Mastering AI

Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future 

by Jeremy Kahn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Too often we mistakenly view technological development as deterministic, as if technology were a force of nature immune to our actions. This attitude robs us of agency and turns us into mere subjects. It is a dehumanizing pose, for one of our defining characteristics as a species is our ability to bend the world to our favor. And AI is bendable. It is a protean technology. We can still sculpt its final form. The decisions we make, individually and collectively, over the next few years will determine AI's fate, and our own. If we do nothing, humanity is careening toward a cliff edge; the fall may not doom us all, but it will injure us in countless ways We can act now to avoid the precipice and steer toward a brighter future that AI will help deliver. In trying to pull off this maneuver, our greatest impediment is not AI. It's us." (p. 245-6)

This book is both terrifying and encouraging. Kahn looks at how AI is developing, what it actually is and can do right now, and what it could become (good and bad). I found the deep dives into specific areas where AI is being developed, such as education, especially fascinating. Kahn is not giving us an objective view of AI, he has a very definite message about the dangers it poses and the opportunities it offers if we (both individually and as a species) can harness this technology instead of letting it harness us. 

I rarely feel like any book is one "everyone should read," but this one is an exception.