Bøker av Calum Chace

Artificial intelligence is our most powerful technology, and in the coming decades it will change everything in our lives. If we get it right it will make humans almost godlike. If we get it wrong... well, extinction is not the worst possible outcome."Surviving AI" is a concise, easy-to-read guide to what's coming, taking you through technological unemployment (the economic singularity) and the possible creation of a superintelligence (the technological singularity).Here's what some of the leading thinkers in the field have to say about it: A sober and easy-to-read review of the risks and opportunities that humanity will face from AI.Jaan Tallinn - co-founder of SkypeUnderstanding AI - its promise and its dangers - is emerging as one of the great challenges of coming decades and this is an invaluable guide to anyone who's interested, confused, excited or scared. David Shukman - BBC Science EditorWe have recently seen a surge in the volume of scholarly analysis of this topic; Chace impressively augments that with this high-quality, more general-audience discussion.Aubrey de Grey - CSO of SENS Research Foundation; former AI researcherIt's rare to see a book about the potential End of the World that is fun to read without descending into sensationalism or crass oversimplification. Ben Goertzel - chairman of Novamente LLCCalum Chace is a prescient messenger of the risks and rewards of artificial intelligence. In "Surviving AI" he has identified the most essential issues and developed them with insight and wit - so that the very framing of the questions aids our search for answers. Chace's sensible balance between AI's promise and peril makes "Surviving AI" an excellent primer for anyone interested in what's happening, how we got here, and where we are headed. Kenneth Cukier - co-author of "Big Data"If you're not thinking about AI, you're not thinking. "Surviving AI" combines an essential grounding in the state of the art with a survey of scenarios that will be discussed with equal vigor at cocktail parties and academic colloquia.Chris Meyer - author of "Blur", "It's Alive", and "Standing on the Sun"The appearance of Calum Chace's book is of some considerable personal satisfaction to me, because it signifies the fact that the level of social awareness of the rise of massively intelligent machines has finally reached the mainstream. If you want to survive the next few decades, you cannot afford NOT to read Chace's book.Prof. Dr. Hugo de Garis - former director of the Artificial Brain Lab, Xiamen University, China"Surviving AI" is an exceptionally clear, well-researched and balanced introduction to a complex and controversial topic, and is a compelling read to boot.Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh - executive director of Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential RiskIn "Surviving AI", Calum Chace provides a marvellously accessible guide to the swirls of controversy that surround discussion of what is likely to be the single most important event in human history - the emergence of artificial superintelligence. Throughout, "Surviving AI" remains clear and jargon-free.David Wood - chair of London FuturistsArtificial intelligence is the most important technology of our era. Technological unemployment could force us to adopt an entirely new economic structure, and the creation of superintelligence would be the biggest event in human history. "Surviving AI" is a first-class introduction to all of this.Brad Feld - co-founder of Techstars

"Read The Economic Singularity if you want to think intelligently about the future."Aubrey de GreyArtificial intelligence (AI) is overtaking our human ability to absorb and process information. Robots are becoming increasingly dextrous, flexible, and safe to be around (except the military ones). It is our most powerful technology, and you need to understand it. This new book from best-selling AI writer Calum Chace argues that within a few decades, most humans will not be able to work for money. Self-driving cars will probably be the canary in the coal mine, providing a wake-up call for everyone who isn't yet paying attention. All jobs will be affected, from fast food McJobs to lawyers and journalists. This is the single most important development facing humanity in the first half of the 21st century.The fashionable belief that Universal Basic Income is the solution is only partly correct. We are probably going to need an entirely new economic system, and we better start planning soon - for the Economic Singularity! The outcome can be very good - a world in which machines do all the boring jobs and humans do pretty much what they please. But there are major risks, which we can only avoid by being alert to the possible futures and planning how to avoid the negative ones.ENDORSEMENTS"The advance of automation, described with great care and accuracy in this book, will almost certainly constitute the substrate within which all other technological developments - be they biomedical, environmental or something else entirely - will occur, and thus within which they should be discussed as regards their value to humanity. Read "The Economic Singularity" if you want to think intelligently about the future."Aubrey de Grey - CSO of SENS Research Foundation; former AI researcher"Following his insightful foray into the burgeoning AI revolution and associated existential risks in Surviving AI, Calum focuses his attention on a nearer term challenge - the likelihood that intelligent machines will render much of humanity unemployable in the foreseeable future. Once again he proves a reliable guide through this complex yet fascinating topic."Ben Medlock, co-founder of Swiftkey, the best-selling app on Android"Calum Chace is an acknowledged expert on the likely impact of artificial intelligence on society. In his new book, he investigates the possibility that machine intelligence will, over the coming few decades, make it impossible for most people to find paid work. He arrives at some surprising and radical conclusions, which merit careful consideration."Hugh Pym, former chief economics correspondent, BBC News"The Economic Singularity is fascinating. I couldn't put this book down."Ben Goldsmith - Menhaden Capital"Chace does a good job answering the question whether robots will take our jobs."Prof. Dr. Hugo de Garis - former director of the Artificial Brain Lab, Xiamen University, China"This fast-paced new book explains the challenge facing humanity: to navigate through a dramatic transition which he christens the economic singularity. Unexpectedly, it threatens the end of capitalism itself, and potentially the fracturing of the human species."David Wood - chairman, London Futurists"Unprecedented productivity gains and unlimited leisure-what could possibly go wrong? Everything, says Calum Chace, if we don't evolve a social system suited to the inevitable world of connected intelligent systems."Christopher Meyer, author of "Blur", "Future Wealth", and "Standing on the Sun""It's important that this book and others like it are written. Not because the future will necessarily happen exactly in the way described, but because it's important to be prepared if it does."Dr Stuart Armstrong, James Martin Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University

Humanity creates god. Can humanity survive?The mind of a student named Matt has been uploaded into a supercomputer, but before he can achieve a fraction of his potential, his uploaded mind is captured and effectively frozen by a group within the US intelligence services. A couple of years later, this group need Matt's help to tackle an existential threat to humanity. The risks are terrifying, but Matt agrees to help - after all, he has his own plans for the future.Pandora's Oracle is a high-concept techno-thriller which describes our future after the arrival on earth of the first artificial super-intelligence. It is the sequel to Pandora's Brain."Great story, engaging characters, fast pacing, smooth integration of the technology, using language that lay people can understand. I really enjoyed Pandora's Brain, and Pandora's Oracle is even better." - Jeff Pinsker, CEO at Amigo Games