Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Description

A.I. is the future of science, technology, and business - and there's no one better to explore that future than Max Tegmark We stand at the beginning of a new era. What was once science fiction is fast becoming reality, as AI transforms war, crime, justice, jobs and society-and, even, our very sense of what it means to be human. More than any other technology, AI has the potential to revolutionize our collective future - and there's nobody better situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor and co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, whose work has helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial. In this deeply researched and vitally important new book, Tegmark takes us to the heart of thinking about AI and the human condition, bringing us face to face with the essential questions of our time. What sort of future do we want? Life 3.0 gives us the tools to join what may be the most important conversation of our time.

Max Tegmark is a professor of physics at MIT and president of the Future of Life Institute. He is the author of Our Mathematical Universe, and he has featured in dozens of science documentaries. His passion for ideas, adventure, and an inspiring future is infectious.

All of us - not only scientists, industrialists and generals-should ask ourselves what can we do now to improve the chances of reaping the benefits of future AI and avoiding the risks. This is the most important conversation of our time, and Tegmark's thought-provoking book will help you join it -- Prof. Stephen Hawking This is a rich and visionary book and everyone should read it. -- Oliver Moody * Sunday Times * I was riveted by this book. The transformational consequences of AI may soon be upon us -but will they be utopian or catastrophic? The jury is out, but this enlightening, lively and accessible book by a distinguished scientist helps us to assess the odds. -- Prof. Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, cosmology pioneer, author of Our Final Hour This is a compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life, intelligence and consciousness - on Earth and beyond. -- Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors Being an eminent physicist and the leader of the Future of Life Institute has given Max Tegmark a unique vantage point from which to give the reader an inside scoop on the most important issue of our time, in a way that is approachable without being dumbed down. -- Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype Max seeks to facilitate a much wider conversation about what kind of future we, as a species, would want to create. Though the topics he covers - AI, cosmology, values, even the nature of conscious experience - can be fairly challenging, he presents them in an unintimidating manner that invites the reader to form her own opinions. -- Prof. Nick Bostrom, Founder of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, author of Superintelligence The unprecedented power unleashed by artificial intelligence means the next decade could be humanity's best - or worst. Max has written the most insightful and just plain fun exploration of AI's implications that I've ever read. If you haven't been exposed to Max's joyful mind yet, you're in for a huge treat. -- Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and co-author of "The Second Machine Age" Max's new book is a deeply thoughtful guide to the most important conversation of our time, about how to create a benevolent future civilization as we merge our biological thinking with an even greater intelligence of our own creation. -- Ray Kurzweil, Inventor, Author and Futurist, author of The Singularity is Near and How to Create a Mind This is an exhilarating book that will change the way we think about AI, intelligence, and the future of humanity. -- Bart Selman, Professor of Computer Science, Cornell University Tegmark successfully gives clarity to the many faces of AI, creating a highly readable book [...] Enjoy the ride, and you will come out the other end with a greater appreciation of where people might take technology and themselves in the years ahead. * Science * Stands out ... Tegmark explains brilliantly many concepts in fields from computing to cosmology, writes with intellectual modesty and subtlety, does the reader the important service of defining his terms clearly, and rightly pays homage to the creative minds of science-fiction writers who were, of course, addressing these kinds of questions more than half a century ago. It's often very funny, too. -- Steven Poole * The Telegraph * Fascinating ... for sheer science fun, it's hard to beat -- Stuart Russell * Nature * Lucid and engaging [...] Tegmark's explanation of how electronic circuitry - or a human brain - could produce something as evanescent and immaterial as thought is both elegant and enlightening. -- Frank Rose * Wall Street Journal * It should be among the most important items on our political agenda. Unfortunately, AI has so far hardly registered on our political radar ... Max Tegmark's Life 3.0 tries to rectify the situation. Written in an accessible and engaging style, and aimed at the general public, the book offers a political and philosophical map of the promises and perils of the AI revolution. Instead of pushing any one agenda or prediction, Tegmark seeks to cover as much ground as possible, reviewing a wide variety of scenarios concerning the impact of AI on the job market, warfare and political systems. Life 3.0 does a good job of clarifying basic terms and key debates, and in dispelling common myths. -- Yuval Noah Harari * The Guardian * Tegmark's smart, freewheeling discussion leads to fascinating speculations on AI-based civilizations spanning galaxies and eons-and knotty questions: Will our digital overlords be conscious? Will they coddle us with abudance and virtual-reality idylls or exterminate us with bumblebee-size attack robots? While digerati may be enthralled by the idea of superintelligent civilizations where "beautiful theorems" servce as the main economic resource, Tegmark's future will strike many as a one in which, at best, humans are dependent on AI-powered technology and, at worst, are extinct... Love it or hate it, it's an engrossing forecast. * Publishers Weekly * 'I view this conversation about the future of AI as the most important one of our time,' he writes. Life 3.0 might convince even those who believe that AI is overhyped to join in. -- Clive Cookson * Financial Times * Explores one of the most intriguing scientific frontiers, artificial general intelligence, and how humans can grow along with it. ... most will find the narrative irresistible. * Kirkus Reviews *