Artificial Heart

It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. If America could send a man to the moon, shouldn’t the best surgeons in the world be able to build an artificial heart? In Ticker, Texas Monthly executive editor and two time National Magazine Award winner Mimi Swartz shows just how complex and difficult it can be to replicate one of nature’s greatest creations. Part investigative journalism, part medical mystery, Ticker is a dazzling story of modern innovation, recounting 50 years of false starts, abysmal failures, and miraculous triumphs.

This is the second and significantly expanded and modified edition of the award-winning Heartificial Empathy, reflecting important developments in artificial intelligence as well as the new context post-pandemic of the future of work, and issues of and new solutions for mental health therapy. Empathy has never been more needed, but businesses struggle continue to create a culture of empathy. Given the step change that's occurred with the arrival of foundational AI, business leaders are going to need to pay particular attention to work conditions and the ethical use of AI.

Imagine a robotic stuffed animal that can read and respond to a child's emotional state or a commercial that can change based on a customer's facial expression. Heart of the Machine explores the next giant step in the relationship between humans and technology: the ability of computers to recognize, respond to, and even replicate emotions. Computers have long been integral to our lives, and their advances continue at an exponential rate.

Heartificial Empathy, shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2019, explores the power of empathy, one of the most untapped levers of productivity in business. In the new tech-infused era, where companies continue to scramble with digital transformation, trying to be more customercentric and spurring innovation and growth, empathy is a killer app. Yet, it can't be taught. Empathy can only be learned.