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The Coming Wave

AI, Power and Our Future

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The Coming Wave

By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar
Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

**A Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, Sept 2023**

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023**

AI. SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY. QUANTUM COMPUTING. Everything is about to change. This is the only book you need to understand this new world.

From the ultimate AI insider, Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, part of Google.

Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organise 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, part of Google, Mustafa Suleyman has been at the centre of this revolution. The coming decade, he argues, will be defined by this wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies.

In The Coming Wave, Suleyman shows how these forces will create immense prosperity but also threaten the nation-state, the foundation of global order. As our fragile governments sleepwalk into disaster, we face an existential dilemma: unprecedented harms on one side and the threat of overbearing surveillance on the other.

Can we forge a narrow path between catastrophe and dystopia?

This ground-breaking book from the ultimate AI insider establishes 'the containment problem' - the task of maintaining control over powerful technologies - as the essential challenge of our age.

©2023 Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Biological Sciences Biotechnology Computer Science Future Studies History & Culture Machine Theory & Artificial Intelligence Science Social Sciences Technology & Society Technology Inspiring Thought-Provoking Robotics Surveillance

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Critic reviews

'Fascinating, well-written, and important' Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens

'Deeply rewarding and consistently astonishing' Stephen Fry

'An excellent guide for navigating unprecedented times' Bill Gates

Featured article: Steven Bartlett recommends…


In the spirit of continuous learning we asked Steven to share with us the books he’s enjoyed and been inspired by. Covering psychology and health to business and technology, read on to discover Steven Bartlett’s top listening recommendations.

All stars
Most relevant  
This is a no holds barred study of the future of AI. It is incredibly detailed and yet presented in a way that is accessible to the average listener. It is both fascinating and terrifying and a must read for anyone interested in technology, politics, big commerce and the future of the human race.

One of the best listens this year.

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Excellent listen. Highly recommended. Extremely relevant at this period in time with so much hype around A.I!!

Excellent

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Very few people in our generation will have gained this experience and perspective. A must read for anyone interested in designing a better future

Unique Experience and Perspective

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dangerous view of the future and the problem with ai in general will ruin the world. when, where, how

daunting but true

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I am no AI expert, but this book seems to strike a good balance between optimism and pessimism.

definitely worth listening to for anyone even mildly interested in the topic

balanced

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This book tries to drive home the huge risks and the possible gains of AI. And after spending about ten chapters of painting a rather dark future, it spends the final ones trying to usher in a positive vibe and suggests some directions to wander for humanity to limit risks, and change the patterns of human history.
I am very impressed with the authors grasp of history and enjoy listening to examples and analogies. But this is not for the faint of heart.

Interesting and frightful.

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Well written and researched. Kept my interest throughout. Technical yet accessible, it presented a well rounded view of the development of AI, its advantages and risks, and how humans can overcome concerns. Very honest account. Well read by the author, sometimes dropped his “t’s” from ends of words which sounded a bit like an affectation. But I enjoyed this very much. Thank you!

Interesting and realistic view of how AI will change our lives

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One of the best book to explain the new era we are going to. Recommended to everybody!

Important to read

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I work in tech and recognise many of the themes discussed. the author makes very plausible arguments and narration is good. however towards the end it started to drag a bit for me, particularly”part 3” and the author cranks up the hyperbole and negativity to max, this became a bit of a slog. even at 1.3x it is still a roughly 10h listen. Perhaps i should have fed it thru an AI summariser!!

Good but a bit overlong for me

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A really comprehensive overview of the next revolution and how technologies are converging to great opportunities and threats. The author deals with issues not often spoken about and does a great job at sharing a balanced view throughout

Great insight into the future of AI

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