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Coming November 10, 2026

Human
Dot
AI

How the Fight for Your AttentionBecame the World’s Biggest Business

“Succeeds brilliantly as a history of modern advertising in the 21st century and a vision of the future of human attention in an age of AI.”
—Derek Thompson, co-author, New York Times bestseller Abundance
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Human Dot AI — jacket
Your attention, please!

The fight for your attention is the biggest business in the world. It is also the most important. And it’s all about to change.

The attention economy moves markets. It shapes what we buy, who we date and what we believe. The world’s biggest companies are locked in a trillion-dollar AI arms race to control it. And in the process they’ve built a system that undervalues the very thing that matters most: your attention and everything it makes possible.

Human Dot AI tells the inside story of how we got here and what’s next. How the companies that now dominate our economy rose to power on machines built for one purpose; to capture your attention, package it, and sell it back to advertisers, and how AI is rewriting the rules.

Through the eyes of entrepreneur and media executive, Joe Marchese, Human Dot AI takes you from the early days of social media to the height of the TV industry, from the high-stakes world of Super Bowl advertising to the rise of advertising machines designed to measure and monetize your every move, and finally to the reckoning of media companies that once controlled our attention as they’re swallowed by the economic forces AI has unleashed.

Whatever industry you work in, Human Dot AI will change how you see this moment. It shows why the battle for your attention is the defining business story of our time, and uncovers the opportunities hidden within culture and everyday life in an economy that misprices what matters.

The question is no longer whether AI will transform the economy. The question is whether AI, put to work in support of humans instead of advertising revenue, will fix the broken Attention Economy…or complete the collapse.

Praise for Human Dot AI
“AI is only as powerful as the people who put it to work. Joe Marchese’s vision of a future built around human value makes Human Dot AI a must-read for anyone in the creative and advertising industries.”
Arthur SadounChairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe
“For years, the attention economy has pulled our eyes away from what matters and toward whatever the algorithm decides is next. The bill is coming due. Joe Marchese spent two decades inside the ad machine — he knows how it works, and how it’s all about to change. Read it while your attention is still yours.”
Scott GallowayProfessor, NYU Stern School of Business; co-host, Pivot
“Human Dot AI is a must-read for anyone curious about how we live and work together in the age of generative AI. The book highlights that the very skills technology is atrophying – the ability to tolerate discomfort, handle imperfection, and sit in ambiguity – are the ones we need most now.”
Esther PerelRenowned psychotherapist and New York Times best-selling author
“Joe Marchese has been on the frontlines of the advertising revolution for decades, always seeing the next big thing with extraordinary clarity. This book succeeds brilliantly as a history of modern advertising in the 21st century and a vision of the future of human attention in an age of AI.”
Derek ThompsonCo-author, New York Times bestseller Abundance
“Attention plays a large role in driving the modern economy. Joe Marchese explains how we lost control of it -- and how AI, built right, can help us take it back. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand where value, trust, and technology can work together to define the coming era.”
Reid HoffmanCo-Founder, LinkedIn
“Human Dot AI is the clearest, most urgent map of the attention economy — and the most hopeful. Joe Marchese shows how the world’s biggest companies turned human attention into the ultimate extractive resource, and why AI now forces a choice: keep optimizing for clicks, or rebuild a digital ecosystem that actually values creators, publishers, and the finite attention of real people.”
Matthew PrinceCo-founder and CEO, Cloudflare
“Human Dot AI is the book on the attention economy I’ve been waiting for, straightforward about what went wrong, and a genuinely hopeful argument for how AI could help us fix it. This is essential reading for anyone trying to understand what AI does to us next.”
Andrew YangFounder, Forward Party
“An insider’s diagnosis of how the attention economy broke — and a hopeful case for what AI could still fix. If you’re working in or living in the attention economy you need to read this book.”
Tim WuProfessor, Columbia Law School; author of The Attention Merchants
About the authors
Joe Marchese

Joe Marchese

Joe Marchese is CEO of Human Ventures Holdings and co-founder and General Partner of Casa Komos Brands Group. He is also chairman of the corporate philanthropy technology platform Groundswell.

At Human Ventures, Joe leads the operational execution across the holding company’s four divisions: Human VC, which invests in, acquires, and rebuilds undervalued assets; Human AI, which builds and operates businesses with the potential to reshape the global attention economy in the age of AI; Human Connections, a community and events platform; and Human Partners, a corporate partnerships business.

A multiple-time founder and media executive, Joe is a widely recognized leader in the media and technology industries and was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement in 2016. He is currently a member of the board of directors for Clear Channel Outdoor, Cox Media Group, National CineMedia, Adelaide Metrics, Breakaway Music Festival, and veteran-led non-profit Team Rubicon.

As president of advertising revenue for Fox Networks Group, he led oversight of billions in annual advertising revenue for FOX Broadcast, FX, National Geographic, and FOX Sports, which included tentpole events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.

Prior to Fox, Joe was founder and CEO of true[X], the leader in engagement advertising technologies, which was acquired by 21st Century Fox in 2015. He was also a cofounder of restaurant reservation platform Reserve, which was acquired by Resy in 2018.

Jonathan Bing

Jonathan Bing

Jonathan Bing is a veteran marketing executive who has led communications teams at Netflix, 21st Century Fox, Vice, and many other top companies and brands. He is co-author of the book Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession, producer of the documentary Soul of a Banquet, and a widely published journalist whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wired, and many other publications.