A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains in Science and Inquiry

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A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains

Max Solomon Bennett

Start date: September 1, 2024

Finish date: September 30, 2024

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Oct 16, 2024 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, science, non-fiction, a-jack-in-the-box-pop-surprise

鈥楢 Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains鈥� by Max Bennett is a wonderful science book about the evolution of the brain, and what is currently known about how it functions. It is simply the best book on the brain I鈥檝e ever read!

I have copied the book blurb:

鈥濃€淚 found this book amazing.聽I read it through quickly because it was so interesting, then turned around and read much of it again.鈥濃€擠aniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 鈥楢 Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains鈥� by Max Bennett is a wonderful science book about the evolution of the brain, and what is currently known about how it functions. It is simply the best book on the brain I鈥檝e ever read!

I have copied the book blurb:

鈥濃€淚 found this book amazing.聽I read it through quickly because it was so interesting, then turned around and read much of it again.鈥濃€擠aniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and bestselling author of Thinking Fast & Slow

鈥淚've been recommending A Brief History of Intelligence to everyone I know. A truly novel, beautifully crafted thesis on what intelligence is and how it has developed since the dawn of life itself."鈥擜ngela Duckworth,聽bestselling author of Grit

Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five 鈥渂reakthroughs鈥� in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.聽

In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have, for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art, identify tumors in pictures, and even steer our cars. And yet, large gaps remain in what modern AI systems can achieve鈥攊ndeed, human brains still easily perform intellectual feats that we can鈥檛 replicate in AI systems. How is it possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can鈥檛 effectively load a dishwasher? As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues, finding the answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts, calamities, and clever innovations. Not only do our brains have a story to tell鈥攖he future of AI may depend on it.

Now, in聽A Brief History of Intelligence,聽Bennett bridges the gap between neuroscience and AI to tell the brain鈥檚 evolutionary story, revealing how understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI breakthroughs. Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of many top minds in neuroscience, Bennett consolidates this immense history into an approachable new framework, identifying the 鈥淔ive Breakthroughs鈥� that mark the brain鈥檚 most important evolutionary leaps forward. Each breakthrough brings new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence. Containing fascinating corollaries to developments in AI, A Brief History of Intelligence shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains, as well as where AI systems still fall short. Simply put, until AI systems successfully replicate each part of our brain鈥檚 long journey, AI systems will fail to exhibit human-like intelligence.

Endorsed and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today, Bennett鈥檚 work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story. With sweeping scope and stunning insights,聽A Brief History of Intelligence聽proves that understanding the arc of our brain鈥檚 history can unlock the tools for successfully navigating our technological future.鈥�

There is a lot of information and artwork in this factually dense, but very readable, science book. I learned more about the brain and its evolution then I have done in reading any other book about this area of science. If your time is limited in reading about the recent discoveries and science about the brain, this is the one book I recommend to get. It pulls together all of the bits of information I have read here and there in other science and AI books. He explains with an in-depth synthesis for the general reader. The author focuses primarily on evolution and function of the brain, less on how computer scientists are transferring the skills of the brain to AI algorithms on the computer. For that angle, I recommend The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values by Brian Christian.

Included are a Glossary, extensive Notes, Bibliography and Index sections, plus Art, Photo, and Figure credits in the back of the book. ...more

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