How to read this field guide
A snapshot, January 2026, based on two years of experimenting with AI, of which one and a half years in group processes.
What this is
This guide emerged from my own search: how can you use AI to make conversations richer, without losing what's human?
It's not a manual with definitive answers. It's a collection of techniques, insights, and approaches that worked, for me, in the contexts I worked in. Some will work for you, others won't. That's okay.
What I do hope to convey is a way of thinking. Not which buttons to press, but how to think about the collaboration between people and AI.
Why a snapshot
AI is developing fast. What still requires human judgment today might be different a year from now. The table that currently says "AI can suggest patterns, the person needs to assess whether they're right" is shifting.
My expectation: as AI gets better at absorbing and working with more context, it will see patterns that we don't see. It will show us things about how we collaborate, what we need as groups, where our blind spots are.
That doesn't mean the human element disappears. It means we'll learn: from AI, about ourselves. And that requires openness: not holding on to what we think we know, but staying curious about what becomes visible.
This guide is written from where we stand now. A year from now, part of it might no longer hold. That's not a weakness. That's how it should be.
The underlying vision
Behind the techniques sits a bigger question that occupies me:
How do we make real participation possible at the scale the world needs?
We live in a time where we disagree about many things: values, priorities, what the world should look like. And at the same time we need to make decisions together, at every level: in teams, organizations, neighborhoods, societies.
The promise of AI, as I see it, is not that it makes those decisions for us. It's that it can help us understand each other better. To see where we actually mean the same thing with different words. To hear the voices that otherwise get drowned out. To let wisdom accumulate instead of evaporate.
What stays human when AI can do more?
That's the question running through this entire guide. Not as fear, but as a compass. The moment someone feels heard — you can't automate that. Commitment emerges by talking together. The choice of what we do with insights: that stays with us.
AI can amplify. The real work stays between people.
How to use this guide
If you're new: Start at Why Social AI? and follow the journey through the three phases. Each phase builds on the previous one.
If you have a specific problem: Look at the technique tables at the end of each phase page. They give you an overview of what's there and when you'd use it.
If you want to experiment: Pick one technique and try it. Not everything at once, but one thing that connects to what you're already doing.
If you want to contribute: This guide is in development. See the Roadmap for what's coming and where there's room for input.
About me
I'm Joost. I work at the intersection of technology and human collaboration: how can digital tools amplify what makes us human, instead of replacing it?
This is my perspective, based on my experience. Not the truth. An invitation to discover what works for you.