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The Big Nine
How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
We like to think that we are in control of the future of "artificial" intelligence. The reality, though, is that we — the everyday people whose data powers AI — aren't actually in control of anything. When, for example, we speak with Alexa, we contribute that data to a system we can't see and have no input into — one largely free from regulation or oversight. The big nine corporations — Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM and Apple—are the new gods of AI and are short-changing our futures to reap immediate financial gain.
In this book, Amy Webb reveals the pervasive, invisible ways in which the foundations of AI — the people working on the system, their motivations, the technology itself — is broken. Within our lifetimes, AI will, by design, begin to behave unpredictably, thinking and acting in ways which defy human logic. The big nine corporations may be inadvertently building and enabling vast arrays of intelligent systems that don't share our motivations, desires, or hopes for the future of humanity.
Much more than a passionate, human-centered call-to-arms, this book delivers a strategy for changing course, and provides a path for liberating us from algorithmic decision-makers and powerful corporations.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 5, 2019 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781549174926
- File size: 276437 KB
- Duration: 09:35:54
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Amanda Dolan narrates Webb's exploration of the social problems (mostly) and possibilities (a few) that artificial intelligence could create. By first examining the major companies exploring artificial intelligence and then mapping out best- and worst-case scenarios, Webb ensures that listeners understand his position on how unlikely the optimistic projections are, based upon the ways technology generally moves through culture. While Dolan engages listeners with well-delivered prose during the more technical parts of Webb's book, she sometimes uses a snarky tone when communicating Webb's criticisms and doubt. In doing so, she undermines, and even limits, the importance of Webb's argument. L.E. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine -
February 15, 2019
NYU professor Webb (The Signals Are Talking, 2016) here explores the roles and directions of artificial intelligence by examining how the "big nine" harness the data that's now being constantly collected, organized, and analyzed by machines. Readers may already be familiar with the big nine companies: IBM, Alibaba, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent, Apple, and Baidu. Using government reports, news-media publications, and scholarly articles, Webb traces the history and trajectory of artificial intelligence. She describes the implications of AI, from personal-data collection to technological advancements, by forecasting what may come from these experiences, particularly in the U.S. and China. Her writing is very clear and accessible, and the interesting analogies she uses to illustrate what may occur when algorithms make decisions for us make for compelling reading. This fascinating look at how AI will continue to revolutionize human experiences in unimaginable ways will appeal to anyone interested in AI, human-computer interactions, and machine learning in the private and public sectors.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
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