Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World

Description

One of the Sunday Times' Business Books of the Year. Technology is putting our humanity at risk to an unprecedented degree. This book is not for engineers who write the code or the policy makers who claim they can regulate it. This is a book for you. Because, believe it or not, you are the only one that can fix it. - Mo Gawdat Artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. It can process information at lightning speed and remain focused on specific tasks without distraction. AI can see into the future, predicting outcomes and even use sensors to see around physical and virtual corners. So why does AI frequently get it so wrong? The answer is us. Humans design the algorithms that define the way that AI works, and the processed information reflects an imperfect world. Does that mean we are doomed? In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat, the internationally bestselling author of Solve for Happy, draws on his considerable expertise to answer this question and to show what we can all do now to teach ourselves and our machines how to live better. With more than thirty years' experience working at the cutting-edge of technology and his former role as chief business officer of Google [X], no one is better placed than Mo Gawdat to explain how the Artificial Intelligence of the future works. By 2049 AI will be a billion times more intelligent than humans. Scary Smart explains how to fix the current trajectory now, to make sure that the AI of the future can preserve our species. This book offers a blueprint, pointing the way to what we can do to safeguard ourselves, those we love and the planet itself.

Mo Gawdat is a serial entrepreneur, the former chief business officer of Google [X] and author of Solve for Happy. Mo has cofounded more than 20 businesses in fields such as health and fitness, food and beverage and real estate. He served as a board member in several technology, health and fitness and consumer goods companies as well as several government technology and innovation boards in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He mentors tens of start-ups at any point in time. Outside of work, when he's not writing or reading up on business and the latest technology innovations and trends, Mo spends his time drawing charcoal portraits, creating mosaics, carpentry and indulging in his passion for restoration of classic cars. Scary Smart is his second book.

