The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future: The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the ultimate AI insider Hardcover – 7 Sept. 2023

The book is of exceptional merit, fascinating and awe-inspiring in equal measure. Two modern technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology pose immense threats and their containment is compelling albeit virtually impossible to achieve.Until recently, the history of technology could be encapsulated in a single phrase: humanity's quest to manipulate atoms. From fire to stone tools, Agriculture to the Industrial Revolution, to internal combustion engine, electricity to aviation, an unfolding process in which our species has slowly extended its control over atoms.Then, starting in the mid-twentieth century, technology began to operate at a higher level of abstraction. At the heart of this shift was the realization that information is a core property of the universe. It can be encoded in a binary format and is, in the form of DNA, at the core of how life operates. First bits and then increasingly genes supplanted atoms as the building blocks of invention.The coming wave of technology is built primarily on two general- purpose technologies capable of operating at the grandest and most granular levels alike: AI and synthetic biology. In other words, technology is undergoing a phase transition. No longer a tool, it is going to engineer life and rival - and surpass - our own intelligence. AI is enabling us to replicate speech and language, vision, and reasoning. Foundational breakthroughs in synthetic biology have enabled us to sequence, modify, and now print DNA.The coming wave is characterized by a set of four intrinsic features compounding the problem of containment (containment is the overarching ability to control, limit, and, if need be, close down technologies at any stage of their development or deployment. It means, in some circumstances, the ability to stop a technology from proliferating in the first place, checking the ripple of unintended consequences). First among them is a hugely 'asymmetric' impact. New technologies create previously unthinkable vulnerabilities and pressure points against seemingly dominant powers. Second, they are developing fast, a kind of 'hyper-evolution', iterating, improving, and breaking into new areas with incredible speed. Third, they are often (omni-use); that is they can be used for many different purposes. And, fourth, they increasingly have a degree of (autonomy) beyond any previous technology.In order to have a chance of containing the coming technological wave, the author suggests a set of interlinked and mutually reinforcing of technical, cultural, legal, and political mechanisms for maintaining control of technology during a period of exponential change; an architecture to the task of containing what would have once been centuries or millennia of technological change, happening now in a matter of years or even months, where consequences ricochet around the world in seconds.Finally, we have to realize that safety in the context of the coming wave is not somewhere we arrive but something that must be continually and proactively enacted. Containment is not a resting place. It is a narrow and never ending path.

There were two things that drew me to reading The Coming Wave. Firstly, that it was written by someone actively involved in the development of AI over the last decade. The second was that having only been released last autumn, it hopefully wasn't too out of date yet. At the current rate of progress, this isn't a given.There are two main technologies that Mustafa Suleyman tells us are propelling the coming wave, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Synthetic Biology (SynBio). He also touches a little on Quantum Computing in relation to these topics, but if you are after a more in-depth view on this subject, you should really look elsewhere.At £10.99 for the Kindle edition, this isn't a cheap book. In fact, I don't think I've ever paid that much for a non-technical eBook before. However, due to its content a book of this type is likely to date very quickly, so the publishers probably want a return on their investment sooner rather than later.Suleyman accepts some liability for what is about to be unleashed and is part of a growing voice wanting to temper the rapid changes happening around us. Yes, the potential benefits of AI and SynBio are likely to be life changing, but there will always be downsides. From out-of-control AIs and acts of bioterrorism to the breakdown of the nation state as we know it.This leads to the latter part of the book which tries to look ahead to the short and medium term. It's really a thought exercise on approaches for reining in these technologies. How can we get the benefits without the potentially devastating drawbacks? How can we ensure bad actors don't gain access to the more powerful AIs?It's an eye-opening book in many ways, although it does take the shine off the current advances in AI to a degree. Whilst I'd love to think that there could be a global consensus on how to deal with these technologies going forward, the sceptic in me thinks it won't happen until something untoward forces us to.Would I recommend reading The Coming Wave? Yes, I would. Overall, it's an insightful and thought provoking read, that doesn't require any prior knowledge of AI or SynBio. However, be prepared to slog though some sections where the author seems to get bogged down. Oh, and try not to worry about our potential dystopian future too much.

This is the book that everyone with an interest in the future should read. The book is written by an author who understands is subject from first hand experience and the implications of the changes AI will bring in the near future.Explaining the changes, some for the better in medical advances and some that will possibly be of concern when science invents computers that are self learning faster than we can understand.

Written by the founder of Deep Mind, you have to take note of this perspective. However, as a layperson, it’s a bit dry, and a bit repetitive. I feel better informed on a strategic level, but this is not an entertaining, page-turning read, in fact it becomes a bit of a grind.

I made the awful mistake of reading this directly after Huxley's A Brave New World. They pair well together if you intend to give up on humanity and go live in the woods.The tone is serious, invoking images of plausible apocalyptic and dystopian hypothetical futures in turn.Yet it manages still to be constructive, a guide to the possible near-future, a warning to be sure, but never merely that. Suleyman's proximity to the subject is evident and well-used, as he shares his personal experience in directly with the challenges that he presents, as well in as the history of his field and the development of the alignment/containment problem that he describes. This should be essential reading for policy makers and technologists alike, the world over. I can't recommend this book enough. Just don't read Huxley first.

Easy to read and explained comprehensively

Interesting read with good analysis - the world is changing.