The Dharma of AI - by Alok R Chaturvedi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

You just glanced at your phone, didn't you? That's exactly how algorithms draw us in. We're living suspended between two worlds: one where AI quietly decides who gets hired, what news we see, and which voices we hear--and another where millennia of human wisdom sit waiting to guide us.

After forty years building AI systems and twenty years studying dharma in Indian ashrams, author Alok R. Chaturvedi learned something crucial: our digital future desperately needs our philosophical past. This isn't another robot apocalypse book--it is an invitation to see technology through ancient wisdom made urgently relevant as artificial general intelligence approaches.

Through deeply human stories--a coder discovering her biases embedded in "neutral" algorithms, a parent watching their child disappear into endless scrolling--we explore how technology impacts us across three dimensions: Daihik (personal), Daivik (universal), and Bhautik (material). We also examine how technology carries the Three Gunas: Sattvik (clarity), Rajasik (restlessness), and Tamsik (numbness). Additionally, The Dharma of AI introduces the Five Guardians, which are timeless ethical principles: Ahimsa (do no harm), Satya (seek truth), Asteya (take only what's given), Brahmacharya (consume mindfully), and Dharma (act righteously). Whether building technology, raising children, or seeking authentic digital living, this book offers profound insight and practical wisdom for our most urgent conversation.