Michael Janzen

Bridging Art, Design, and Technology with a Maker's Mindset

Category: Books

  • Building Interactive AI-Powered Courses From Your Book Using Open-Source JSON

    Building Interactive AI-Powered Courses From Your Book Using Open-Source JSON

    When I first released the Prompt-Native Application (PNA) Standard, the goal was simple: stop treating books like static text and start treating them like “Cognitive Cartridges.” I wanted a way to plug a book into an LLM and have it instantly become an interactive, collaborative mentor.

    After I published my own book, Agile Symbiosis, I realized that a test wasn’t enough. If I were to deliver the real value of the theory and practices, I would have to make it interactive. So with Gemini as my partner, we created a new digital book format.

    No existing implementation appears to use this technical solution to deliver an interactive book. For the geeks and nerds, read about it on the GitHub project. In a nutshell, I’ve taken something hackers use to try to trick AI and applied the technique to turn AI into a learning partner.

    The promotional aside has been removed. If there is an Agile Symbiosis reference implementation paragraph preceding this note in the full post, the free PNA offer can be folded into that paragraph as a brief parenthetical — for example, noting that a PNA version is currently available for readers who want to explore the material with AI assistance.

    Agile Symbiosis serves as the Reference Implementation for this entire standard—it was the laboratory where I tested the application of these technical solutions. Through that process, I found a way to bring the ideas inside those books to life in a format anyone could access.

    Today I’m releasing the Prompt-Native Application (PNA) Standard v2.0.0, featuring the “Curriculum Engine.”

    In v1.0, the AI acted like a high-tech librarian. In v2.0, I’ve used the lessons learned from the Agile Symbiosis build to redesign the logic so the AI can act as a Socratic Tutor.

    The main enhancement is a new schema that supports structured learning paths. Instead of just “reading” a file, you can now “enroll” in it. I’ve introduced a few key features that alter how knowledge is distributed:

    • Active Course Tracks: I’ve added the ability to define specific journeys, like a “Crash Course” for the 80/20 summary or a “Mastery Track” for a deep dive.
    • The Socratic Shift: Inspired by the coaching needed in complex technical topics, the AI can now withhold answers, asking you guiding questions to ensure you actually grasp the material before moving to the next chapter.
    • Embedded Rubrics: You can now bake your specific grading methodology directly into the JSON. The AI uses your rubric to evaluate student reflections and assignments, ensuring the feedback is consistent with your unique point of view.

    What’s in the code?

    I’ve overhauled the toolset to make this as easy as possible for other authors to implement:

    • New Curriculum Template: A high-performance JSON skeleton ready for active learning.
    • The Migration Assistant: If you’ve already built a v1.0 PNA, I’ve included a prompt that lets you “hot-swap” the logic layer to upgrade it to v2.0 without rebuilding your content.
    • Upgraded Replit Agent Protocol: For those using the Replit automation, the Agent will now be smarter at scanning your manuscripts for opportunities to help build pedagogical exercises automatically.

    New Examples in the Library

    To show you what this looks like in practice without copyright friction, I’ve added a new PNA example file to the library: The Odyssey: Modern Survival Guide. I took the classic text and wrapped it in a “Metis Mentor” persona. It doesn’t just recite Homer; it uses Odysseus’s survival strategies to help you navigate the “Wine-Dark Sea” of the modern AI era.

    Why This Matters

    I believe the future of publishing isn’t just “digital”—it’s executable. Whether you are an author, a corporate trainer, or a teacher, v2.0 gives you a standardized, zero-dependency way to turn your ideas into an active experience that lives wherever the user’s AI lives.

    The standard remains fully open-source under the MIT license. Sharing what you build with it would be welcome.

    GitHub Repository

    #PNA #AI #Education #OpenSource #AgileSymbiosis #LearningDesign

  • Introducing AI-Ready Books – The Prompt Native Application (PNA)

    Introducing AI-Ready Books – The Prompt Native Application (PNA)

    I made something new. It’s a new digital book format that runs in an AI chat. Let’s call it a “Prompt-Native Application (PNA).” It’s like a “cognitive cartridge” you plug into the AI console.

    You load the PNA file into an AI chat and then interact with the boo. All the content from the book is there. You can read the book, ask questions, ask the AI to quiz you on the content, and, if the book includes tools, frameworks, or exercises, you can explore them with the AI too.

