About the Book
'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives.' – Telegraph
'It is short, gloriously succinct and yet manages to cover all four bases of the history, technology, business and politics of AI in page-turning detail.' – UKTN Technology Book of the Year
Artificial intelligence will shake up our lives as thoroughly as the arrival of the internet. This popular, up-to-date book charts AI’s rise from its Cold War origins to its explosive growth in the 2020s.
Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker (TikTok Boom and YouTubers) goes into the laboratories of the Silicon Valley innovators making rapid advances in ‘large language models’ of machine learning. He meets the insiders at Google and OpenAI who built Gemini and ChatGPT and reveals the extraordinary plans they have for them.
Along the way, he explores AI’s dark side by talking to workers who have lost their jobs to bots and engages with futurologists worried that a man-made super-intelligence could threaten humankind.
He answers critical questions about the AI revolution, such as what humanity might be jeopardising and the professions that will win and lose – and whether the existential threat technologists Elon Musk and Sam Altman are warning about is realistic – or a smokescreen to divert attention away from their growing power.
How AI Ate the World is a ‘start here’ guide for anyone who wants to know more about the world we have just entered.
Reviews
'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives.' Daily Telegraph
'How AI Ate the World prodigiously captures the key issues and concerns around artificial intelligence.' Azeem Azhar, Exponential View
'From ancient China to Victorian England, How AI Ate The World is the story of the characters, moments, technologies, and relationships that populate the rich history of artificial intelligence... How AI Ate The World grapples with what the age of automation means for the people living through it.' Harry Law, University of Cambridge
'A witty, engaging book that takes us through AI's bumpy past to help us understand its present, and future, impacts. I highly recommend it to anyone who is impacted by AI tech – which is to say, everyone on the planet.' Sasha Luccioni, Hugging Face
'Easily the most comprehensive book on AI I have read so far, covering all the key issues.' Peter Hunt, Business & Tech Correspondent, Evening Standard
'A comprehensive and compelling look at the technology that's transforming our world. It's an essential guide, full of surprises, to the technology you need to know.' Matt Navarra, social media expert
'Whether you are new to AI or have been following the AI hype for years, Chris Stokel-Walker offers an entertaining balance of history, context and insight that has something for everyone. The story of AI’s evolution is a complex one, but Stokel-Walker tackles it in a clear, direct way that will bring you up to speed while helping you grapple with what it all means — for individuals, the workplace, society and the planet.' Sharon Goldman, VentureBeat
'This book is a wild, brilliant ride through centuries of thinking about and decades of developing machines that can learn. As a crash course in how we got to this current point of thrilling chaos, it will take some beating. Whether or not you agree with Stokel-Walker’s solutions or not, How AI Ate The World is essential reading to understand where we are and how we got here' Ciaran Martin, former CEO, UK National Cyber Security Centre
'More books have been published about AI in 2024 than ever before — and that’s before you get to the ones written by AI. So it can be hard to figure out which are worth your time. I proffer this by Chris Stokel-Walker as one of the best out there. It is short, gloriously succinct and yet manages to cover all four bases of the history, technology, business and politics of AI in page-turning detail. I can’t think of anything it missed. Do yourself a favour: avoid the second-rate AI books and give this comprehensive one a try. It is the ideal primer for those new to the industry.' UKTN Technology Book of the Year
Buy the book and start reading
Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION 1
PART 1: ORIGINS 6
Chapter 1: MAGIC MUSHROOMS AND A MAGIC TOOL 8
Chapter 2: THE FATHERS OF AI 14
Chapter 3: THE AI WINTER LOOMS 27
Chapter 4: OVER TO JAPAN 35
Chapter 5: SHALL WE PLAY A GAME? 45
Chapter 6: READY STEADY, GO! 54
Chapter 7: THE BATTLE FOR AI CHIPS 61
Chapter 8: THE BIRTH OF OPENAI 72
Chapter 9: ATTENTION TRANSFORMS FORTUNES 82
