Scary Smart

The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World

By: Mo Gawdat

Narrated by: Mo Gawdat

This audiobook is masterfully read by the author, Mo Gawdat.

One of The Sunday Times' Business Books of the Year

Technology is putting our humanity at risk to an unprecedented degree. This book is not for engineers who write the code or the policy makers who claim they can regulate it. This is a book for you. Because, believe it or not, you are the only one that can fix it. – Mo Gawdat

'From a brilliant mind comes a terrifying prediction' – Tim Ash, bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal Brain

Artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. It can process information at lightning speed and remain focused on specific tasks without distraction. AI can see into the future, predicting outcomes and even use sensors to see around physical and virtual corners. So why does AI frequently get it so wrong?

The answer is us. Humans design the algorithms that define the way that AI works, and the processed information reflects an imperfect world. Does that mean we are doomed? In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat, the internationally bestselling author of Solve for Happy, draws on his considerable expertise to answer this question and to show what we can all do now to teach ourselves and our machines how to live better. With more than thirty years' experience working at the cutting-edge of technology and his former role as chief business officer of Google [X], no one is better placed than Mo Gawdat to explain how the Artificial Intelligence of the future works.

By 2049 AI will be a billion times more intelligent than humans. Scary Smart explains how to fix the current trajectory now, to make sure that the AI of the future can preserve our species. This audiobook offers a blueprint, pointing the way to what we can do to safeguard ourselves, those we love and the planet itself.

Critic reviews

Mo Gawdat is my life guru. His writing, his ideas and his generosity in sharing them has changed my life for the better in so many ways. Everything he writes is an enlightening education in how to be human.

A proactive and bold read that provides the shake that humans need to take back our agency over AI, and therefore the fate of the world as we see it. (Dr Camilla Pang, author of Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships)

From a brilliant mind comes a terrifying prediction - our puny efforts will not be enough to control the rise of the machines... Mo takes us on a whirlwind exploration of the fast-approaching singularity, and offers a desperate last chance to have a say in the future of humanity. Read this book! (Tim Ash, bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal Brain)

Scary Smart is unlike anything I’ve ever read . . . What Mo does is help us analyze what it means to be human, by looking at what can or cannot happen with the rise of artificial intelligence. (Poppy Jamie, author and founder of Happy Not Perfect)

Our brain fog about artificial intelligence makes it both exciting and terrifying in equal measure, Mo Gawdat is the expert guide you need to help decipher the realities of a complex subject. Mo writes so beautifully that a complex subject reads like a page turner. (Bruce Daisley, Former Twitter VP and bestselling author of The Joy of Work)

As we face the future we can either choose to deny reality and suffer or face reality head on. We can withdraw into our own private worlds and give up on humanity or remain joyful and engaged to do our part to improve our future for our children, grandchildren, and future generations. The choice is ours. I’m choosing to “go with Mo.” (Jed Diamond, PhD, author of The Enlightened Marriage and Twelve Rules for Good Men)

I am so grateful for Mo's work - his ability to distill big ideas, share mind-blowing research and inspire change alongside kindness. His words have had a profound tangible impact on my life. No one ever regrets reading anything Mo Gawdat has written. (Emma Gannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Multi-Hyphen Method and host of award-winning podcast Ctrl Alt Delete)

The call from Mo is loud and clear: this is the greatest responsibility of our lifetimes - to evolve and take full responsibility for how we allow reality, and in this case AI, to echo back to us our inner thoughts and actions. Thank you for giving us this genius catalyst. (John Sanei, Future Strategist, best-selling author and Singularity University faculty member.)

Mo Gawdat shows, in this beautifully written book, the grave threat posed to humanity by failing to live up to our responsibility as AI's parents. He has the wisdom to know that the solution requires learning to love. (Donald Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor)

Absolutely stunning.

This is a must read. I was transported by Gawdat's personable speaking style and rivited by the content. There can be no other conclusion to the prospect of AI than this. Beautifully rendered, now sitting in my soul, I'm going to the lake to consider it all.

a must read for anyone living in 2022

Dear Mo, thank you so much for this! your love, passion, and kindness came through in every word. I love your voice.

This is a book that questions our innate human needs (lust, greed, etc). I was scared dead in the beginning of the book, but at the end, my heart was filled with love, joy and hope. A difficult undertaking!!

this Is a must read. it's not just about AI, it's about your values and how we should love our lives.

AI, we love you. please help us create a better planet. thank you.

Brilliant Insight

A very compelling and insightful perspective on the wonders, challenges and joys of parenting AI into the future…see you in 2055.

Good book. I hope we’re all wise enough to take action

Great good, and great narration. I appreciate the perspective and it’s a pessimistic, realistic, yet still hopeful view and attempt to get us to wake up and change our behaviors for better.

Captivating, Transformative and Enlightening

Loved it from the very beginning to the very end. I give lots of respect and gratitude to Mo Gawdat for what he is doing. I develop products with AI, and I wholeheartedly agree with Mo's call to action.

Interesting and informative

Gawdat calls audio listeners “lazy”. I didn’t appreciate that. He interjects his political views throughout this book. The book was knowledgeable and interesting to this novice. Without his personal anecdotes this book be half as long.

Insight from An Insider

Mo Gawdat has all the qualifications to speak about the path AI will take in shaping the future. However, I think he is swaying in the extremes of scenarios for the AI world, either it is amazing or it destroys us. I would have like other alternative thought experiments, other perspectives on a middle ground (AI is bound by Rules of Asimov) or a scenario where some countries forbid AI (like Italy). The solution to avoid catastrophe is the same as to avoid war, crime, etc.( treat others as you would like to be treated, including AI). It is a bit limited in its scope, however it is an eye opening book for those who haven’t given it thought. Humans will have to share the world with silicon based intelligence.

Insightful and focused

Nothing but positive things to say about this - Mo G. Is a phenomenal thinker who brings humanity a prescription for coexistence and a thriving future with the rest of life on this planet- including silicon based life…

Read or listen to this book now.

The author is insightful, funny, and profound. He is humble in guiding us into the next stage of evolution and I am grateful for his patience when sharing his wisdom with mankind. This book will prepare you for what is coming and it won’t be the real life terminator if you read this book and take it to heart.

Love is the supreme ethic

Exceptionally well written and narrated, Mo Gawdat affirms that love is the supreme ethic. Our ability to shape AI for good or for evil is up to us. For my fellow Christians, I recommend that you also read 2084, by John Lennox.