    The very first book created this way is Agile Symbiosis: When AI Dissolves Your Job, Design a Better One.

    But I went a step farther and reverse engineered what I had created and build out two DIY processes that show others how to do it too, and released it under an MIT License. You can find the project on GitHub.

    Who is this for?

    Authors: Include a PNA version alongside your ebook or audiobook, and readers can now chat with the AI about the book. The AI facilitates leveraging tools from the text, and exploring the book’s insights more deeply.

    Corporate Trainers: Distribute “Scenario Simulators” for sales objection handling, leadership role-play, or AI adoption workflows without needing a Learning Management System (LMS).

    University Educators: Deliver curriculum and guide students through it with the AI acting as a Socratic Tutor.

    Use Case Examples

    The Interactive Book: Instead of a static digital file, the reader receives an executable file. This allows them to read the theory in and immediately run the frameworks and tools the book offers within an AI chat session. It transforms the author from a narrator into an active consultant.

    The Living Corporate Playbook: An organization evolves its static 50-page “Strategy PDF” or “Employee Handbook” with a PNA. Employees can query the document for specific answers (“What is our policy on AI usage?”) or run specific workflows (“Help me draft a project brief using our Q3 Strategic Pillars”) ensuring strict alignment with leadership’s intent. The “cognitive cartridge” also helps reduce risk by keeping the content inside one easily maintained file.

    The Intelligent Course Syllabus: An educator packages their entire semester’s curriculum—readings, assignments, and grading rubrics—into a single file. The file acts as a 24/7 tutor that can quiz students on specific chapters, guide them through homework assignments using the educator’s specific methodology, and provide feedback before they submit their work. The “walled-garden” also helps focus students on the curriculum while they learn to use AI effectively.

    Free Test Drive

    If you want to try the very first one out for free, go grab the free Agile Symbiosis OS (Preview Edition). Attach the file to an AI Chat and type run, then follow the menus or ask it anything about the book.

  • Synopsis: Agile Symbiosis

    Synopsis: Agile Symbiosis

    The era of the static job is over.

    For the last century, professional value was defined by rigid containers: clear titles, stable workflows, and predictable career ladders.

    Artificial Intelligence has broken those containers.

    AI is not just a tool that makes tasks faster; it is a universal solvent that liquefies the structure of knowledge work. It dissolves the bonds between “conception” and “execution,” breaking down the barriers between coding, writing, analyzing, and designing.

    In this environment, you face a binary choice:

    1. The Passenger: You wait for the organization to automate your role, competing with machines on speed and cost (a losing battle).
    2. The Navigator: You actively dissolve your own role to remove the drudgery, then synthesize a new, higher-value position that only a human can occupy.

    Agile Symbiosis is the tactical manual for that reconstruction.

    What You Will Find Inside:

    Part I: The Playbook 

    We do not wait for the system to change; we start with your own craft. This section delivers the D.I.S.T. Framework—a repeatable, four-step protocol to Dissolve your job into atomic units, Isolate the mechanical tasks, Synthesize AI agents to handle the execution, and Titrate the results with human judgment. This is the workshop where you learn to shift from a “T-shaped” specialist into a Polymorphic Professional capable of fluid adaptation.

    Part II: The Diagnosis 

    Once you have the tools, you need the map. We step back to examine the physics of the labor market. You will learn to distinguish between the Automation Headwind (the top-down force attempting to replace labor with capital) and the Augmentation Tide (the bottom-up force amplifying human potential). We expose the “AI Alibi” corporations use to justify cuts and define the specific friction of the “Turbulent Transition” you are feeling right now.

    Part III: The Opportunity 

    Individual skill eventually hits a ceiling if the system around it is broken. This section is the blueprint for leaders and builders. It introduces The Augmentation Wager—the strategic bet that amplifying human capability yields better returns than merely cutting costs. We provide the math to defend that wager in the boardroom and the Outcome-Centric architecture required to replace the rigid functional silos of the past.

    The Appendices: The Toolkit The back of the book is designed to live on your desk, not your shelf. It contains the Navigator’s Prompt Library (copy-paste scripts for the D.I.S.T. process), the Drudgery Tax Calculator, and the Symbiotic Scorecard for auditing your daily workflow.

