Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control - Hardcover

Russell, Stuart

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241335205 ISBN 13: 9780241335208

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2019

Synopsis

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 FINANCIAL TIMES AND MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR

Humans dream of super-intelligent machines. But what happens if we actually succeed?

Creating superior intelligence would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, according to the world's pre-eminent AI expert, it could also be the last.

In this groundbreaking book on the biggest question facing humanity, Stuart Russell explains why he has come to consider his own discipline an existential threat to our species, and lays out how we can change course before it's too late. There is no one better placed to assess the promise and perils of the dominant technology of the future than Russell, who has spent decades at the forefront of AI research. Through brilliant analogies and crisp, lucid prose, he explains how AI actually works, how it has an enormous capacity to improve our lives - but why we must ensure that we never lose control of machines more powerful than we are. Here Russell shows how we can avert the worst threats by reshaping the foundations of AI to guarantee that machines pursue our objectives, not theirs.

Profound, urgent and visionary, Human Compatible is the one book everyone needs to read to understand a future that is coming sooner than we think.

About this title

Review

This is the most important book I have read in quite some time. It lucidly explains how the coming age of artificial super-intelligence threatens human control. Crucially, it also introduces a novel solution and a reason for hope.

A must-read: this intellectual tour-de-force by one of AI's true pioneers not only explains the risks of ever more powerful artificial intelligence in a captivating and persuasive way, but also proposes a concrete and promising solution. (Professor Max Tegmark, MIT, author of 'Life 3.0')

Human Compatible made me a convert to Russell's concerns with our ability to control our upcoming creation -- super-intelligent machines. Unlike outside alarmists and futurists, Russell is a leading authority on AI. His new book will educate the public about AI more than any book I can think of, and is a delightful and uplifting read. (Judea Pearl, Turing Award-winner and author of 'The Book of Why')

In clear and compelling language, Stuart Russell describes the huge potential benefits of Artificial Intelligence, as well as the hazards and ethical challenges. It's specially welcome that a respected leading authority should offer this balanced appraisal, avoiding both hype and scaremongering. (Professor Martin Rees, Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, University of Cambridge, and author of 'On the Future')

Stuart Russell has long been the most sensible voice in computer science on the topic of AI risk. And he has now written the book we've all been waiting for. Human Compatible is a brilliant and utterly accessible guide to what will be either the best or worst technological development in human history. (Sam Harris, author of five New York Times bestsellers and host of the Making Sense podcast)

A strong case for planning for the day when machines can outsmart us. (Kirkus Review)

Persuasively argued and lucidly imagined, Human Compatible offers an unflinching, incisive look at what awaits us in the decades ahead. Stuart Russell's diagnosis of the risks and dangers of AI is convincing, and his prescription for action is compelling. No researcher has argued more persuasively about the risks of AI, nor has shown more clearly a pathway forward. Anyone who takes the future seriously should pay attention. (Brian Christian, author of 'Algorithms to Live By')

Can we coexist happily with the intelligent machines that humans will create? "Yes," answers Human Compatible, "but first..." Through a brilliant reimagining of the foundations of artificial intelligence, Russell takes you on a journey from the very beginning, explaining the questions raised by an AI-driven society and beautifully making the case for how to ensure machines remain beneficial to humans. A totally readable and crucially important guide to the future from one of the world's leading experts.

The same mix of de-mystifying authority and practical advice that Dr. Benjamin Spock once brought to the care and raising of children, Dr. Stuart Russell now brings to the care, raising, and yes, disciplining of machines. He has written the book that most -- but perhaps not all -- machines would like you to read. (George Dyson, author of 'Turing's Cathedral' and 'Project Orion')

This beautifully written book addresses a fundamental challenge for humanity: increasingly intelligent machines that do what we ask but not what we really intend. Essential reading if you care about our future. (Professor Yoshua Bengio, Computer Science and Operations Research, Université de Montréal, winner of the 2018 Turing Award)

About the Author

Stuart Russell is a professor of Computer Science and holder of the Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and an Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, University of Oxford. He has advised Number 10 and the United Nations about the risks of AI. In 1990, he received the Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation, in 1995 he was co-winner of the Computers and Thought Award and in 2005 he received the ACM Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award. He is the author (with Peter Norvig) of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, the Number One bestselling textbook in AI which is used in over 1,300 universities in 118 countries around the world. He was born in England and lives in Berkeley.

Edition details

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0241335205
• ISBN 13: 9780241335208
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352