Big Brain Revolution-Artificial Intelligence – Spy or Saviour?

by Michelle Tempest

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) changing the world? Is AI updating the human brain? Can AI help to solve complex problems baffling scientists and politicians? The answer is yes. This book offers unique insights into the consequences of mixing psychology with technology. It takes you on a journey of discovery, stripping AI and the human brain back to basics. It’s not academic, keeps knowledge simple and questions if humans can be manipulated by machines. Big data is already monitoring human movements. So imagine future powers of information gathering on an even bigger scale – including brain waves, emotions and inner thoughts. AI could personalise messages back to the brain and update love, desires and our destiny.



Now is the time to be curious and to question. We must not hesitate. History will not forgive us. This is our common purpose. Our mission is to bequeath ethical AI advancements to the next generation. Humility tells us how working together is the secret sauce to guide AI to help mankind. It must help untangle collective problems such as climate change – bigger than the individual. This book is for everyone. So read it, pass it on and discuss how AI is impacting your brain and our futures.

170 pages, Paperback

Published December 12, 2019

Reviews

[Tania Eslava]

I did not enjoy this book and would have left it unfinished were it not for the fact that I'm expected to read and comment on it for my book club. It simply felt like a sequence of fun facts about all the surprising things that AI can do (or at least what was surprising in 2019).

However, I reckon my opinion may be a bit unfair here, since it's a technology book from 2019—which is like a century ago in AI time. Moreover, I was reading a vastly superior book about AI at the same time (Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari), which made this one look worse in comparison.

I think this book would be interesting for someone who does not know much about AI and is curious to get a small taste of what it can do in different fields. The parts about how the brain functions are interesting too.

[Alex]

This book is a collection of studies and ideas that would benefit from a good editor and peer review/input before publishing. The chapters are poorly structured and very random at times (my favourite random addition was the use of the Lutheran Church of America’s definition for a loving sexual relationship whilst talking about sex robots!), changing subject without warning, and then going back again. The book would benefit from basic writing concepts such as orientating the reader at the start of chapters, subheadings, summaries at the end and linking ideas between chapters and paragraphs.

The premise of the book is interesting, the relationship between AI and the brain, but the author doesn’t really come to attempt to answer that question until the final chapter. It would be more interesting for the reader to hear some of her opinions integrated into the whole book.

The author is obviously knowledge of the field and the book is very well researched, with detailed references to the studies she cites. However, at times chapters felt like lists of studies with very little critique, discussion of the issues these topics bring to human beings, consideration of the ethics, the impact on our relationships, cognitions, emotions, or the brain. The book read more like a first draft, that with some good editing and additional suggestions could have been a really interesting book.

[Mahdi Taghizadeh]

It's a good read for both computer scientists and medical experts who want to learn more about AI. Even if you're not either of them, the book is understandable enough and you will learn more in plain English about how the brain works and how AI is becoming more mature.

A lot of examples from the real world have made the book a delightful read which walks you through the different applications of AI in our own lives.

Highly recommended!