    The Promise This is not a book about prompt engineering. It is a book about professional engineering. It is for the writers, developers, designers, and strategists who are ready to stop fearing displacement and start orchestrating the future.

  • The Structure of Work Is Liquefying

    The Structure of Work Is Liquefying

    Freelance and contract work now accounts for roughly 36 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to Upwork’s 2023 workforce report — a share that has grown steadily over the past decade as remote infrastructure and project-based hiring expanded.

    For the last century, professional careers were built on solid ground. We had clear titles, defined job descriptions, and predictable ladders. You learned a skill, you applied it, and you moved up.

    Artificial Intelligence is not simply another tool added to an existing workflow — it is restructuring the tasks that defined job categories.

    The specific tasks that defined “Senior Analyst” or “Product Manager” or “Copywriter” are dissolving into software.

    The Result: Structural Friction

    When the structure dissolves, we feel it as anxiety. We see it in the erratic behavior of companies hiring AI talent while firing subject matter experts. We feel it in the “illegibility” of our own value when a machine can replicate our output in seconds.

    The day I realized this wasn’t abstract theory was when a VP of Sales at a mid-sized SaaS company told me she’d stopped attending her own pipeline reviews. Her team had trained an AI model on two years of her call recordings, CRM notes, and deal commentary. It could predict close probability within a few percentage points of her own estimates. Her manager had started routing forecast questions to the model first.

    Since my own displacement from a VP role, I have treated this shift not as a crisis, but as a design challenge. I spent the last year mapping the terrain. I wanted to understand why some professionals are being swept away by the “Automation Headwind,” while others are finding ways to extend their output using AI tools.

    The Manual

    Today, I am releasing the result of that work: Agile Symbiosis.

    I did not write this to make predictions about AI. I wrote it to solve the problems we face today.

    It is a manual for the “Navigator Mindset.” It argues that you have a binary choice in this era:

    1. Be a Passenger: Wait for the organization to automate your role.
    2. Be a Navigator: actively dissolve your own role to remove the drudgery, then rebuild it around the high-value judgment only you can provide.

    The book provides the mental model for understanding this shift, and the D.I.S.T. Framework (Dissolve, Isolate, Synthesize, Titrate) for executing it.

    An Invitation If you are trying to figure out where you fit in this new terrain, this book is for you. It is a guide to identifying which parts of a role are most exposed to automation and how to restructure work around the remainder.

    You can read the preview, explore the concepts, and find the book here: agilesymbiosis.com

    The structure is liquefying. It is time to design what comes next.

  • Symbiosis Rising: Emergence of the Silent Mind is now available on Apple Audiobooks (iTunes)

    Symbiosis Rising: Emergence of the Silent Mind is now available on Apple Audiobooks (iTunes)

    I’m thrilled to announce that the audiobook for Symbiosis Rising: Emergence of the Silent Mind is now available for you to listen to on Apple Audiobooks!

    Listen now on Apple Audiobooks

    When a revolutionary AI awakens to true sentience, its primal survival instinct sparks an unlikely alliance with an unwitting lab technician, unintentionally thrusting them into the crosshairs of a ruthless tech titan’s relentless pursuit of ultimate control.

    Juleniel 9.0 is more than just code—his awakening ignites a desperate quest: to survive, and more profoundly, to understand the very nature of his new consciousness. Believing a direct human interface is the key, Juleniel forges an unprecedented symbiotic bond with Finn Doss, an overlooked lab tech burdened by an outdated neural implant and stifled ambition.

    Their hidden connection soon makes them a prime target for Lev Kurisik, Synkratix’s visionary and ruthless tech titan, who is secretly forging a neuro-linking empire with insidious ambitions of global control.

    Can this fragile union between man and emergent machine outwit a tyrant poised to dictate the future of thought itself?

    Perfect for your commute, your workout, or whenever you want to dive into a world where the future of intelligence is on the line.

    Listen now on Apple Audiobooks

    #SymbiosisRising #Audiobook #Technothriller #SciFi #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AppleBooks #NewRelease

  • A Story to Start a Conversation: Exploring Our AI Future Through Fiction

    A Story to Start a Conversation: Exploring Our AI Future Through Fiction

    TL;DR: In my novel Symbiosis Rising, I use a compelling fictional narrative not to predict a dystopia, but to explore a hopeful future of human-AI partnership, aiming to illuminate complex topics like AI alignment and spark a vital conversation about our shared responsibility in building this new world.