Mo Gawdat is my life guru. His writing, his ideas and his generosity in sharing them has changed my life for the better in so many ways. Everything he writes is an enlightening education in how to be human. * Elizabeth Day * A proactive and bold read that provides the shake that humans need to take back our agency over AI, and therefore the fate of the world as we see it. -- Dr Camilla Pang, author of Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships From a brilliant mind comes a terrifying prediction - our puny efforts will not be enough to control the rise of the machines... Mo takes us on a whirlwind exploration of the fast-approaching singularity, and offers a desperate last chance to have a say in the future of humanity. Read this book! -- Tim Ash, bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal Brain Scary Smart is unlike anything I've ever read . . . What Mo does is help us analyze what it means to be human, by looking at what can or cannot happen with the rise of artificial intelligence. -- Poppy Jamie, author and founder of Happy Not Perfect Our brain fog about artificial intelligence makes it both exciting and terrifying in equal measure, Mo Gawdat is the expert guide you need to help decipher the realities of a complex subject. Mo writes so beautifully that a complex subject reads like a page turner. -- Bruce Daisley, Former Twitter VP and bestselling author of The Joy of Work As we face the future we can either choose to deny reality and suffer or face reality head on. We can withdraw into our own private worlds and give up on humanity or remain joyful and engaged to do our part to improve our future for our children, grandchildren, and future generations. The choice is ours. I'm choosing to "go with Mo." -- Jed Diamond, PhD, author of The Enlightened Marriage and Twelve Rules for Good Men I am so grateful for Mo's work - his ability to distill big ideas, share mind-blowing research and inspire change alongside kindness. His words have had a profound tangible impact on my life. No one ever regrets reading anything Mo Gawdat has written. -- Emma Gannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Multi-Hyphen Method and host of award-winning podcast Ctrl Alt Delete The call from Mo is loud and clear: this is the greatest responsibility of our lifetimes - to evolve and take full responsibility for how we allow reality, and in this case AI, to echo back to us our inner thoughts and actions. Thank you for giving us this genius catalyst. -- John Sanei, Future Strategist, best-selling author and Singularity University faculty member. Mo Gawdat shows, in this beautifully written book, the grave threat posed to humanity by failing to live up to our responsibility as AI's parents. He has the wisdom to know that the solution requires learning to love. -- Donald Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat fans the flames of all the classic fears about artificial intelligence. Then, he points out all the fire extinguishers and teaches us how to use them. -- Dr Robert Blswas-Diener, author of The Upside of Your Dark Side Mo Gawdat's book Scary Smart offers a fresh perspective on Artificial Intelligence. Rather than simply focus on the future impact of AI on people's lives, he highlights the importance of the values we impart to it, rather like parents. His in-depth knowledge of the industry, coupled with his ability to examine what it means to be human, makes fascinating reading. This book has given me a whole new perspective on how we envisage our world. Artificial Intelligence is not separate from us, it reflects our human-ness, so we better get it right. -- Bodour Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Publishing Group I believe Mo is one of the most important voices of our time. He possess a rare combination of authenticity, insight and intelligence. Scary Smart is ultimately a book about taking responsibility and working with the facts. It's a fascinating read that addresses the very real concerns of Artifical Intelligence for all our futures. This book will challenge you in a very healthy way. -- Owen O'Kane, psychotherapist and Sunday Times bestselling author It takes a great writer to make something so complex seem so simple to a bloke like me. Mo Gawdat is a truly great writer. Combining decades of experience in business and technology with his research and writings on happiness and philosophy, my eyes were opened to just how smart (and scary) the digital world around us is about to become... and exactly what it may mean for us mere humans. -- Adam Ashton, host of the What You Will Learn podcast Mo Gawdat's book brilliantly explores one of the most pressing issues of our time. He does it with simplicity while not compromising on rigor; the scope of his project is broad while his insights are deep. Reading Scary Smart can help us become smarter about what we do today, so that we can better prepare for, and be less scared of, the future. -- Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, Founder of the Happiness Studies Academy It's time to choose. ...Avoid reality and hide or empower yourself and lead on. Will you give up on our best self - your humanity - or be proactive, engaged and dynamic to enhance our future with more human values? There is always a choice. .... "go with Mo."... BE MORE HUMAN. That's my choice. -- Rajshree Patel, author of The Power of Vital Force This book is scary good. It will open your eyes to all the ways that AI already shapes our daily lives and to the choices we face in creating a future where we are no longer in charge. Mo Gawdat asks what it is about being human that we most want to preserve, and then shows us the urgency of fighting for those values each time we choose where to click. -- Dr. Robert Waldinger, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Harvard Study of Adult Development There is no more important message for humanity than the content of Scary Smart. We must take responsibility for our future with respect to AI, and lean into the power of human love and trust. Mo Gawdat is the best person I know, to bring these solutions to us in a tangible and thought provoking way. Choose this book to choose a better path and purpose in life. -- Tara Swart, Neuroscientist and bestselling author of The Source Whether AI will help or harm humankind is ultimately in our hands. In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat helps us understand how sci-fi is now sci-fact and the actions we need to take to create AI for good and in turn create good AI. -- Helen Tupper, co-author of The Squiggly Career Mo is an exquisite writer and speaker with deep expertise of technology as well as a passionate appreciation for the importance of human connection and happiness. He possesses a set of overlapping skills and a breadth of knowledge in the fields of both human psychology and tech which is a rarity. This book will teach you how to navigate the scary and inevitable intrusion of AI as well as who really is in control. Us. -- Dr Rupy Aujla, MBBS, BSc, MRCGP, Founder of "The Doctor's Kitchen" Reading Mo's outstanding book Scary Smart reminded me of Gandhi's Seven Blunders of the World, one of which is SCIENCE WITHOUT HUMANITY. We have used our knowledge to exploit, dominate, oppress, impoverish humanity for personal gains. Now the same people are creating Artificial Intelligence. How do we know AI will not be worse than the Genuine Intelligence that brought us to this sorry state? -- Arun Gandhi, Peace Farmer and Grandson of Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat gives a tour de force in educating us both in regard to the dangers of artificial intelligence but also shining a mirror on our own failings and biases which prevent us from seeing this reality. It always offers us a clear path to our own salvation. Humbling and profound. -- James R. Doty, M.D., founder of the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) and New York Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop