Notes and Sources

This records the sources behind the more consequential factual claims in this book.

It is deliberately selective. Personal accounts and case-study details come from my records, conversations, transcripts, and the people involved. Published sources are included where they materially strengthen the factual basis of the text.

Chapter 1: The Perfect Storm

The figure of 49 challenges comes from the working spreadsheet I kept during 2025. It is my contemporaneous record of that year, not an independently verified source.

Chapter 2: Human Judgement

For the discussion of the capabilities, uncertainties, and risks associated with general-purpose AI:

Bengio, Y. et al. (2026). International AI Safety Report 2026.

For the changing relationship between generative AI, tasks, occupations, and employment:

Gmyrek, P. et al. (2025). Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure. International Labour Organization, Working Paper 140.

For the physical infrastructure and energy demands associated with AI and data centres:

International Energy Agency (2026). Key Questions on Energy and AI. IEA, Paris.

For personal-data considerations in AI systems:

Information Commissioner’s Office. Guidance on AI and Data Protection. Accessed September 2026.

Chapter 6: Tanya: Make It Earn Its Place

The incorporation and company details behind Our Creative Edge were checked against the UK Companies House record during the factual pass.

Chapter 12: Val and Cleo: The Same Monday

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a real, formal UK mechanism allowing a person to repay debt over time as an alternative to bankruptcy.

Chapter 13: The Mirror Effect

Woollett, K. and Maguire, E. A. (2011). Acquiring “the Knowledge” of London’s layout drives structural brain changes. Current Biology, 21(24), 2109-2114.

Sparrow, B., Liu, J. and Wegner, D. M. (2011). Google effects on memory: cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips. Science, 333(6043), 776-778.

Lee, H-P. H. et al. (2025). The impact of generative AI on critical thinking: self-reported reductions in cognitive effort and confidence effects from a survey of knowledge workers. Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Article 1121.

Jiang, X. (2026). Explore the Gen-AI empowerment black box: a meta-analysis of the impact of Gen-AI on college students’ critical thinking. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 23(3), 514-545.