A Brief History of Intelligence

Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains

By: Max S. Bennett

Narrated by: George Newbern

Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.

In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have, for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art, identify tumors in pictures, and even steer our cars. And yet, large gaps remain in what modern AI systems can achieve—indeed, human brains still easily perform intellectual feats that we can’t replicate in AI systems. How is it possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can’t effectively load a dishwasher? As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues, finding the answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts, calamities, and clever innovations. Not only do our brains have a story to tell—the future of AI may depend on it.

Now, in A Brief History of Intelligence, Bennett bridges the gap between neuroscience and AI to tell the brain’s evolutionary story, revealing how understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI breakthroughs. Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of many top minds in neuroscience, Bennett consolidates this immense history into an approachable new framework, identifying the “Five Breakthroughs” that mark the brain’s most important evolutionary leaps forward. Each breakthrough brings new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence. Containing fascinating corollaries to developments in AI, A Brief History of Intelligence shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains, as well as where AI systems still fall short. Simply put, until AI systems successfully replicate each part of our brain’s long journey, AI systems will fail to exhibit human-like intelligence.

Endorsed and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today, Bennett’s work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story. With sweeping scope and stunning insights, A Brief History of Intelligence proves that understanding the arc of our brain’s history can unlock the tools for successfully navigating our technological future.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

timely book - great narrative. awful sound quality

really impressive feat - a comprehensive straight through narration of 4 billion years of evolution, leading up to the present dawn of AI. of course vast simplifications and in some cases speculation but overall the right level of detail for most interested non-expert readers.

the recording was terrible though. base narration was fine but there were countless cuts/edits of re-recorded content which had completely different tone from the original recording. the edits were deeper in tone and almost muffled - it was hard to tell if it was even the same narrator. personally I found it jarring.

I wish I had an easy way to copy and print the ToC

where "ToC" stands for Table of Contents. This book is so great that it merits a "Digging Deeper Into" (DDI) and, being an obsessive student of the bright ideas springing up in my choices among this Category of Audible's vast offerings(*), I would really appreciate it if the ToC that can be viewed on my cell phone, which is BTW many screens long, could be offered as a Study Guide for other obsessive readers such as me self.

And while you are at it, dear Audible People who I love without having met you, could you also consider a more appropriate name for that Category of Your vast offerings? May I suggest something along the lines of "Digging Deeper Into" (DDI) ?

I'm just hoping this could reach an audience of sufficient cardinality ?

Narration

The fact that this book narrated by not one George Newbern, but by several different people, makes for a great distraction and a disorientating experience.

Important questions and answers

A clear and methodical approach to explore and explain the evolution of the human mind.

Objectively Good

This book was well written and researched. Some parts can be dry and boring but worth listening to if you want to understand intelligence better.