"We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy. None of us are prepared. As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind,...

"AI ethics is much debated today and often attracts fears about superintelligence. This book, written by a philosopher of technology engaged in research and policy on the topic, moves away from science fiction fantasies and instead focuses on concrete ethical issues raised by AI and data science. After contextualizing nightmares about AI and sketching some philosophical issues, it looks at what the technology actually is and discusses problems such...

"The promise of artificial intelligence is automated decision-making at scale, but that means it also automates risk at scale. Are you prepared for that risk? Already, many companies have suffered real damage when their algorithms led to discriminatory, privacy-invading, and even deadly outcomes. Self-driving cars have hit pedestrians; HR algorithms have precluded women from job searches; mortgage systems have denied loans to qualified minorities....

"Dr. Joy Buolamwini is the self-described "Poet of Code" who has had a lifelong passion for computer science, engineering, and art-disciplines that, she felt, pushed the boundaries of reality. After tinkering with robotics as a high school student in Tennessee, to developing mobile apps in Zambia as a Fulbright fellow, Buolamwini eventually found herself at MIT. As a graduate student at the "Future Factory," Buolamwini's groundbreaking research revealed...

Over the coming decades, Artificial Intelligence will profoundly impact the way we live, work, wage war, play, seek a mate, educate our young, and care for our elderly. It is likely to greatly increase our aggregate wealth, but it will also upend our labor markets, reshuffle our social order, and strain our private and public institutions. Eventually it may alter how we see our place in the universe, as machines pursue goals independent of their creators...

The smart-machines revolution is reshaping our lives and our societies, but we are not about to be elbowed aside by a rebel army of super-intelligent robots of our own creation. We were using tools before we became Homo Sapiens, and will continue to build and master them, no matter how complicated they become. How we exercise that control - in our private lives, in employment, in politics - and make the best of the wonderful opportunities will determine...