Our Final Invention

Science journalist James Barrat argues that the quest for artificial intelligence is a race we must win--or we may face obliteration. With the wit and verve of a reporter covering technology for The New Yorker, Barrat examines the technologies of artificial intelligence and its prominent personalities, ranging from pioneering researcher Marvin Minsky to modern-day Google engineers racing to develop driverless cars. But he also looks hard at the people already putting AI to work in unexpected ways: for instance, as a tool for finding patterns in masses of legal documents or (as Google has done) in detecting early signs of degenerative eye disease.  Barrat persuasively argues that much more widely accessible applications of artificial intelligence are certain to come, with game-changing consequences for us all.