The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy: Superintelligent AI and the Geeks Who Are Trying to Save Humanity's Future

(Paperback)

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'A fascinating and delightfully written book about some very smart people who may not, or may, be about to transform humanity forever' JON RONSON

'Beautifully written, and with wonderful humour, this is a thrilling adventure story of our own future' LEWIS DARTNELL, author of THE KNOWLEDGE and ORIGINS

Are paperclips going to destroy life as we know it

What can Mickey Mouse teach us about how to programme AI

Could a more rational approach to life be what saves us all

This is a book about about a community of people who are trying to think rationally about intelligence and what insight they can and can't give us about the future of the human race. It explains why these people are worried about an AI apocalypse, why they might be right, and why they might be wrong. It is a book about the cutting edge of our thinking on intelligence and rationality right now by the people who stay up all night worrying about it.

Reviews

A fascinating and delightfully written book about some very smart people who may not, or may, be about to transform humanity forever

Artificial Intelligence, of a superhuman level, is coming. But how soon will it emerge, and how will it impact our world Will it offer us salvation or bring apocalypse In this utterly captivating book, Tom Chivers meets both the computer engineers working to build an AI and the Rationalists striving to prevent the worst. Beautifully written, and with wonderful humour, this is a thrilling adventure story of our own future

Tom Chivers' meticulously researched book is intriguing, persuasive and eye-opening. His writing is warm and witty as he takes us on a surprisingly moving journey to decide - rationally - whether we really are playing Russian roulette with our future

An intellectual history of our times - THE TIMES

Author Bio

Tom Chivers is a science writer and author. He was awarded the Royal Statistical Society 'statistical excellence in journalism' award in 2018, and was highly commended for the same prize in 2017; he has also been shortlisted for the Association of British Science Writers award and a British Journalism Award in science writing, and won the American Psychological Society media award, all in 2017. He is the author of three books: The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy, How to Read Numbers (with David Chivers) and Everything Is Predictable.