions and decisions are shaped by our accumulated experiences, cultural context, and learning—essentially making us similar to Large Language Models in how we process and respond to our environment.

This understanding leads to his central insight about improving human happiness: we should approach our personal development with the same precision we use when prompting AI systems. Just as vague AI prompts like “write a song” produce mediocre results, simplified self-improvement goals often fail. Instead, Vromen advocates for detailed frameworks that consider our personal circumstances, limitations, and habits—treating our pursuit of happiness like a well-crafted AI prompt.

A Vision of AI-Enhanced Happiness

Looking toward the future, Vromen envisions AI facilitating a world where humans have more time for authentic experiences and meaningful connections. He sees technology like real-time translation (comparing it to the babel fish from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) breaking down global communication barriers and fostering human connection.

“I think that ideally, AI will mine time back to us for us to experience life subjectively,” he explains. This could lead to societal changes like universal basic income, but more importantly, it could free us to focus on “speaking with other human beings, doing sport, dancing, being more spiritual, connected more with my community, enjoying food more in the vessel that is our body.”

Vromen’s vision isn’t about AI directly making us happy, but rather about it creating the conditions that allow us to pursue happiness more effectively—through human connection, physical activity, and spiritual growth. It’s a future where technology serves as an enabler of human flourishing rather than a replacement for human experience.