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The Atomic Human

Understanding Ourselves in the Age of AI

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The Atomic Human

By: Neil D. Lawrence
Narrated by: Neil D. Lawrence
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A vital perspective is missing from the discussions we're having about Artificial Intelligence: what does it mean for our identity?

Our fascination with AI stems from the perceived uniqueness of human intelligence. We believe it's what differentiates us. Fears of AI not only concern how it invades our digital lives, but also the implied threat of an intelligence that displaces us from our position at the centre of the world.

Neil D. Lawrence's visionary book shows why these fears may be misplaced. Atomism, proposed by Democritus, suggested it was impossible to continue dividing matter down into ever smaller components: eventually we reach a point where a cut cannot be made (the Greek for uncuttable is 'atom'). In the same way, by slicing away at the facets of human intelligence that can be replaced by machines, AI uncovers what is left: an indivisible core that is the essence of humanity.

By contrasting our own (evolved, locked-in, embodied) intelligence with the capabilities of machine intelligence through history, The Atomic Human reveals the technical origins, capabilities and limitations of AI systems, and how they should be wielded. Not just by the experts, but ordinary people. Either AI is a tool for us, or we become a tool of AI. Understanding this will enable readers to choose the future we want.

©2024 Neil D. Lawrence (P)2024 Penguin Audio Computer Science Future Studies History History & Culture History & Philosophy Machine Theory & Artificial Intelligence Science Social Sciences Technology & Society Artificial Intelligence Thought-Provoking Technology

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As we navigate a world increasingly reliant on technology, Neil D Lawrence's book and narration help to provide a better understanding of how we have reached this point in our evolution. His ability to weave history, complex concepts and metaphors showcase his academic prowess. If you are looking for a book about technology and AI, then this is a good place to start.

Complex ideas clearly communicated

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long and exhaustive examples increasing listen time without adding a lot to the ideas proposed by the author

strong message well put

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It is a wide-audienxe interest book and perhaps I'd expected something else; however it does an elegant job of contexting the human (atom) at the center of recent ai developments and is full of interesting facets to that story that build a narrative to this end.

It would be wrong to suggest this book is of the "ai stuff is the latest version of human-enhancing development"; instead Neil argues that more recent developments do posses a reaction-timescale change combined with an information bandwidth capacity that makes the relationship btn machine and man fundamentally different-from past changes/developments.

I won't suggest the thesis is as clear as I'd have liked; the faceted stories can at times detract from the narrative but they are in themselves cohesive and certainly, do well to keep the reader engaged.

Neil leads through the bandwidth/reaction time relationship but also describes the underlying uncertainty-defaults and the empathy that is part of our (human) decision processes. (Concluding the need for human as executive is a core and.obvious construction in most-any system.)

The book does meander but not unpleasantly, more like a walk along a riverbank, an enjoyable journey where clear/interesting conclusions are made.

This is not a technical book but a book written by a technical master for all.

It is written with an overt intention to improve accessibility and understanding of the central role humans can and must play in this AI evolving future.

I listened to the audio book and Neil self-narrated; most enjoyable.

A pleasing, thoughtful, journey

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I’ve listed to a number of AI books and have often come away feeling that I’ve been presented with interesting but rather partial theses. This is in different league. It unpacks what information is in technical, social and historic contexts. How AI machines have evolved to what they are. What their reaches and limitations may be, and where responsibilities lie. This book is accessible, well structured and conveys technical topics in understandable ways. It’s read by the author with an engaging passion. I thoroughly recommend this.

By Far The Most Informed AI Book I’ve Listened To

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The book offers and interesting and quite original perspective on AI and its relation to human intelligence. Unfortunately, however, the analysis tends the meander, fragment and divert towards distracting anecdotes and historical events that do seems essential or even appropriate (and I'm being charitable). Ultimately, I felt the author does have a lot to say on the matter, but that a direct conversation with him might be more useful than this rather poorly edited and crafted book.

Interesting but it meanders

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A very narrow view of AI. The author often refers to "logic", claiming it is inadequate to describe the real world. He clearly knows very little about logic and expounds a lot of rubbish on this topic.

Simplistic arguments and misleading claims

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