Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths: The Truth About AI and the Future of Humanity

by Steven Shwartz

Are AI robots and computers really going to take over the world?

Longtime artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and investor Steve Shwartz has grown frustrated with the fear-inducing hype around AI in popular culture and media. Yes, today’s AI systems are miracles of modern engineering, but no, humans do not have to fear robots seizing control or taking over all our jobs.
In this exploration of the fascinating and ever-changing landscape of artificial intelligence, Dr. Shwartz explains how AI works in simple terms. After reading this captivating book, you will understand

• the inner workings of today’s amazing AI technologies, including facial recognition, self-driving cars, machine translation, chatbots, deepfakes, and many others;
• why today’s artificial intelligence technology cannot evolve into the AI of science fiction lore;
• the crucial areas where we will need to adopt new laws and policies in order to counter threats to our safety and personal freedoms resulting from the use of AI.

So although we don’t have to worry about evil robots rising to power and turning us into pets—and we probably never will—artificial intelligence is here to stay, and we must learn to separate fact from fiction and embrace how this amazing technology enhances our world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Science, Artificial Intelligence

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 9, 2021

Reviews

[Darya Silman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucid and educative general overview of AI.

In his book 'Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths: The Truth about AI and the Future of Humanity,' Steven Schwartz provides a reassuring look at AI: no robots would destroy or conquer humankind in the nearest future, and, most likely, not in the far future either. Step by step, he explores the possibilities and limitations of modern technologies as well as dives shortly into history, explaining why an exaggeration about the issue exists.

The author formulates three aims of the book:
An overview of modern AI.
Reasons why AI will never evolve into AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) as it is presented in mass media.
Social problems arising from the use of narrow AI.

The book deserves praise for the first two fully accomplished aims. To ease the understanding of the text, the author consciously abandons almost any scientific-related formulas, both mathematical and statistical. To illustrate examples, he uses simple tables and diagrams. The book could be a perfect beach read for nerds thanks to its plain language and logical construction.

The problem, in my opinion, occurs with the third topic, AI's social aspect. If a reader takes the book as a beach read without previous knowledge, he/she will find this aspect an organic part of the whole narrative. I've read a few books on AI, most recently about Amazon's achievements in the field. Maybe since the author is primarily an AI researcher and investor, the text describes social issues only externally, in a few short sentences here and there. There is nothing new I have learned in this regard from the book.

I'd recommend the book to a general reader without any or restricted knowledge about AI.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers pragmatic analysis of artificial intelligence. The author’s intent is to cut through the hype and fear that often dominate public discourse. Shwartz dismantles popular misconceptions about AI taking over the world or achieving human-like consciousness in the near-future. He explains that while current AI systems can be remarkably effective at specific tasks, which he calls “narrow AI,” they fundamentally lack the kind of general intelligence, common sense reasoning, and genuine understanding that humans possess.

Shwartz breaks down complex technical concepts into accessible explanations, helping readers understand what modern AI can and cannot do. He uses clear examples and analogies to illustrate how technologies like machine learning and neural networks function. His discussion of supervised learning and pattern recognition helps readers understand why AI systems can be simultaneously powerful within narrow domains yet profoundly limited in their ability to generalize or truly "think.” This latter capability is a primary emphasis of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which is rapidly evolving, but does not yet exist.

Shwartz focuses instead on current issues such as algorithmic biases, privacy concerns, and the economic impacts of automation. He is particularly interested in self-driving cars and the various challenges they present. The book concludes with practical recommendations for policymakers, business leaders, and the public on how to approach AI development responsibly. I am reading about AI with a goal of becoming more informed. This one is well worth the time and might allay a few fears, as some of the most extreme worries about AI are not yet possible. This is not to say that narrow AI cannot do damage. It certainly can (and has), as the author indicates, but it is more due to corporate irresponsibility, lack of oversight, and questionable ethics than AI itself.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at artificial intelligence, but tries too hard

The book was okay. I liked it as a history of AI, and I enjoyed the discussion of narrow artificial intelligence. But I did find the book too technical in a lot of it’s explanations, especially pertaining to types of machine learning. I also found the book tried too hard to convince me that artificial general intelligence was a long way off. Although I know this is not the case, the book does read like the type of book that an artificial general intelligence would write to throw someone off the track. Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the advance reader copy.

[ericabooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must read if you’re interested in AI at all. It is the perfect mix of information and humour which I enjoyed as it felt less like a textbook. The author explains the types of AI ans the applications of AI in the real world and explains what’s truly happening while taking the fear of “AI taking over the world” away. I really enjoyed how the contents of this book was really important and interesting to learn about while being an enjoyable read.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the different types of "AI" that exist and a grounded look at their abilities. If you want to have a general idea (without math or an in detail look at algorithms) of what AI is, how it connects to statistics, and why an artificial general intelligence (AGI) is difficult, this is a good book.

My main complaint is that the author often says things that verge on AGI is impossible, rather than the more restrained "I cannot say for sure that we will never develop AGI" (p. 215) that I think more correctly characterizes the author's meaning throughout, because the book never offers a reason to think AGI is in principle impossible. We have, at least in principle, on example from biology because the natural world produced "AGI" (although I suppose it is "natural general intelligence"?) in humans. The challenge to get there may be extreme, but I dislike the hyperbole being used repeatedly. (For example on page 6, we have "However, I can confidently declare my belief that we will never develop computer systems or robots with human-level, commonsense reasoning capabilities.")

[Read-n-Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, with this one I learned that computers will probably keep getting better and better, but will NOT take over the world. That’s good to know. Lol ......good little book to learn all the ins and outs of artificial intelligence. And the myths. If you’re at all interested in AI, this read is for you.

[Allisonperkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a way more down to earth view into AI. Overall a great read to counteract the high hype around AI

[Jim Razinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a review copy of this through Book Sirens - and yes, this is voluntary. I've read Kurzweil and his predictions and was interested in Shwartz's perspective (Shwartz has opinions on Ray's take on this subject).

BLUF - bottom line up front: Shwartz contends that the evil robots, killer computers of the title and the other nefarious fictions from irresponsible journalism, sensational news (or "news) entities, science fiction authors and movie makers are not only not possible now, they'll likely never be possible. Shwartz has the pedigree and he explains his points well and simply here, and he gives a bunch of resources for the reader to follow up on (though one random link I checked didn't exist, all the others I did check worked.)

Self-driving cars, real language interaction, neural networks, artificial intelligence...artificial general intelligence, privacy issues, different periods of hype, fears of robots and AI taking jobs, Shwartz covers a lot in this compact book, and yet, he says "If you are among the more technically inclined, you may prefer a more in-depth treatment of some of the topics in this book. If so, you can find it on my website, Http://www.aiperspectives.com. The site provides hundreds of pages of technical detail in a dense, textbook-like format. It is not as easy to understand as this book, but I have worked hard to make it more accessible than many AI textbooks by leaving out the advanced mathematics found in them." Misconceptions, misunderstandings, some outright fabricated fear mongering narratives, political spin doctoring... Shwartz dismantles them all. "The biggest technology driver of job loss today is not AI. Conventional software that uses explicit coding of instructions and rules, such as e-commerce, rideshare software, and robotics, destroys far more jobs than AI systems. E-commerce is devastating brick-and-mortar stores but uses conventional software, not AI."

He seems at times to have an ax to grind, but I get it... I saw a rather stupid false comparison of how Romans could build roads that lasted "forever", but when engineers got involved, we got pot holes. I'm an engineer, and that nonsense is just frustrating. Of course, the twits spreading that graphic don't think of those Roman roads never having to handle tons of semis and millions of vehicles traveling on them, nor that those roads have been repaired over the ages! If you spend your life and career in something, as Shwartz has with AI, the sky (Skynet?) is falling stuff might tend to wear raw.

He does call out the problems of abuse from corporate, retail, and government, but while his mantra of the examples not being real AI is true, his answers of more regulation and legislation to curb it are unrealistic:

Facial recognition technology gives governments the ability to completely take away our privacy, and it is prone to discrimination. If we want to avoid becoming a surveillance state, where anyone can be arrested for being in the wrong place or for being the “wrong” color, we need laws that rein in how governments use AI-based surveillance tools. However, the tools themselves are not a threat.

The guns don’t kill people, people do argument has its own obvious and simple solution: keep the guns out of the hands of the people who kill. But that's just as overly simplistic and impossible. And more impossible in a political climate that wants to regulate all the wrong things.

The IBM Watsons, Amazon Alexas, Apple Siris, Google Assistants and whatever else comes along can't think - millions of phoneme parsings and if-then algorithms giving seemingly human responses do not make intelligence. Shwartz said

As a graduate student at Johns Hopkins, I coauthored several articles with former Harvard professor Stephen Kosslyn. He was perhaps the leading thinker on how people use mental imagery in their thought processes. For example, if you ask someone, “What shape are a German Shepherd’s ears?” most people will report that they conjure up an image of a German Shepherd from memory, picture the head on the dog, and finally see that the ears are pointy.

