How To Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed

Susskind (Online Courts and the Future of Justice), a legal scholar with almost 40 years of experience with artificial intelligence, offers readers a basic history of the theories, technology, and science behind AI, considers possible future developments, and ponders their effects on society and even human evolution. The questions he raises and the determined focus he brings to them feel almost overwhelming at times, yet he makes a powerful case for staying alert and curious and not simply surrendering to a digital overlord. With clarity and precision, Susskind gives readers the basic knowledge and vocabulary needed to weigh AI’s benefits against its possible harms. Because of his legal background, the book often turns to regulatory questions instead of grappling with the prophetic import of the term “artificial” in AI.