A FASCINATING DEMYSTIFICATION OF AI: WHAT IT IS, ISN’T AND WHAT IT COULD BECOME
In The Shortest History of AI, Toby Walsh takes us through the journey behind AI’s ‘overnight success’ to show how its recent skyrocketing popularity has been decades in the making. AI has been a part of our lives for centuries – from the first mechanical computer in 1837 to today’s chatbots, robots and self-driving cars.
But how did machines meant to follow simple instructions, read and do math become smart enough to write Shakespeare-style poetry, beat world champions at chess, and offer viable solutions to humanity’s problems? What lies in store for AI? Is it going to graduate to take over more complex jobs? If so, what might happen to our work, society, governance, healthcare – and life as we know it?
This brief history slices through the wild claims, myths and speculated threats to explain AI technology, its challenges, capabilities and how it is likely to shape the world in the future.
| Publisher | Pan Macmillan |
| Author | Toby Walsh |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Publication Date | 03/10/2025 |
| Pages | 216 |
| Edition | first |
| Size | 13×20 |
| About the Author | Toby Walsh is one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence. He is a professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales and chief scientist at its new AI institute, UNSW.ai. Walsh has been profiled by The New York Times and is the author of four previous books about AI for general readers, including Machines Behaving Badly and Faking It: Artificial Intelligence in a Human World. The winner of multiple prestigious awards, including the Humboldt Prize and the Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science, his X (formerly Twitter) account was voted in the top ten to follow to keep abreast of developments in AI. |
| Publisher Address | webqueries@macmillan.co.uk |
| ISBN | 9789361132254 |
