[비욘드포스트 황상욱 기자] HOMO MODALLER: The Sea of Cold Algorithms,

A Voyage of Contemplation Crafting the Warm Texture of Life

By YURI HAN (Pen name: HARU) / January 2026

In an age where artificial intelligence has become part of everyday life, many of us experience a quiet sense of disorientation. Amid the relentless tide of algorithms and automation, we are left wondering where human cognition, warmth, and dignity now reside. HOMO MODALLER begins precisely from this question, unfolding as a philosophical voyage of contemplation

This is not a technical manual on how to use AI, nor a book that predicts the future of technology. Instead, author Yuri Han—writing under the pen name Haru—asks a more fundamental question: who should we be as humans in an age shaped by machines? In this book, AI civilization is described not as an autonomous force, but as a vast mirror. A mirror creates nothing of its own; it merely reflects the presence, breath, and posture of the human standing before it.

According to the author, our unease with technology does not stem from its speed, but from the gradual erosion of human cognition and dignity. HOMO MODALLER is not a guide to mastering machines, but a map intended to awaken the Homo—the human—within us.

At the heart of the book lies the term ‘Homo Modaller,’ a concept coined by the author herself. It does not describe someone who skillfully handles multiple modes or technologies. The insistence on the word Homo is deliberate. A Homo Modaller is one who lives with the conviction that human cognition and dignity determine the direction technology takes. When humans remain awake to who they are, technology becomes a companion that amplifies human essence rather than erasing it.

The narrative unfolds through a symbolic journey. The author boards a ship named ‘AI’ and embarks on a voyage across the sea of cold algorithms. Along the way, she encounters twelve sages, engaging in dialogues that do not offer ready-made answers but instead serve as coordinates for reflection. Through these conversations, readers are invited to listen not to the operational speed of machines, but to their own inner rhythm—the pulse of being.

The path of the Homo Modaller rests on three foundational pillars:

Pulse, the rhythm of existence that listens to the heart rather than the machine;

Perception, a depth of gaze that reads the breath of the world beyond data;

and Practice, the conscious act of moving, creating, and leaving traces grounded in awakened cognition. These are not strategies for technological efficiency, but ways of living more clearly as human beings.

This philosophy is also reflected visually in the book’s cover. A mirror appears, and within it lies a small, tranquil lake—an allusion to Henry David Thoreau’s pond, which the author returns to as a point of inner origin. The image suggests that within the reflective surface of technology, we may rediscover a mind as calm and natural as water. Human interiority, the book reminds us, is not separate from nature—it is nature.

The journey begins with a deeply personal object: a worn notebook touched by the author’s grandmother’s hands. More than a tool for writing, it symbolizes memory, care, and warmth—values that endure even in an age obsessed with speed and efficiency. Carrying this notebook, the author chooses to craft the texture of life by hand, even while sailing through the digital ocean.

HOMO MODALLER does not dramatize fear of AI. Instead, it quietly suggests that now—precisely because technology has come so close to us—is the moment to retrieve the human heart once more. The book poses a single, resonant question to its readers:

“Before technology, who are you choosing to be as a human?”

For those who wish to slow down, reflect, and reclaim their bearings in a rapidly changing world, HOMO MODALLER offers not answers, but a steady light—an invitation to stand as human before the mirror of AI.



황상욱 기자 eyes@beyondpost.co.kr