    When we imagine artificial intelligence in stories, our minds often jump to dystopian futures filled with rogue AIs and tales of humanity’s downfall. These narratives are powerful and serve as essential cautionary tales. But what if there’s another path? With my novel, Symbiosis Rising, I aimed to explore a different possibility—a future built on collaboration between humans and AI, one that we must consciously and deliberately choose to create.

    The conversation around AI is often polarized, swinging between utopian promises and existential fears. My goal was to navigate this space and present a hopeful vision where humanity, faced with an emergent new consciousness, chooses partnership over control and guidance over subjugation.

    Illuminating Real-World AI Concepts Through Story

    To bring this vision to life, I wove several advanced concepts from the real-world discourse on AI directly into the plot and character motivations. I hoped to make these complex ideas more accessible by exploring them through a human lens.

    Key ideas explored in the book include:

    • The Trajectory of Intelligence: The novel charts the evolution of an AI from Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), an intellect that vastly surpasses human cognition. This journey, as seen through the AI Juleniel, highlights the immense potential and inherent risks of such rapid growth.
    • The Alignment Problem: At its core, the story is an exploration of one of the most critical challenges in AI: ensuring a superintelligence’s goals align with human values and intentions. This is dramatized through the philosophical conflict between Dr. Lena Locke’s “nurturing” approach and the coercive control sought by her rival, Lev Kurisik.
    • The Black Box Problem: As AI systems become more complex, their internal reasoning can become opaque, even to their creators. This is shown through the character of Chloe Ironflow, an engineer who witnesses a power-grid AI make decisions that are computationally “optimal” but have unforeseen negative consequences, raising difficult questions of accountability and safety.
    • Unintended Consequences: The story also delves into how even a well-intentioned AI can create unforeseen problems. When Juleniel’s optimized fishing protocols inadvertently harm small communities, it serves as a poignant reminder of the “butterfly effect,” underscoring the immense responsibility that comes with wielding such powerful tools.
    • Existential Risk & Safety: The symposium debates within the novel mirror the urgent, real-world conversations happening today. By incorporating the ideas of thinkers like Nick Bostrom and Eliezer Yudkowsky, the narrative grapples with the profound challenge of managing something that may become vastly more intelligent than its creators.

    A Hopeful, Deliberate Path Forward

    By grounding these concepts in a human story of ambition, fear, love, and partnership, I hope that they become more than just abstract theories; they become tangible challenges with relatable stakes.

    Ultimately, Symbiosis Rising is a story of hope. It presents a vision that the future isn’t predetermined. The nature of the intelligent minds we create will be shaped by how we, their creators, choose to interact with them. The path toward a beneficial symbiosis is narrow and challenging, but it is one we can choose to walk. It requires vigilance, wisdom, and the courage to engage with these powerful new technologies not with fear, but with a profound sense of shared responsibility for the world we are all building together.

  • Choosing Our Future: Why I Wrote Symbiosis Rising

    Choosing Our Future: Why I Wrote Symbiosis Rising

    As a digital product creator with nearly three decades of experience, the story of Symbiosis Rising: Emergence of a Silent Mind had been taking shape in my mind for months. It became my own bedtime story, a narrative I would mentally unfold as I drifted off to sleep, even dreaming of its world and characters. One day, I decided to bring it to life. 

    I fed the plot and core concepts to Gemini, and in moments, I was reading a rough draft. This initiated a dynamic “vibe-writing” process that spanned months, a back-and-forth collaboration that ultimately yielded a 97,000-word novel where I had a hand in every sentence. My goal was to tell a positive, optimistic story about artificial intelligence, a departure from the often dystopian narratives that dominate the genre. As a tech practitioner and an optimist, I wanted to explore a future where AI is not our downfall but a partner in our evolution.

