Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era - Softcover

Barrat, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1529434629 ISBN 13: 9781529434620

Publisher: Quercus, 2023

Synopsis

'I wish it was science fiction, but I know it's not' Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype

'If you read just one book that makes you confront scary high-tech realities that we'll soon have no choice but to address, make it this one' Washington Post

'The best book yet written on the most important problem of the twenty-first century' Luke Muehlhauser, Executive Director, Machine Intelligence Research Institute

'Science fiction has long explored the implications of humanlike machines, but Barrat's thoughtful treatment adds a dose of reality' Science News

Corporations and government agencies around the world have for years been pouring billions into achieving AI's Holy Grail - human-level intelligence.

Once AI has attained it, scientists argue, it will have survival drives much like our own. We may be forced to compete with a rival more cunning, more powerful, and more alien than we can imagine.

First published ten years ago, Our Final Invention predicted much of the artificial 'intelligence explosion' that is now ripping through our culture. Now with an urgent new preface, James Barrat's landmark work explores the ethics, history and future perils of the heedless pursuit of advanced AI.

Until now, human intelligence has had no rival. Can we coexist with beings whose intelligence dwarfs our own? And will they allow us to?

About this title

About the Author

James Barrat is a documentary filmmaker who's written and produced films for National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, and many other broadcasters in the United States and Europe. He lives near Washington, DC with his wife and two children.

From the Back Cover

An urgent study of the history, science and existential dangers of Artificial Intelligence, named by Elon Musk as one of the five books everyone should read about the future.
'I wish it was science fiction, but I know it's not.' Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype

'If you read just one book that makes you confront scary high-tech realities that we'll soon have no choice but to address, make it this one.' Washington Post

Corporations and government agencies around the world have for years been pouring billions into achieving AI's Holy Grail - human-level intelligence. But once AI has attained it, scientists argue, it will have survival drives much like our own. We may be forced to compete with a rival more cunning, more powerful, and more alien than we can imagine.

First published ten years ago, Our Final Invention predicted much of the artificial 'intelligence explosion' that is now ripping through our culture, and was named by Elon Musk as one of five books everyone should read about the future. Now with an urgent new preface, James Barrat's landmark work explores the ethics, history and future perils of the heedless pursuit of advanced AI. Until now, human intelligence has had no rival. Can we coexist with beings whose intelligence dwarfs our own? And will they allow us to?

Edition details

• Publisher: Quercus
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529434629
• ISBN 13: 9781529434620
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352