How does the Economy 5.0 equation work?

The equation ΣU × AI^(ΣU) = Result means that AI is the base (a commodity everyone has access to), but your human qualities (ΣU) serve as the exponent. Higher ΣU exponentially amplifies AI output. This replaces the old linear model Human + AI = Less Work.

What is the difference between Economy 4.0 and Economy 5.0?

Economy 4.0 treats AI as addition: Human + AI = Less Work (linear, replaceable). Economy 5.0 treats AI as exponentiation: ΣU × AI^(ΣU) = Result, where human qualities power AI exponentially, making humans irreplaceable.

Decode the Equation | Sum of Human

Q: What is ΣU (Sum of User)?

ΣU is the sum of 9 human qualities: Natural Intelligence, Curiosity, Domain Depth, Quality of Questions, Critical Thinking, Willingness to Iterate, Cross-domain Thinking, Courage to Act, and Restlessness. These qualities serve as the exponent that powers AI in Economy 5.0.

The Problem

Everyone is teaching the wrong equation.

The entire global AI education market — from Stanford to YouTube, from Andrew Ng to Google Certificates — stands on one axiom: Human + AI Tool = Less Work. Addition. Linear. Economy 4.0.

They teach buttons. Prompts. Certifications. LangChain, Copilot, Make, Zapier. But no one asks the question that matters: who is sitting behind the keyboard?

Economy 4.0 — Old

Human + AI = Less Work

Addition. Linear. Replaceable. The axiom that creates fear, dependency, and sabotage.

Economy 5.0 — New

ΣU × AI^(ΣU) = Result

Exponentiation. Human qualities as the power. Irreplaceable.

ΣU is the sum of the User's qualities — everything you bring to the interaction: natural intelligence, curiosity, domain depth, quality of questions, critical thinking, willingness to iterate, cross-domain thinking, courage to act, restlessness with the status quo.

Each quality adds to the sum. And that same sum is the exponent that powers AI. AI is the commodity. The base. Electricity. Everyone has access. The only thing that differs is the exponent — the human holding it.

Anatomy of ΣU

Nine properties. None of them is "how to prompt."

Natural Intelligence Not necessarily high IQ. Street smart. Common sense. Seeing what others overlook.
Curiosity Do you experiment? Ask "what if?" Or take the first draft and go home?
Domain Depth Years of real practice. Not in AI — in your field. A junior asks "write me a report." An expert asks the question that reveals 20 years of pattern recognition.
Quality of Questions Correlation r > 0.92 between input sophistication and output quality. AI mirrors the competence of who's asking.
Critical Thinking Can you spot when AI returns nonsense? Most people nod and move on. Those who don't perform 19 percentage points worse than no AI at all.
Willingness to Iterate First draft or push further? Most people accept. Professionals iterate 5×, 10×, 20×. Each iteration raises ΣU in real time.
Cross-domain Thinking Can you connect law with psychology? Biology with finance? AI generates its most unique outputs from unusual input combinations.
Courage to Act Ship it or shelve it? 7 apps in production is a different league than 7 prototypes in chat. AI has no "skin in the game" — that's your biological moat.
Restlessness The engine of the entire equation. Those satisfied with average get average from AI.

Notice: none of these is "know how to prompt." None is "know AI tools." None is "know how to code." All are human qualities that existed before AI. And the list is open — everyone adds something unique.

The Spiral

ΣU is not static. It feeds itself.

Every quality interaction with AI raises your ΣU retroactively. Better questions lead to better answers. Better answers open new domains. New domains deepen expertise and curiosity — which generate even better questions.

Better Questions → Better Answers → New Domains → Higher ΣU → Better Questions

The spiral goes up — or down. Uncritical acceptance atrophies thinking. Low ΣU users get worse over time. High ΣU users accelerate. AI doesn't just amplify. It's an evolutionary pressure that rewards humanity exponentially.