The AI era has already begun. Yuval Noah Harari on his new book

Hi, my name is Yuval Noah Harari. I want to tell you a bit about my new book: Nexus, A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI.

At the heart of this new book lies one key question: We have named our species “Homo Sapiens”, the wise human. But if humans are so wise, why are we doing so many self-destructive things? “Nexus” argues that the fault is not with our nature, but with our information.

Humanity gains power by building large networks of cooperation. Unfortunately, the easiest way to build and maintain these networks is by spreading fiction, fantasies and mass delusions.

That’s how we got, for example, to Nazism and Stalinism. Now the danger is particularly menacing, due to the rise of a new information technology: AI.

In the 21^st century, AI may form the nexus for such a powerful network of delusions, that it could prevent future generations from even attempting to expose its lies and fiction.

What impact will this have on human societies? How can democratic governments make financial decisions if the very meaning of money comes to depend on inscrutable algorithms? How can societies maintain a public conversation about anything, if we can no longer know, whether we are talking with another human being or with a chatbot masquerading as a human?

I hope you enjoy deep diving into all this and more within the pages of “Nexus”.

The Age of AI is here.

What can history teach us?