He then said,

Observations like these led to a debate about whether people have something like pictures in their heads or whether what they have is a set of facts, and the analysis of these facts makes them feel like they see pictures in their heads.

Shwartz was in the pictures camp. I read another book recently ( Brainscapes: The Warped, Wondrous Maps Written in Your Brain—And How They Guide You by by Rebecca Schwarzlose) that describes how we make maps for pretty much everything, so the non-expert me is also on the pictures side. Computers might do the same, but even brute force terabyte searching and petaflops still can't extrapolate and interpolate anywhere near what a toddler's brain can do easily. Shwartz says

One misunderstanding about unsupervised learning is that these algorithms have reasoning ability. For example, a Forbes magazine article said that unsupervised learning “goes into the problem blind—with only its faultless logical operations to guide it.” This statement makes it sound as if unsupervised learning algorithms use reasoning to explore unstructured data. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unsupervised learning algorithms are conventionally programmed and follow an exact step-by-step sequence of operations.

There is a lot of sense here. I made a bunch of notes, but other than the ones above, I'll just share this one more, one of many pretty savvy observations: "Imagine what insurance companies, retailers, and law enforcement could do with the data collected by self-driving cars, which will know everywhere you drive. Even worse, they have cameras that record what you do inside the vehicle." Add in the browser searches, credit card purchases... Be careful what we ask for, right?

[Gareth]

Science fiction authors have been warning us for decades of the dangers technology poses. Recently, advances in artificial intelligence and robotics seem to suggest that they have been right all along. Computers are now driving cars and piloting automated weapons systems. They are beating grandmasters at chess and Go, recognising faces and writing articles. They are even in our homes and on our phones, answering our queries, sending texts and setting alarms and reminders, and generally helping us to organise our lives. Surely then it won’t be long before they can do everything – and what then is to stop them from taking over?

But, as Steven Shwartz argues in this fine book, the dangers of AI are vastly overstated. Despite the impressive advances, there are numerous reasons why we should not worry about “evil robots” or “killer computers”. Chief of these is that the recent developments in AI are all “narrow”. This means that, astounding as it is that IBM’s Watson DeepQA program was able to beat two top quizzing champions on the TV programme Jeopardy!, that’s about all it can do. Its expertise is “narrow”, confined to the type of pattern matching that allowed it to trounce its human opponents at this specific activity. The same program could not drive a car. But not only is Watson DeepQA limited to its specific field (language processing), it is limited within that field. For instance, it cannot answer simple comprehension questions. Similar may be said of facial visual recognition systems, that can pick out an individual from among thousands of others (mostly…), but cannot tell a cat from a dog. And if such systems lack even full competence within their specific field, then what hope is there that they will develop the sort of artificial “general” intelligence (AGI) that will allow them to function at a human level in a broad range of tasks? It is AGI, Shwartz argues, that the sci-fi authors worried about, but which is something we are nowhere near to developing, and which we have good reasons for thinking may in fact never arrive.

As a former academic specialising in AI, and the founder of several companies developing AI-driven applications, Shwartz is well placed to make such a claim. He walks the reader through each of the new developments – self-driving cars, natural language processing, facial recognition, and so on – explaining how each works, noting both its achievements and limitations. All, he argues, lack the sort of “common sense” possessed by the average young child, and which would be a necessary requirement for AGI. This common sense is something we often take for granted. We’re not even talking, here, about the sort of general wisdom often embodied in proverbs – “a stitch in time saves nine”, “many hands make light work” – but a much more basic grasp of the world and the way it works. A young child will at some point learn “object permanence” and “intuitive physics”, which allows it to hold presumptions and make predictions: when its parent hides a ball, that the ball still exists; when the parent drops the ball, that it will bounce. It is this vast stock of basic knowledge that we pick up almost unthinkingly, but that with a computer would have to be deliberately programmed in or in some other way acquired – and it is this difficulty that has so far evaded AI researchers. GPT-2, the much vaunted AI program considered “too dangerous to release”, can produce articles and answer natural language questions, but will nonetheless flounder when asked to apply the most basic reasoning and inference to the texts it deals with. This is because it has not been designed to reason or infer, but merely to compile and parrot out phrases based on how often such word combinations are commonly found together. In short, it has no reason, nor any knowledge, and certainly no common sense.

