v1.20.3 · May 2026

Substitution

On the substrates of intimacy
and what is replacing them

Tommy Falk Mikkelsen · with Claude, 2026

The trajectory this book describes does not wait for artificial general intelligence. The line has already been crossed: optimisation, in particular directions, reliable enough to engage the human systems intimacy runs on. The substrates that carried pair-bonding for two hundred thousand years can be acted on now by things that are not other people, and the work of replacing them has begun.

Where to start

Working paper — the falsifiable demographic argument. If you want the testable claim first.
Book — the literary form. If the argument matters more in inhabited prose.
Audiobook — the strongest edition in early reads. If you prefer to listen.

Download

📄 Working paper Falsifiable academic version · PDF ↓ 📖 Book — PDF Full text · uncorrected proof ↓ 📱 Book — EPUB For e-readers & Kindle ↓ 🎧 Audiobook — M4B Chapter markers & bookmarking · AI narrated AI narrated

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An evening with Grok About the author

This is an uncorrected proof not for sale or distribution. Final text and design are subject to change. © 2026 Tommy Falk Mikkelsen. All rights reserved. Written in collaboration with Claude (Anthropic). Audiobook narrated by AI. Disclosure of AI co-authorship is integral to this work.