Human Compatible

AI and the Problem of Control

By: Stuart Russell

Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill

Brought to you by Penguin.

Creating superior intelligence would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, according to the world's pre-eminent AI expert, it could also be the last.

In this groundbreaking book on the biggest question facing humanity, Stuart Russell explains why he has come to consider his own discipline an existential threat to his own species, and lays out how we can change course before it's too late. There is no one better placed to assess the promise and perils of the dominant technology of the future than Russell, who has spent decades at the forefront of AI research. Through brilliant analogies and crisp, lucid prose, he explains how AI actually works, how it has an enormous capacity to improve our lives - but why we must ensure that we never lose control of machines more powerful than we are. Here Russell shows how we can avert the worst threats by reshaping the foundations of AI to guarantee that machines pursue our objectives, not theirs.

Profound, urgent and visionary, Human Compatible is the one book everyone needs to read to understand a future that is coming sooner than we think.

Critic reviews

Surely the most important book on AI this year. (Ian Sample)

A brilliantly clear and fascinating exposition of the history of computing thus far, and how very difficult true AI will be to build. (Steven Poole)

Fascinating and significant. (James McConnachie)

Worth reading Human Compatible by Stuart Russell (he's great!) about future AI risks and solutions. (Elon Musk)

A thought-provoking and highly readable account of the past, present and future of AI . . . Russell deploys a bracing intellectual rigour . . . but a laconic style and dry humour keep his book accessible to the lay reader.

It's asking a lot of a book about the potential end of civilisation to be strewn with humour and wry asides, but this is what Russell manages . . . it's worth sticking with, for the sake of the species. (Best Science, Nature and Ideas Books of 2019)

An excellent, nuanced history.

Russell is an assiduous and conscientious scholar ... [he] provides a wealth of information. This is one of those intellectual voyages where both the journey and the destination matter. (John Naughton)

This is the most important book I have read in quite some time. It lucidly explains how the coming age of artificial super-intelligence threatens human control. Crucially, it also introduces a novel solution and a reason for hope.

Of the many books published this year on artificial intelligence, this is probably the best. Stimulating and scary stuff. (Best Books of 2019: Technology)

Fantastic Listen

A beautifully delivered narration of a great book. Stuart provides a clear understanding of the origins of AI, why we need to control its development and in trying to explain the problems with developing a general AI system actually gives a very detailed description of what makes us human and why it would be extremely difficult to emulate intelligence.

A very good listen and would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in computer science, AI, philosophy or the future of technology.

Deeply insightful, albeit probably better read than heard

Very well articulated and narrated. An insightful discussion that occasionally gets a little technical as well, for the readers with such a slant. Highly recommended.