Publisher‘s Review

A new work by Park Yong-hoo, bestselling author of 500,000 copies, released after ten years!
Highly recommended by Kim Beom-joon of NAVER, Kim Bong-jin of “Birth of Delivery,” and Choi Jae-bong, author of AI Homo Sapiens!
Those who do not passively accept predetermined answers but continue to ask questions
will become the pioneers leading the AI era!

Taking Control of Your Thinking calls on us to reclaim the uniquely human abilities of thinking and questioning in an era of radical change.

Author Park Yong-hoo has long observed the workplace and daily life, discovering that changing one’s perspective on things can change one‘s entire life. He has widely spread the philosophy of “designing perspective.”

After ten years, facing the AI era that is completely overturning traditional values and ways of thinking, he believes we need to redefine perspective. With “taking control of your thinking” at its core, he has crafted a guide to thinking that won’t be replaced by AI.

Through numerous thought experiments, the author offers deep insights into the dilemmas and opportunities humanity will face in the AI era.

The first question explored is, “Will AI replace jobs?”

The author does not give a simple yes or no. Instead, he throws a new question back to readers: What is the essence of work?

AI will certainly affect many jobs. But is work merely a collection of tasks, or is it an organic system that includes human relationships, emotions, contextual judgment, and social background?

Depending on how we perceive this, humans could either have their jobs taken away or redefine work itself.

Today, AI can paint and write. Many fear that AI threatens human creativity.

To answer this question, we must once again untangle our thinking, starting with “What is creativity?”

Creativity is the product of a thinking process. AI’s “creativity,” by contrast, is merely the result of analyzing data and flexibly replicating existing patterns.

Truly creative people in the future will learn to use AI to break out of repetitive patterns and deconstruct problems with fresh perspectives.

To do this, humans must possess the ability to reinterpret everything—and the power to question.

So, is AI necessarily good for humanity? The author believes that only by establishing true AI ethics can we welcome a bright future.

AI is no longer just a tool for developers. AI ethics is no longer solely the responsibility of developers.

Every user who asks questions and inputs prompts must take corresponding responsibility for the results of their thinking.

The author warns: AI moves in response to questions—it can save people or hurt people.

Before typing a prompt, we must think about where it will reach and whom it will affect.

AI ethics, in the end, is the ethics of thinking.

Only when the ability to design questions, the power to control our thinking, and the sense of responsibility for interpreting results come together can we hold onto our essence as “thinking humans.”

The significance of this book’s publication at this moment is clear: we talk endlessly about the AI era, but we rarely think deeply about what humans are losing.

Behind convenience and efficiency, “the loss of thinking” may be more dangerous than any technological crisis.

We must not merely consume information and give commands. We must evolve into people who think together with AI, wielding humanity’s strongest weapon—the power of questioning.

★ A new work by Park Yong-hoo, bestselling author of 500,000 copies, released after ten years! Recommended by top leaders like NAVER’s Kim Beom-joon—when AI is responsible for giving answers, asking better questions is humanity’s strongest weapon.

★ A New Work After Ten Years by a 500,000-Copy Bestselling Author: Park Yong-hoo has long observed the workplace and daily life, spreading the philosophy of “designing perspective.” After ten years, he returns with a guide to thinking in the AI era.

★ Endorsed by Top Leaders: Strongly recommended by Kim Beom-joon, COO of NAVER; Kim Bong-jin, founder of Woowa Brothers; and Choi Jae-bong, author of AI Homo Sapiens.

★ Questioning Is Humanity’s Last Sovereign Right in the AI Era: The book’s core argument—AI can answer questions, but only humans can ask precise questions and judge whether AI’s answers are reasonable. Those who cannot ask questions will eventually become tools of AI.

★ Turning AI from Tool into Weapon: Not merely using AI as an accelerator for getting answers, but transforming it into a weapon to break thinking habits through “high-quality questioning,” achieving true “augmented intelligence.”

In the AI era, do you want to firmly take control of your thinking? Before AI dominates your mind, reclaim your ability to ask questions!

In a “fast-paced” culture that values efficiency and speed, Korean society has gradually lost the time to cultivate independent thinking. Over time, we have become adept only at copying standard answers and no longer take the initiative to ask questions. The author states bluntly: “With the arrival of the AI era, those who cannot ask questions will eventually become tools of AI.”

The power of questioning is the last sovereignty we must defend in the AI era.

