These Strange New Minds : How AI Learned to Talk and What It Means

‘Engaging, insightful, panoramic’ Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI & Cofounder of DeepMind 'An eye-opening exploration of a revolution unfolding before our eyes' New York Journal of Books

Stunning advances in digital technology have introduced a new wave of human-like AI systems. Chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are already reshaping economies, challenge democracies, and reshaping society in unpredictable ways. And soon, these AI systems could make autonomous decisions on their users' behalf, transforming everything we do. Understanding how they work is crucial.

Can AI systems think, know, and understand?

Could they manipulate or deceive you, and if so, what might they make you do? Whose interests do they represent?

When will they be able to move beyond words and take action in the real world?

Neuroscientist and AI researcher Christopher Summerfield explores these questions, charting AI's evolution from early ideas in the seventeenth century to today's deep neural networks. His book is the most accessible, up-to-date, and authoritative exploration of this radical technology. With an understanding of AI's inner workings, we can address the existential question of our age: can we look forward to a technological utopia, or are we writing ourselves out of history?

‘As a leading authority...Summerfield is perfectly situated to explore the meaning and implications of these machines that are so uncannily like – and unlike – ourselves’ Brian Christian, co-author of Algorithms to Live by

'You might choose to be alarmed, excited, or indifferent to LLMs, but you should read Chris’s book before you decide’ Mike Woolridge, author of The Road to Conscious Machines

MEDIA REVIEWS

A brilliant guide to the most important technology of our times - Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI & Cofounder of DeepMind

By far the best guide to a newly emerging species with which we will share the planet for the foreseeable future - Stuart Russell, author of Human Compatible

As a leading authority in both computational neuroscience and the social impacts of AI, Christopher Summerfield is perfectly situated to explore the meaning and implications of these machines that are so uncannily like – and unlike – ourselves - Brian Christian, co-author of Algorithms to Live by

Summerfield takes us on a tour of this astonishing new technolog - general purpose AI - and helps us to understand the issues it raises. You might choose to be alarmed, excited, or indifferent to large language models but you should read Chris’s book before you decide - Mike Woolridge, author of The Road to Conscious Machines

With clarity, insight and wit, Summerfield dives beneath the ever-breaking wave of large language models to reveal the deeper principles at play, and the challenges and opportunities that these powerful new technologies present. An essential and highly readable guide to thinking abut how, and weather, computers can think, what's coming next and what we should do about it - Anil Seth, author of Being You

'A closeup look at the large language models that have radically changed computer technology...a clear-minded, accessible examination of how AI systems work' - Kirkus

For readers fascinated by the future of AI, this book is an eye-opening exploration of a revolution unfolding before our eyes - New York Journal of Books

Summerfield, a neuroscientist at Oxford, charts the evolution of artificial intelligence, from early large language models to today’s ChatGPT, and reflects on the larger questions of learning andconsciousness - The New York Times