This is not to say that there are no dangers associated with AI, and Shwartz lays these out, too. For example, we need to better understand the potential biases inherent within the data we use to train AI when using it to suggest criminal sentences, or assess loan applications (both of which are current practices). But the real dangers of AI are not that they will one day out-perform humans in all fields, let alone become sentient; it is that humans will come to rely on them without fully understanding the processes they embody, or grant them autonomy which may lead to unforeseen harms. But such things are not inevitable, and it is ultimately down to people and governments to regulate and limit the applications of AI.

However, "Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths" does more than debunk prevalent myths. It is a clear and concise account of recent developments in artificial intelligence, and as such serves as an excellent lay primer to the field. Given the complexity of the subject matter, technical explanations cannot be completely avoided, but these are conveyed with a minimum of jargon, and Shwartz does an excellent job of introducing the central concepts with admirable clarity, making the book an enjoyable and informative read. Highly recommended.

Gareth Southwell is a philosopher, writer and illustrator.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it isn’t my typical genre, one of the books I read recently was science fiction that took place on a planet far from Earth that is run by robots. The humans on the planet were essentially a step up from slaves. I wasn’t too concerned that we were on the verge of this being a real possibility, but there are definitely things I see all the time that make me wonder what is going on. (Those advertisements that pop up on Facebook for the product you just checked out on another site are just one obvious example.) This book is excellent in that it discusses the different ways that artificial intelligence is currently being used, what is potentially on the horizon, and what is unlikely to happen anytime in the foreseeable future.

While we might not have to worry about robot overlords taking over anytime soon (our grandkids are probably even safe from them) we do have plenty to be aware of and, in some instances, even concerned. Understanding how we and our fellow Earthlings might be misled and manipulated is good knowledge to have. Knowing what to expect, if anything, from a self-driving car in the near future is also extensively covered. The author also points out areas where new laws might be called for to avoid misuse or abusive practices using some of the artificial intelligence capabilities that already exist or are likely to be developed in the near future. In spite of some of the potential downsides from artificial intelligence that we need to guard against, I finished this excited to see what the future will bring. Just like past disruptive technologies such as the automobile and computer, especially the personal computer, artificial intelligence promises to do much to change our lives for the better. We just need to have a good handle on what is and isn’t possible and put protections in place to limit the potential negatives.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Ellen Behrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Steven Shwartz addresses the evil robots and killer computers of his title, the most fascinating parts of this book are sections on how your personal assistant works (hint: Alexa really doesn't understand you), why facial recognition software is so flawed, and what makes self-driving cars work.

In his acknowledgements, Shwartz thanks his daughters for helping him ditch some of the technical stuff and revise the book for more clarity. Well, I can tell you, it's filled with tech anyway, but in a good way.

I worked in a Web company for awhile and have had a long romance with computer programming (I'm no good at it, but that doesn't mean I'm not attracted to it), hackers, and other aspects of coding, so I enjoyed learning more about the nuts and bolts (so to speak) of how various cutting-edge technologies works (or doesn't).

Shwartz does an excellent job of explaining all of this so we're better able to understand why his thesis stands: despite being able to create personal assistants that can answer questions for us, turn our lights off and on, and perform other feats that would have been amazing just thirty years ago, there will *not* be robots some day that will take over the earth and render human beings useless.

There's a bit of repetition in this book, but his subject is so complex I've excused it -- sometimes you have to reiterate certain points to make them clear.

I especially appreciated his take on the future of work, given all the advances in technology. So many other books I've read suggest that eventually we'll put ourselves out of business, that we'll have to figure out what to do with all the people without jobs. Shwartz sees this very differently, and it was refreshing to learn an expert in this world of technology sees a brighter future for all of us.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I received a free digital copy of this book in a giveaway!

I went into this with some trepidation based on recent experiences with other free nonfiction, but was proven wrong.

This is a fairly accessible and readable book about what AI is and is not. It addresses very common misconceptions that popular media and alarmist personalities have drilled into the popular consciousness.

It touches on the science behind it, but doesn't get into too much detail. While this is unfortunate for me, I'm not really the target audience (who has no experience with complex algorithms and CS principles), so it is a point in its favor that it makes the material approachable without any prerequisite knowledge while simultaneous not treating the reader like an idiot.

There is a great discussion of the social implications of current and future AI developments, complete with a refutation of the perennial, alarmist cry of THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!!! While this will inevitably change the labor landscape, it will not precipitate a dystopia where half of our population is unemployed because of robots.

