Full Works
Richard Louden
An AI practitioner applying artificial intelligence to complex problems — from ancient texts to modern democratic institutions.
Books
Democracies don’t explode. They decay. American Democracy: A System Corrupted is the first book to use Artificial Intelligence as an unbiased auditor of American democratic health — scoring the U.S. system year by year from 1990 through 2025 using a framework rooted in the scholarship of how republics fail. The result: a nation that has drifted from a healthy score of 8.5 to 79 on a 100-point severity index — the threshold of competitive authoritarianism. Cross-validated across three independent AI models, the analysis documents erosion under both parties.
The Autocracy Index — Companion site →Coming Soon
Rick’s first project applied AI to one of humanity’s oldest and most debated texts — using it to cut through two thousand years of interpretation and extract the practical, universal wisdom embedded in the parables of Jesus.
Uses AI for research and visual illustration to extract the practical wisdom of Jesus’ parables and apply them to the challenges of modern daily life.
Available on Amazon →The Autocracy Index
A transparent, reproducible methodology for scoring the health of democratic institutions. Richard designed the 10-Step Authoritarian Roadmap framework and conducts the AI-assisted research that powers every score. The Index tracks American democracy from 1990 to present, cross-validated across three independent AI models.
The Straight Record
Video commentary hosted by Richard Louden. Published Tuesday and Thursday.
Details coming soon
Music
Rick wrote two songs for his wife Debbie during her fight with cancer — both professionally produced and recorded. They capture what she means to him in ways words alone could not.
Rick and Debbie Louden
Written as a tribute to his wife early in her battle with cancer. That battle is ongoing years later, and so is his urge to express his feelings in ways he could not before.
Professionally produced and sung as a tribute to his wife Debbie — reflecting what she means to him during the hardest time of their lives.