Revealing the unfolding story of Artificial Intelligence, Richard Susskind presents a short non-technical guide that challenges us to think differently about AI. Susskind brings AI out of computing laboratories, big tech companies, and start-ups - and into everyday life.
In recent years, and certainly since the launch of ChatGPT, there has been massive public and professional interest in Artificial Intelligence. But people are confused about what AI is, what it can and cannot do, what is yet to come, and whether AI is good or bad for humanity and civilisation - whether it will provide solutions to mankinds major challenges or become our gravest existential threat. There is also confusion about how we should regulate AI and where we should draw moral boundaries on its use.
In How To Think About AI, Richard Susskind draws on his experience of working on AI since the early 1980s. For Susskind, balancing the benefits and threats of artificial intelligence is the defining challenge of our age. He explores the history of AI and possible scenarios for its future. His views on AI are not always conventional. He positions ChatGPT and generative AI as no more than the latest chapter in the ongoing story of AI and claims we are still at the foothills of developments. He argues that to think responsibly about the impact of AI requires us to look well beyond todays technologies, suggesting that not-yet-invented technologies will have far greater impact on us in the 2030s than the tools we have today. This leads Susskind to discuss the possibility of conscious machines, magnificent new AI-enabled virtual worlds, and the impact of AI on the evolution of biological humans.
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Richard Susskind's very readable How To Think about AI has a double appeal: to the expert who knows about AI and is worried about the consequences and to the lay reader, who needs to understand the scale of the change that is happening around us. It is a 'must-read' for anybody interested in the AI revolution. * Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 2007-2010 * This book is essential reading for those who wish to think about AI, explore its promise, and transform the world through AI. * Baroness Scotland KC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth * This book cuts through the many misunderstandings about AI with wonderful clarity. It is vital reading in a fast-changing world. * Lord William Hague, Chancellor of the University of Oxford * A page turner of a book about AI from someone who really knows what he is talking about. This is a very refreshing and pragmatic look at AI to help the non-technical understand what it's all about. Highly recommended. * Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton * The name Susskind is virtually synonymous with the phrase 'AI and its impact'. There is no better guide through the still-unfolding maze of questions about this matter than this cogent, lucid, instructive, and deeply thought-provoking survey: it is an absolute must-read. * A.C. Grayling, author of Philosophy and Life and For the Good of the World * One of the most important and interesting voices on artificial intelligence - a must-read for anyone trying to understand the change through which we are living. * Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, The Rest Is Politics Podcast * AI sage Richard Susskind boldly reframes the AI revolution by asking 'what if', steering us beyond the hype to eloquently reflect on the truly important, even existential choices we face. * Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger, co-author of Framers * Richard Susskind has written an elegant, easily-understood guide to the opportunities, challenges, risks and benefits of AI. It is essential reading for anyone who wants a clear introduction to the future. * Dame Julie Maxton, Chair, Ada Lovelace Institute * In How To Think About AI, Richard Susskind explores the far-reaching impact artificial intelligence will have on us all. In this clear and accessible guide Susskind examines both the potential and challenges of AI, helping readers navigate its ethical, economic, and social implications. Essential for anyone curious about the future of technology, this book equips readers with a way of engaging with AI that forces a profound rethinking of the future and how to prepare for it. * John Denton, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce * Richard has always been at the forefront of thinking about technology and our professions. Our professions have long prided themselves on the quality, and quantity, of their written output. Now AI engulfs our professions beneath a tsunami of increasing quality. Richard's thoughtful book explores the challenges, not least that AI challenges us all to confront what it truly means to be human. * Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of London, 2023-2024 * Richard Susskind is a master of clear exposition, and How To Think About AI is a salutatory wake-up call for urgent attention now to how humanity will co-exist with the undoubtedly vastly more capable artificial intelligence of tomorrow. This is an important and timely book, from a discerning thinker who has been involved with AI for decades. Whether or not you agree with the destinations in that landscape that Susskind arrives at, or how they are reached, this is an indispensable guide for how to think about AI. * Tom Melham, Professor of Computer Science, University of Oxford * A comprehensive and accessible review of the history, current, and possible future trajectories of AI, and how this will impact us all. Susskind invites us to consider the opportunities and challenges of AI as they relate to humankind and ultimately perhaps the wider cosmos. * Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, Chair of the Open Data Institute * In this cynical arena, Susskind's book stands out for its willingness to consider the issue from multiple angles. Governments, AI ethicists and, above all, tech CEOs are not spared his critique ... this book is a thorough and thoughtful resource for the curious. * Roisin Kiberd, Irish Independent * Measured and insightful...[Susskind] writes with both humility and expertise, both theoretical and practical... [He] is ideally placed to step back in order to look forward. * Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday * A well-researched mix of historical analysis and personal reflection. * Frances Gibb, The Spectator * Thought-provoking * Andrew Robinson, Nature * As someone who spends most of my waking hours exploring how emerging technologies transform business and society, I occasionally encounter perspectives that fundamentally shift how I view our technological future. My recent conversation with Richard Susskind, leading AI expert and author of How To Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed, provided exactly that kind of paradigm-shifting insight. * Bernard Marr, Forbes * An indispensable guide to understanding what artificial intelligence can - or will - do to us, our societies, our nations, and the world. * Neil Mackay, The Herald * Probably the most valuable single book to read in 2025. * Richard Lofthouse, QUAD * May be [Susskind's] best book yet. * Michael Cross, Law Society Gazette * An excellent summary of what seems to be a vast literature and presents the major issues in a helpful and instructive manner that is certainly not patronising. The modest size is illusory, first, as it encompasses explanations of major and critical issues that are pressing now, and not theoretical matters. * Robert Shiels, Scottish Legal News * Every professional needs to read this book now - before it's too late. * Polly Botsford, Legal Cheek * An invaluable, clear and rather terrifying account for lay readers of the history, development and possible future of artificial intelligence. * Robert Low, Jewish Chronicle * Susskind has a rare talent for synthesizing complex ideas and explaining them in a clear and engaging way...[this] may be Susskind's most timely and clarifying work yet. * Jerry Lawson, Attorney at Work * [O]ne of the best [books on AI], filled with real insight and common sense, and refusing to engage in either fear-mongering or a casual dismissal of other, more opinionated takes...[Susskind's book] is frank about the confusion and mystery that any candid approach to artificial intelligence entails, and that is as good a record as exists right now. * The New York Times *
Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC is Special Envoy for Justice and AI to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. He is President of the Society for Computers and Law, and for 25 years, from 1998 to 2023, was Technology Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. The author of 11 books, his work has been translated into 16 languages and he has been invited to speak in over 50 countries. He wrote his doctorate on AI and law at Balliol College Oxford in the mid-1980s. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
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Special Envoy for Justice and AI to the Secretary-General of the CommonwealthSpecial Envoy for Justice and AI to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
Introduction 1: The summer of AI 2: On technology 3: Process-thinking and outcome-thinking 4: Confusions 5: We don't have the words 6: Automation, innovation, elimination 7: Radical structural change 8: Harnessing AI 9: Coming soon 10: The great schismConclusion
