Genesis
Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
THE FOLLOW UP TO THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER THE AGE OF AI
In his final book, the late Henry Kissinger joins forces with two leading technologists to mount a profound exploration of the epochal challenges and opportunities presented by the revolution in Artificial Intelligence.
As it absorbs data, gains agency, and intermediates between humans and reality, AI (Artificial Intelligence) will help us to address enormous crises, from climate change to geopolitical conflicts to income inequality. It might well solve some of the greatest mysteries of our universe and elevate the human spirit to unimaginable heights. But it will also pose challenges on a scale and of an intensity that we have never seen - usurping our power of independent judgment and action, testing our relationship with the divine, and perhaps even spurring a new phase in human evolution.
The last book of elder statesman Henry Kissinger, written with technologists Craig Mundie and Eric Schmidt, Genesis charts a course between blind faith and unjustified fear as it outlines an effective strategy for navigating the age of AI.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The late former secretary of state Kissinger and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who previously collaborated on 2021's The Age of A.I., team up with technology consultant Craig Mundie for this warmed-over consideration of how AI might change the world. Their prognostication careens between the dystopian and utopian. On the one hand, they caution that countries might weaponize AI to sic supercharged computer viruses on their enemies' digital infrastructure, and that humans' inability to understand how AI reaches its conclusions might "catalyze a return to a premodern acceptance of unexplained authority." On the other hand, the technology might raise living standards by devising cheap "synthetic substitutes" for in-demand physical resources like oil and gas, or extend lifespans by editing genomes. Unfortunately, the authors offer precious little in the way of evidence and lean heavily on speculation. For instance, their assertion that machines could one day achieve sentience is grounded only in their faith in the inevitability of technological progress. They give short shrift to AI's well-documented limitations, and the policy recommendation to pursue AI development in a manner consistent with humanity's "moral convictions" is a vague cop-out. This doesn't add anything of significance to the conversation on AI.