Taking Control of Your Thinking explores what we should think about and how we should think, now that AI is deeply penetrating our daily lives. Park Yong-hoo, known as Korea’s first perspective designer, re-examines what uniquely human core abilities remain in an era of rapid technological change. The book begins with a single question: “From now on, can I think independently using only my own brain, without AI?”

Today‘s world has fallen into an unprecedented cognitive confusion: information is overflowing, the boundary between truth and falsehood is blurred; everyone is connected and information flows freely, yet we feel increasingly alienated from ourselves. Especially since the advent of ChatGPT, generative AI has gradually permeated industry, culture, economy, and politics, weakening our habit of searching for information and gradually causing us to lose our ability to ask questions. This book tells us where to begin reclaiming the power of questioning.

The book revolves around five core themes to help readers rebuild their thinking ability:

First, questioning is the seed of thought. Before seeking answers, we must first cultivate the ability to ask questions.
Second, AI is not just a tool; it is a “mirror” reflecting the way humans think.
Third, the more information overflows, the more important it becomes to develop a personal perspective, which shapes our thinking framework.
Fourth, we must dare to question what we take for granted. Taking control of your thinking does not mean blindly following inherent truths, but questioning frameworks and discovering flaws.
Fifth, we do not need to fight against machines. We must learn to transcend the human-machine relationship through questioning. Only by treating AI as a partner can we stand firm in the AI era.

We have long chased results and speed, and the AI era will only amplify this efficiency. The author asks Korean readers, swept along by the tide of the times and having lost control of their thinking: “When was the last time you independently asked a question on your own?”

AI can answer questions, but only humans can ask precise questions and judge whether AI’s answers are reasonable. For those who do not want to lose this last sovereignty—“the power of questioning”—Taking Control of Your Thinking will be a firm and powerful philosophical guide.

Park Yong-hoo

Entrepreneur / Founder. CEO of PYH, Korea’s first perspective designer. He has been labeled with countless titles: “breaker of fixed ideas,” “the person who connects the future through perspective,” “missionary of conscientious businesses.” But what he most wants to be called is Korea’s only perspective designer.

As a perspective designer, he values helping conscientious businesses grow and achieving mutual benefit. In fact, most of the companies that have long employed him are conscientious businesses that have stayed true to their original intentions. He does not wish to work with people who only want to make money; he only wants to help those who have dreams. At the same time, he does not attach himself to any single organization for long, because staying too long would solidify the perspectives that should be constantly renewed. Therefore, he maintains a contract-based working relationship, only accompanying companies until they reach the agreed-upon goals, enjoying the freedom of not being bound.

He became known to the public as “the man who receives thirteen salaries a month.” Today, that number has increased to thirty-three. Although he has no fixed office to commute to, with only a mobile phone and a computer, he can freely connect with people from all walks of life, creating a unique, creative, and happy workplace.

He still stays true to his core work, sharing his talents and providing perspective design consulting to many companies. As a popular lecturer whom companies compete to invite, he continues to communicate with all kinds of audiences, gaining fresh perspectives every day.

Preface – Can AI Surpass Humanity?
Foreword

Part One: The Key to Thinking Is Controlled by Questioning
One Question We Must Face in the AI Era
Are You a Virtual Avatar or Frankenstein?
Prompt Engineering: An Illusory Hype
Shifting from Passively Receiving Answers to Actively Asking Questions
Keeping Your Thinking Fresh

Part Two: Thinking Machines and Questioning Humans
Innovation: Technology Always Responds to the Questions of Its Time
Where Will 21st-Century AI Head?
What Is This Probabilistic “Parrot” Really Saying?
The Endpoint of AI Evolution: Humanoid Robots
Is AI Pandora‘s Box or a Black Box?
AI and Big Data: Overturning the Linear World of Y = aX + b

Part Three: Stop Thinking, and You’ll Fall into AI‘s Labyrinth
“AI Will Change the Future” Is a Fallacy
Is the Era of Google Coming to an End?
Creativity: That Is the Core Challenge
How Did Samantha’s Words Touch the Heart?

Part Four: Overwhelmed by Information or Actively Designing Your Perspective
Umberto Eco Already Predicted 2025
A New Kind of User Is Emerging
What Will AI Agents Replace?
The Direction of Education in the AI Era: From Competition to Creation
AI Innovation vs. AI Hype: Where Does True Change Come From?

Part Five: Taking Control of Your Thinking to Examine the Era
People Who Are Applying AI to Their Own Work
The Ultimate Realization of Augmented Intelligence
Enjoying the Experiment of Deconstruction and Reconstruction
Taking Control of Your Thinking