How AI Ate the World

Artificial intelligence will shake up life in the 2020s as dramatically as the internet did in the 2000s. This accessible, up-to-date book charts AI’s rise from its origins in Cold War America to its imminent and far-reaching impact on us today. Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker (TikTok Boom and YouTubers) goes into the laboratories of the Silicon Valley innovators making rapid advances in ‘large language models’ of machine learning. He meets the insiders at Google and OpenAI who built Bard and ChatGPT and reveals the extraordinary plans they have for them. And he explores the dark side of AI by talking to workers who have lost their jobs to chatbots and engages with futurologists worried that we are creating a dangerous super-intelligence that could threaten humankind. Along the way, he answers critical questions about the AI revolution, such as what, if anything, humanity is jeopardising; the professions that will win and lose; and whether the existential threat Elon Musk and Sam Altman warn about is realistic - or a smokescreen to divert attention away from their growing power. How AI Ate the World is a ‘start here’ guide for anyone who wants to know more about the next big tech wave. It’s vital reading.

Auteur

Chris Stokel-Walker is a freelance English journalist, specialising in technology. He regularly contributes to the BBC, Washington Post, New York Times, WIRED, Economist, Guardian, New Scientist and Newsweek, and appears on the BBC, Sky News, CNN, Al Jazeera, Times Radio and other TV channels and radio stations.Chris is author of YouTubers: How YouTube Shook Up TV and Created a New Generation of Stars (2019, Canbury Press), and TikTok Boom: China's Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media (2021, Canbury Press) - the first popular book on TikTok.His latest book is The History of the Internet in Byte-Sized Chunks (2023, Michael O'Mara Books).

Texte du rabat

Charts AI’s rise from its Cold War origins to its impact now and in the future. 'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives' – The Daily Telegraph

Résumé
Charts AI's rise from its Cold War origins to its impact now and in the future. 'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives' The Daily Telegraph

Contenu

INTRODUCTION 1

PART 1: ORIGINS 6

Chapter 1: MAGIC MUSHROOMS AND A MAGIC TOOL 8

Chapter 2: THE FATHERS OF AI 14

Chapter 3: THE AI WINTER LOOMS 27

Chapter 4: OVER TO JAPAN 35

Chapter 5: SHALL WE PLAY A GAME? 45

Chapter 6: READY STEADY, GO! 54

Chapter 7: THE BATTLE FOR AI CHIPS 61

Chapter 8: THE BIRTH OF OPENAI 72

Chapter 9: ATTENTION TRANSFORMS FORTUNES 82

Chapter 10: ENTER MICROSOFT 89

PART 2: IMPACTS 100

Chapter 11: MAKING WORK WORK 102

Chapter 12: AI DOOMERS 114

Chapter 13: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MIDJOURNEY 127

Chapter 14: MEET THE PROMPT ENGINEERS 138

Chapter 15: AI’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 143

Chapter 16: AI ART 152

Chapter 17: MISINFORMATION 167

Chapter 18: DISINFORMATION 179

Chapter 19: PROFIT BEFORE PEOPLE 197

Chapter 20: CODED BIASES 202

PART 3: ISSUES 214

Chapter 21: THE HUMAN SIDE OF AI 216

Chapter 22: AI MUSIC, MOVIES AND BOOKS 225

Chapter 23: AI AND LONELINESS 236

Chapter 24: MOATS AND DEFENCES 244

Chapter 25: THE AI FIELD EXPANDS (AND CONTRACTS) 249

Chapter 26: TAMING BIG TECH 257

Chapter 27: OPENAI AT WAR 273

Chapter 28: SOVEREIGN AI 282

Chapter 29: WHERE ARE WE GOING? 288