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1. Profound Discourse on the future of AI
   This book made me stop and think about the future that my kids and grandkids will face. The AI revolution from AI 1.0 (i.e. machine learning : voice and face recognition in the mobile devices) through ChatGPT (LLM) to AGI and beyond has already changed our daily lives….A real deep book that I highly recommend.

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2. There is no stopping this ai train
   Difficult to read at times. Big words made it more challenging. Wealth of knowledge for the future that is now.

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3. The ultimate duality of promise and risk.
   This is, without a doubt, the most absorbing book I have read this year. And the topic couldn’t be more timely or relevant to all of us.By way of housekeeping, the authors do not wander into the weeds of algorithms or the technical details of machine learning. The book is a conceptual analysis of the possible future of AIs relative to politics, security/warfare, prosperity, and science. That analysis, moreover, is thorough, incredibly insightful, and balanced. Few conclusions yet, for as the authors point out we are early in the journey. It is a journey, nonetheless, that is proceeding much faster than anyone expected.I admit that before starting the book I was expecting both a more assured assessment of the future and a decidedly more anthropomorphistic take on the technology itself. I naturally lean the other way. While I am enthralled by quantum physics and quite comfortable in the world of advanced mathematics, I naturally bring a contrarian’s suspicion to most topics. While I understand and admire technology for what it is, I am inclined to believe, as Freud said, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”Early in the book I thought the authors might prove me right. Not far into it, however, I realized I was decidedly mistaken. For authors who helped to shape, and were undoubtedly amply rewarded by, the tech revolution, I found them to be pleasantly balanced in their perspective. These are people who think deeply and conscientiously. There were hints at biased projection but that was ultimately brought back into a candid assessment of reality.My concern about AI has been less about its promise, or its risk, than in who is controlling its development and deployment. For now, it is the owners of capital, not the citizenry, and I have come to question their motives. They will invest in developing that AI which promises the greatest return on capital, not that which propels the world forward.In the forward, Niall Ferguson writes: “Technological advances can have both benign and malign consequences, depending on how we collectively decide to exploit them.” The problem is that “we” are deciding nothing when it comes to AI. That is all being decided by the owners of capital who may or may not share our collective values or even have our collective interests at heart. I fully expect that AI will release untold wealth. As it stands now, however, that wealth will accrue to a handful of people, not society at large.One of the most promising fountains of wealth creation is the development of AI-empowered weapons systems that are designed to think independently of human overseers. That is happening today. There are already people working diligently to develop autonomous weapons systems before the world at large has developed comprehensive guidelines for the technology’s application. That, to me, is frightful.I am particularly concerned because it has become commonplace, in our frenzied modern world, to oversimplify everything. The most relevant truth always exists in context and context is made up of a near-infinite number of variables, all inter-connected. If we oversimplify in the world of AI, we risk annihilation, or worse, enslavement.The authors write, “We are trying to build something modeled on the brain – and superior to the brain – while still not fully understanding the brain itself.” That is scary. Politicians do the same thing when it comes to the economy, and it seldom ends well.In the end, the philosophical dissonance that AI seems to generate, brings me back to a question asked since the beginning of time: “Does evil exist?” I don’t think so, but I’m not quite ready to let the capitalists take this ball and run without any constraints.A great book, extremely well written. It will make you think. I highly recommend it.

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4. Unsatisfying
   Those with a philosophical bent will find this book much more worthwhile than I did. To begin with, the authors take it as a matter of fact that AIs will be able to do everything imaginable – including inventing new synthetic materials that will allow them to build enormous cities that will house all of humanity (to give only one of hundreds of statements). At the same time, they dismiss out of hand as impossible the potential for AIs to achieve something equivalent to sentience (even though, the authors believe, they will be able to perform other miracles), thereby dodging the question of what rights an AI should have that achieves sentience, or how sentience should be defined.Similarly, the concept of the use of AI for criminal purposes is not addressed, even though that is already occurring and will certainly be more pervasive than many of the other dangers the authors do address. But most of all, I felt that the endless numbers of sweeping, unsupported generalizations, statements and assumptions considerably weakened and undermined the validity of the book.Lastly, the authors seek to cover endless numbers of possibilities, but rarely at depth in a book that easily could have been longer than its moderate 288 pages. The result is more issue spotting than solutions.

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5. In depth AI assessment
   Excellent and in depth review of the status and challenges of AI and the ability to align humans and AI

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6. Humans as Pets
   The science fiction novels I read 50 years ago are now becoming actual experience. This is the most important book I have read this year. Will AI bring heaven or hell? Will our own creations destroy us. Or will they rule over us? Will they someday rule the world doing all the work and making all the decisions? While keeping us as pets to feed and care for? Will they breed us turning us from wolves into lap dogs?

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7. thought provoking
   This is my second read on AI. The first was “Nexus” by Harari. Together they provide a good introduction to the subject, “Genesis” more philosophical and hopeful, “Nexus” more grounded and scary.My summary thinking at this point is that the rapid further development of AI is now inevitable, and humanity, as I see it, is most likely to mishandle it. Both books lay out the criteria for its success very well and very carefully. “Nexus” gives some specific examples, in the use by Totalitarian countries like Russia, and in the handling of race in the US. “Genesis” lays out quite fully the safeguards and recovery mechanisms that will be necessary for AI not to result in great harm to the human race.If AI in its most complete implementation overcomes all its obstacles, humanity will be lifted to another level.

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8. Must read
   Inspiring and challenging read. Changed my mind about AI. I hope I live long enough to enjoy it’s impact on humanity.

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9. Just as no one is aware of when the soul enters the fetus, nor will AI be able to do as well. The soul is where our awareness and consciousness comes from. The beautiful and powerful way love’s magnetic power merges the body and soul into one, is one of the mysteries in this universe. Love is who we are. AI may eventually help us understand this.

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10. It’s a good book – it’s incisive and substantively strong. But the writing is irritating – some may find the tone ‘elegant’; I just found it pretentious and unnecessarily difficult to follow. Shame, as I would have given the book 4 or even 5 stars if it had just been written more straightforwardly. The poor writing alone will undoubtedly alienate many otherwise interested readers.

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11. Thoughtful and timely with a lasting importance to a wide range of stakeholders and the future. A fitting legacy to Henry Kissinger.

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12. If you enjoy writing replete with obscure terminology coupled with excessive complexity merely for complexity’s sake, this tome is for you.

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13. very comprehensive

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