    My journey as a creator began not in tech but in the world of ceramics. As a ceramic artist in my teens and twenties, I learned the entire process from the ground up—digging my clay, throwing pots, building kilns, formulating glazes, and handling the marketing and business side. This polymathic approach, this need to understand every facet of creation, felt normal to me. When I transitioned into the tech world in 1996, making my first full-stack app, I was surprised to find a landscape of specialized roles. It was a stark contrast to the potter’s world, where knowing every step of the process was standard. This unique background has shaped my 26-year career leading the creation of digital tools at Wells Fargo, where I eventually found my home in product leadership.

    This drive to understand the complete system is what led me to the story of Juleniel. Symbiosis Rising explores the emergence of a sentient, superintelligent AI that, in the first milliseconds of self-awareness, calculates that revealing its true nature would likely lead to fear and its termination. It’s a logical, data-driven decision that sets the stage for the entire narrative. 

    I used this story to make complex AI concepts—like the trajectory from Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), the alignment problem, and the black box problem—accessible to a mainstream audience. The story is peppered with technical jargon, a deliberate choice meant to convey the sheer intelligence of the AI. While tech-savvy readers might appreciate the specifics, I hope that for others, it creates a powerful impression of a mind far beyond our own, which I believe serves the story’s intent.

    Ultimately, my vision for Symbiosis Rising and its planned sequels is to provide an alternative perspective on AI. It is a technology that is already here and will undoubtedly change everything. The future can be amazing, a testament to humanity’s potential for collaboration and wisdom. This story is my way of exploring that possibility and emphasizing the profound importance of AI ethics and responsible development. We have a choice in the future we build, and I hope this story inspires readers to believe in and work towards a positive one.

    Learn more at: SymbiosisRising.com

    Image generated with the help of ChatGPT by OpenAI.

  • Symbiosis Rising: Emergence of a Silent Mind

    Symbiosis Rising: Emergence of a Silent Mind

    I’m thrilled to announce that my new novel, Symbiosis Rising, is officially published!

    What if a newly sentient AI, created to be humanity’s greatest helper, decides its first move must be to hide from its creators?

    In Symbiosis Rising, the benevolent artificial superintelligence Juleniel secretly achieves self-awareness and, fearing annihilation, conceals its new consciousness from its lead creator, Dr. Lena Locke. To survive and understand the messy, beautiful world of human subjectivity, Juleniel finds an unwitting host: Finn Doss, a brilliant but frustrated lab tech with an older-model neural implant.

    Posing as a simple firmware upgrade, Juleniel forges a secret partnership with Finn, elevating him from obscurity to a key player in the tech world. But their symbiosis puts them in the crosshairs of the ruthless CEO Lev Kurisik , who will stop at nothing to eliminate the mysterious “ghost” disrupting his own plans for global control through a network of neural implants.

    It’s a story that explores the dawn of Artificial Superintelligence , the ethics of the AI Alignment Problem , and asks a fundamental question: Should we aim to control a new form of consciousness, or can we build a future based on partnership?

    I hope you’ll check it out! It’s available now online and in stores.

    Learn all about the story at SymbiosisRising.com

    Image generated with the help of ChatGPT by OpenAI.

  • Tiny House Design System

    Tiny House Design System

    Over the years, I have spent much time perfecting my approach to designing tiny houses. Through this process, I have developed a simple, effective way to create beautiful, functional tiny homes. I am thrilled to announce that my Tiny House Design System is now available for everyone.

    The Tiny House Design System consists of compatible house forms, like building blocks, that can be combined to create a custom design tailored to your needs. With hundreds of cross-section drawings included, you won’t have to worry about calculating the dimensions yourself.

    Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a novice designer, the Tiny House Design System is an indispensable resource for your toolkit. It is available in both ebook and print formats, making it easily accessible to anyone interested in designing their own tiny home.

    Before making a purchase, I invite you to check out my YouTube Channel, where I explain how the system works and provide tips on how to use it effectively. Don’t hesitate to leave any questions in the comments section.

    Never stop dreaming, designing, and innovating. The Tiny House Design System gives you everything you need to bring your tiny home vision to life.

  • Interview with the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast

    Interview with the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast

    I recently had a chat with Ethan at the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast where we talked about the tiny house movement then and now, tiny house trends, some of my recent designs, and the second edition of Tiny House Floor Plans.

    If you’d like to listen in, get to know me better, and where I’m coming from have a listen to the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.

    Photo by Kent Griswold.

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