YOUR BRIGHT FUTURE WITH AI

Wall assesses both the perils and promises of artificial intelligence in this nonfiction book.

The author, a successful entrepreneur, is not a blind cheerleader of artificial intelligence—he cautions that, if used improperly, it could “amplify our worst instincts and tendencies.” To counteract its dangers, he recommends a “human first approach,” one in which the awesome power of AI technology is channeled into the radical improvement of markets, labor, and society. In unfailingly accessible terms, Wall articulates a broad overview of the field aimed at readers with little to no expertise; he makes plain the basic differences between AI and robots, the nature of machine learning, and the ways in which machine learning both mimics and augments brain function. Wall argues that the proper employment of AI will be dependent upon the establishment of appropriate economic incentives that push technological innovation to “help us live longer and better lives.” To meticulously anatomize these incentives, he analyzes the business models of companies like Apple, Google, and Tesla, all of which are heavily invested in AI’s future. The author’s knowledge of the AI landscape is impressive, and he is especially effective at outlining the fundamental features of the technology. He convincingly explains, with admirable clarity, the distance between machine learning and human intelligence and why artificial intelligence is not consciousness, nor anything resembling human sentience. The reader can’t help but wish that Wall devoted more time to the issue of AI causing considerable unemployment, particularly since he so unflinchingly acknowledges that one of its essential purposes is to “replace human effort.” He also has a tendency to traffic in a vague moralism that seems to offer little more than platitudes: “When principles are clear, founders, owners, and leadership find it very simple to follow what they believe in.” As a single-volume introduction to the subject, though, this is a concise and helpful offering.

A thorough and thoughtful primer on the future of AI.