Overall, this is a good primer on the basics of AI and the state of the art today, which also addresses the most common fears and misconceptions about this field. As is tradition, this will only be read by those people who don't need to read it, and those who think The Matrix is a documentary won't.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Book Sirens and the author for giving me access to this ARC.

I found this book to be a good summation of the current technology and risks involved in developing artificial intelligence. The author's basic premise is that general artificial intelligence is not likely to be developed anytime soon, and therefore the risks feared by many of this technology are not realistic.

Many examples of uses of artificial intelligence are cited in the book and shown to be helpful. examples of how technology is being developed in a careful and controlled manner as presented. However, the author acknowledges risk involved in artificial intelligence usage that may require longer-term caution.

Overall I found this publication to contain clear concise well thought out and uncomplicated technological descriptions that will be easy for the reader to understand comprehend and share with others. It is a relatively quick read and an excellent primer on the subject of artificial intelligence development.

I think that if anything could have gone into a bit more depth to earn my fifth star.

[Pegboard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths: The Truth About AI and the Future of Humanity by Steven Shwartz is a very thorough book, as years of experience working in this field have made him a connoisseur. He explains where many of these myths have come from and the truth behind what AI computers really can do. They aren't as scary as the media presents them, nor are they blameless. They are still a tool to be used, testing must still be instituted and mistakes will still be made.

I found Steven Shwartz very knowledgeable about the use of AI computers and the correct and incorrect way they are being used. Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths don't shy away from errors made. And through these errors, people have died, lost their life savings, and gone without power. What is the answer? More testing, discontinue the use of AI, or monitor and update software? Truthfully, I still like a good science fiction movie or book that weaves doubt about computer intelligence and its intrusion.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding computers is hard. Understanding AI is hard. Combine both and you have a recipe for misunderstandings that can affect not just those involved in the industry but society as a whole.

As an example take the trolley problem as it applies to self driving cars. Simply put, how do you decide between multiple inevitable deaths and what are the factors to take into account when you do? Add in the complication that the decision is to be made by computer and you reach the stage where manufacturers may simply take the decision to protect the owners of the cars they make and forget the rest. Wonderful if you're in the car, less helpful if you're not.

Or how about the "Skynet" style scare stories that regularly feature in the media? Are they possible?

Understanding these types of issue is the aim of this book and it gives a balanced, insightful overview of the challenges of AI without descending into tabloid style scaremongering. As such it is recommended as an excellent overview of what is possible, and what is not, in AI.

[Valery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths: The Truth About AI and the Future of Humanity by Steven Shwartz discusses AI and its implications for society. This is surprisingly an easy-to-read book. The author manages to disseminate the information in a relatively simple manner, making what might appear to be a complicated subject, more accessible. With the advancement of AI, many are fearful of what might happen to us as humans as this technology explodes. The author sets out to dispel our fears and makes a case that AI is not going to take over the world or dominate society. Computers simply cannot think as well as humans. This is an enjoyable read, one that combines common sense with a touch of humor. For AI enthusiasts this is a perfect book, and for those who don't know the subject well, it will calm their fears. Highly recommend.

[Raju Chacko · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’ve been using Artificial Intelligence (AI) products for some time now. While products like Tesla cars, cute home robots Jibo and Pepper, robotic vacuum cleaners, etc. have earned our acceptance and trust to a reasonable degree, it has also gained a dark, sinister, and ominous reputation, side-by-side. As usual, misinformation is to blame. The author, an authority in the field, and one who has contributed over 40 years to its advancement attempts to debunk AI mythology in this book and to establish that AI isn’t dangerous to humans. Know AI from this book, convince yourself, and conquer your fears!

[Kristin Harley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very quick read, but one that demonstrates, with simple examples and explanations of larger scales, why we are nowhere near artificial general intelligence (AGI, or what most people call AI).
It does not get into machine language, but it does explain machine learning, deep learning, and large language models for the layman. For the knowledgeable programmer/SME/statistician, a very competent review of the material.

[Miguel Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro corto y fácil de entender, lo que se agradece bastante. No es un libro técnico, sino que valora en qué fase nos encontramos en el desarrollo de la inteligencia artificial.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very practical explanation of the various uses of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Facial recognition technology and drones are good example of how we can both benefit from technology and lose our privacy. Drones can be used for search and rescue efforts, and also to racially profile criminals. It's a slippery slope when there is a bias in the system.