The Story Economy - Paperback

by William Welser (Author)

Regain Control Over Your Data, Devices, and FreedomHow do you value your private data? What about your job? The truth is someone is selling your data, and your job may be among the countless others being lost to AI at record rates. Because of this abuse of technology among many others, most people have lost all agency over their technology, devices, and information. But technologist William Welser IV has a plan to help us regain control. Enter The Story Economy, a guide that provides fresh purchasing power in a world where opportunity feels harder and harder to grasp. Within, Welser outlines the need for an alternative economy where stories can become solutions to overwhelming new problems. His entirely new marketplace allows us to use our stories as currency, putting the data we've voluntarily given to good use--allowing us to purchase goods and services and giving us the power to see exactly where our data is going and to whom. In this exciting and sometimes scary world of AI, Big Tech is using all of its tools against us to create a society in which we're lonely, broke, and lost. We must take back our power and make the technology work for us to close the healthcare, education, and wealth divide--and in the process, foster self-awareness to help us become astute decision-makers and stay ahead of technology. With The Story Economy, Welser provides the innovative blueprint to get started.

Author Biography

William (Bill) Welser IV is a passionate, curious, and creative technologist. Zealous in working across business sectors to recognize patterns and spark value-amplifying products, his mission is to always take the bold route and develop fearless uses for technologies.

Welser's expertise was built from service as an officer in the United States Air Force where he helped design, test, and field advanced systems for space and air; a decade at the RAND Corporation as an executive and research leader; and previous experience as CTO, COO, and Chief of Labs for a handful of digital and advanced technology startups. His formal education includes a BS in Chemical Engineering (University of Virginia), a MS in Finance (Boston College), and a MBA (Boston College).

He is currently the founder, CEO, and CTO of Lotic.ai, the global well-being insights company he cofounded in 2020. At Lotic, his goal is to close the socio-economic gap and help people live more authentic lives with agency over their data. By tackling complex problems using storytelling, creating new uses for AI and data science, and empowering multidisciplinary teams of experts, he's making that happen.

Welser lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three fabulous children. He loves writing, traveling, boxing, and drinking coffee with goats.