"Prompting Happiness": Redefining Happiness in the Age of AI

Nimrod Vromen

At a time when artificial intelligence has rapidly entered our lives without warning, it has become essential to understand its impact on our relationships, our work, our relationship with ourselves, and our vision of the future. Today, quite naturally, most of us turn to ChatGPT to obtain information or to deepen our understanding of a subject. A danger for some, an indispensable tool for others, ChatGPT intrigues as much as it fascinates. But can it truly influence human happiness? And if so, to what extent? Through a genuine process of introspection, Nimrod Vromen, an Israeli entrepreneur and CEO of several startups including Ark Empowerment, explores in his book Prompting Happiness how our pursuit of happiness might evolve alongside the rise of artificial intelligence. Captivating and unsettling, the book stands out as an original proposition: a blend of personal narrative, life philosophy, and reflections on AI.

Technology and happiness: an unexpected compatibility

Happiness, Nimrod argues, is the ability to maintain a positive mindset in the face of adversity — a form of lasting contentment. He compares the process of acquiring happiness to the process of AI, showing that in reality, they are strikingly similar. With Prompting Happiness, published in July 2024, Nimrod attempts to reconcile technology and the human condition, making AI a tool for psychological empowerment.

“I wrote this book when I was just over 40; I was going through inner turmoil and needed to externalize what was boiling inside me. I like telling stories to people, and I happen to be quite good at it. Little by little, the ideas fell into place, and this book appeared as a form of treatment, a therapy. When I began using ChatGPT, I realized I could make my message convincing very quickly; that’s when I fully embarked on this literary adventure, which analyzes the foundations of happiness,” Nimrod told Itonnews.

The book is not limited to the pursuit of happiness as such; it provides tools for those at a turning point in their lives to bounce back. It primarily speaks to those between 35 and 50, who fear the consequences of AI, but also to young philosophers between 15 and 25.

Nimrod’s book presents the future and the way we are constantly searching for happiness in a world where peace of mind is increasingly difficult to attain.

“Generally, we don’t approach happiness with the depth and complexity it requires, and that’s why we fail to achieve it. The instructions we give ourselves — drink more water, go out more often, or improve our relationships, for instance — are completely misguided and irrelevant. These commands are entirely devoid of context and therefore cannot work in the long run. We must study the subject more seriously, take every parameter into account, and constantly refine our requests. In this way, we are very similar to artificial intelligence. Just as, to get relevant results from AI, we need to guide it properly and provide all the necessary elements, the same applies to the construction of our happiness,” says Nimrod Vromen.

Artificial intelligence thus becomes an ally for cultivating a positive mental state and finding meaning, particularly by using internal “prompts” in the manner of an inner dialogue.

“The difference between ChatGPT and humans is minimal. We, too, are the result of a statistical model; we carry experience, learning, and our genes. Every word, gesture, or emotion is the statistical outcome of our history and our culture — just like ChatGPT. The difference is that humans can feel and possess five senses, which AI lacks,” Nimrod explains.

An entire chapter written by AI — a first

Nimrod Vromen succeeded brilliantly in training ChatGPT to write an entire chapter of the book as if it were in his own voice. It became a co-author, assisting with the narration of certain passages, where Nimrod even had to push it out of its comfort zone. A technological and narrative feat that leaves the reader astonished.

“This is exclusive AI-generated content. It’s a chapter the AI had to think through on its own, and I had to work very hard from a technical perspective to achieve this. I guided it by giving it a universe of ideas about the future of humanity with AI, then I asked it how it saw itself in this world without giving it any hints. In essence, I sought to answer the question: how does humanity perceive itself in the future world, and what can ChatGPT tell us about it?” Nimrod explains.

Prompting Happiness

According to Nimrod, the pursuit of happiness must constantly be refined and is never fully achieved. He is convinced that artificial intelligence will radically change the rules of the game in the future, and that happiness will look nothing like what we know today. We must therefore rethink the future as a whole and dismantle the myths surrounding modern happiness.

“People tend to believe that happiness can be built quickly and that immediate results can be achieved, but that’s not true. It’s real work, with nuance and continuous follow-up. To be happy, we need to focus more on what is missing rather than on what already works, as well as on the tools that allow us to bridge gaps or to free ourselves from trivial problems,” he asserts.

The book offers sound advice and guidance to improve our pursuit of happiness, notably by maintaining a positive outlook on life so that when misfortunes strike, we can recover from any situation “without too many scratches.”

It also invites us to regularly reassess the rules of our relationships — whether in friendship, love, or work. Instead of clinging to rigid formulas like “communicate more,” Nimrod suggests constantly adapting our interactions to the evolving needs of ourselves and others. This relational flexibility, he believes, is a key to resilience and inner peace.

Finally, Nimrod encourages everyone to open themselves to new cultural perspectives: to explore different worlds, to read, to travel, or to meet people from diverse backgrounds. These experiences not only broaden our worldview but also enrich the way we love, work, and pursue happiness.

In the end, Prompting Happiness is neither just a book about artificial intelligence nor a treatise on happiness: it is a bold attempt to bring together two universes that seem, at first glance, incompatible. Nimrod Vromen invites readers to tame AI not as a threat but as a mirror, a tool to explore our relationship with well-being, our connections, and the future. This leaves us with one essential question: what if the real challenge of happiness was not to resist technology, but to learn how to dialogue with it?

Caroline Haïat