Description

The definitive account of the race to create artificial intelligence

‘This colourful page-turner puts artificial intelligence into a human perspective . . . Metz explains this transformative technology and makes the quest thrilling.’ Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
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Long dismissed as a technology of the distant future, artificial intelligence was a project once consigned to the fringes of the scientific community. Then two researchers changed everything. One was a 64-year-old computer science professor with a back problem so severe he could not drive or fly. The other was a 36-year-old neuroscientist and chess prodigy. Though they took very different paths, together they helped catapult AI to the forefront of our daily lives and, in the process, created a business worth billions.

This is the story of that technological revolution and of the arms race it has sparked among companies that range from Google to Facebook to OpenAI. It’s the story of growing international rivalry to achieve major new breakthroughs. And it’s a story that shows both the inventive best of humankind and its darker side, as advances have been counter-balanced by issues of prejudice, bias and the invasion of privacy.

New York Times Silicon Valley journalist Cade Metz draws on unparalleled access to all the major players to create an extraordinarily vivid account of a revolution over five decades in the making. And he poses the questions that will dominate the next half-century: where will AI take us next? Are systems with truly human intelligence on the horizon? And, if so, where does that leave us?

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‘One day soon, when computers are safely driving our roads and speaking to us in complete sentences, we’ll look back at Cade Metz’s elegant, sweeping Genius Makers as their birth story – the Genesis for an age of sentient machines.’ Brad Stone, author of The Everything Store and The Upstarts

Publisher Review

One day soon, when computers are safely driving our roads and speaking to us in complete sentences, we'll look back at Cade Metz's elegant, sweeping Genius Makers as their birth story - the Genesis for an age of sentient machines. -- Brad Stone, author of THE EVERYTHING STORE and THE UPSTARTS This is the inside story of how AI entered Google, Facebook, and the rest of high tech. It is also the story of how Silicon Valley and its mega-bucks infiltrated AI and changed its course. Chock full of behind-the-scenes anecdotes and wry humour - we learn the true tale of the technology that is transforming humanity. -- Oren Etzioni, chief executive, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence Cade Metz has produced an enthralling narrative of the advance of artificial intelligence. He describes the key personalities, the seminal meetings and the crucial breakthroughs with his customary eye for detail, building them into a dramatic history of this era-defining technology. -- Kai-Fu Lee, author of AI SUPERPOWERS This colourful page-turner puts artificial intelligence into a human perspective. Through the lives of Geoff Hinton and other major players, Metz explains this transformative technology and makes the quest thrilling. -- Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of LEONARDO DA VINCI, STEVE JOBS and THE INNOVATORS In Genius Makers, Cade Metz delivers the definitive take on how AI technology came to be and what its arrival will mean for us humans. The book relies on tireless reporting and delightful writing to bring to life one of the most surprising and important stories of our time. If you want to read one book to understand AI, this is the one. -- Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of ELON MUSK