Chapter 10: ENTER MICROSOFT 89
PART 2: IMPACTS 100
Chapter 11: MAKING WORK WORK 102
Chapter 12: AI DOOMERS 114
Chapter 13: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MIDJOURNEY 127
Chapter 14: MEET THE PROMPT ENGINEERS 138
Chapter 15: AI’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 143
Chapter 16: AI ART 152
Chapter 17: MISINFORMATION 167
Chapter 18: DISINFORMATION 179
Chapter 19: PROFIT BEFORE PEOPLE 197
Chapter 20: CODED BIASES 202
PART 3: ISSUES 214
Chapter 21: THE HUMAN SIDE OF AI 216
Chapter 22: AI MUSIC, MOVIES AND BOOKS 225
Chapter 23: AI AND LONELINESS 236
Chapter 24: MOATS AND DEFENCES 244
Chapter 25: THE AI FIELD EXPANDS (AND CONTRACTS) 249
Chapter 26: TAMING BIG TECH 257
Chapter 27: OPENAI AT WAR 273
Chapter 28: SOVEREIGN AI 282
Chapter 29: WHERE ARE WE GOING? 288
About the Author :
Chris Stokel-Walker is a freelance English journalist, specialising in technology. He regularly contributes to the BBC, Washington Post, New York Times, WIRED, Economist, Guardian, New Scientist and Newsweek, and appears on the BBC, Sky News, CNN, Al Jazeera, Times Radio and other TV channels and radio stations.
Chris is author of YouTubers: How YouTube Shook Up TV and Created a New Generation of Stars (2019, Canbury Press),The History of the Internet in Byte-Sized Chunks (2023, Michael O’Mara Books) and TikTok Boom: China’s Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media (2021, Canbury Press) – the first popular book on TikTok.
His latest book is How AI Ate the World: A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence – and its Long Future (2024, Canbury Press). It has been described as "a wild ride" through the development and uses of AI, the biggest new force in technology. In its review, The Daily Telegraph wrote: 'It is an excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives.'
Review :
Reviews
'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives.' The Daily Telegraph
'How AI Ate the World prodigiously captures the key issues and concerns around artificial intelligence.' Azeem Azhar, Exponential View
'From ancient China to Victorian England, How AI Ate The World is the story of the characters, moments, technologies, and relationships that populate the rich history of artificial intelligence... How AI Ate The World grapples with what the age of automation means for the people living through it.' Harry Law, University of Cambridge
'A witty, engaging book that takes us through AI's bumpy past to help us understand its present, and future, impacts. I highly recommend it to anyone who is impacted by AI tech – which is to say, everyone on the planet.' Sasha Luccioni, Hugging Face
'A comprehensive and compelling look at the technology that's transforming our world. It's an essential guide, full of surprises, to the technology you need to know.' Matt Navarra, social media expert
'Easily the most comprehensive book on AI I have read so far, covering all the key issues' Peter Hunt, Business & Tech Correspondent, Evening Standard
'Whether you are new to AI or have been following the AI hype for years, Chris Stokel-Walker offers an entertaining balance of history, context and insight that has something for everyone. The story of AI’s evolution is a complex one, but Stokel-Walker tackles it in a clear, direct way that will bring you up to speed while helping you grapple with what it all means — for individuals, the workplace, society and the planet.' Sharon Goldman, VentureBeat
'This book is a wild, brilliant ride through centuries of thinking about and decades of developing machines that can learn. As a crash course in how we got to this current point of thrilling chaos, it will take some beating. Whether or not you agree with Stokel-Walker’s solutions or not, How AI Ate The World is essential reading to understand where we are and how we got here.' Ciaran Martin, former CEO, UK National Cyber Security Centre
'More books have been published about AI in 2024 than ever before — and that’s before you get to the ones written by AI. So it can be hard to figure out which are worth your time. I proffer this by Chris Stokel-Walker as one of the best out there. It is short, gloriously succinct and yet manages to cover all four bases of the history, technology, business and politics of AI in page-turning detail. I can’t think of anything it missed. Do yourself a favour: avoid the second-rate AI books and give this comprehensive one a try. It is the ideal primer for those new to the industry.' UKTN Best Technology Books of the Year
