by Max Tegmark
First published 2017
Artificial intelligence will transform crime, warfare, justice, employment, and what it means to be human. MIT professor Max Tegmark, who leads research on beneficial AI, examines these coming changes. He asks how society can harness automation for prosperity without destroying jobs or human purpose. He considers what careers today's children should pursue and how to build AI systems that work reliably without crashes or security breaches. Tegmark explores whether nations will race to develop autonomous weapons and whether machines will eventually surpass humans in every task. He weighs AI's potential to help life flourish against the risks of giving humanity more power than it can responsibly handle. The book covers controversial topics from superintelligence to consciousness and the physical limits of life in the universe. Tegmark presents multiple viewpoints on these issues and invites readers to shape the conversation about humanity's technological future.
Genres: science, non-fiction, artificial-intelligence, computer-science
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: academic
Setting: MIT
Period: 21st-century
364 pages · Hardcover · Knopf