T-Minus AI Humanity's Countdown to Artificial Intelligence and the New Race for Global Supremacy

If you need to understand more clearly on what is the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning and robots, this is the book. A very lucid and non-controversial take on the state of AI today and where it will be going in the near future. Michael takes the reader in a very well thought out journey - from the beginning of time, the big bang and the evolution of humans. He clarifies the aspect of consciousness and why that would be different and difficult for the machines and makes it a huge departure from us humans. The different types of machine learning and AI are detailed well through the evolution of computing and the need for data as the base for the AI/ML. He, thankfully, predicts that the superintelligence kind of AI would not be in the timeline that we can perceive - so all the threats of matrix and terminator kind of movies will not be a reality. This is not a blank statement from him, but very well argued through the basics of what it means to achieve that level. The book then closes in with the geo-political equations of becoming an AI superpower and leaves us with the knowledge of how AI can be a tool which can be used and abused. He reveals aspects of Chinese and Russian use of AI for not very ethical purposes. Hopefully this serves as a warning to all of us. The book closes with a show of the AI plans of major countries around the world . I took away a lot from the book - from increased knowledge about the evolution of intelligence, AI and ML and While being very important for human progress how these are tools which can easily be used for nefarious work. We already saw some of the AI/ML work from some of the governments (like China) in the handling of the COVID . I hope all countries awaken to this and come up with clear policies for the right use of such potential!