Future Technology

Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes - good and bad - are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and best-selling author Martin Rees argues that humanity’s prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow.

Terrence Sejnowski offers a nuanced exploration of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and what their future holds. How should we go about understanding LLMs? Do these language models truly understand what they are saying? Or is it possible that what appears to be intelligence in LLMs may be a mirror that merely reflects the intelligence of the interviewer? In this book, Sejnowski, a pioneer in computational approaches to understanding brain function, answers all our urgent questions about this astonishing new technology.

This book explores the transformative potential of AI in the field of human resources. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, including recruitment, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, learning and development, succession planning, and managing gig workers. Each chapter provides an overview of how AI can be used to improve HR practices, case studies of companies that have successfully used AI in these areas, and best practices for using AI in a way that is fair, transparent, and aligned with the company's overall goals and values. Throughout the conversation, key points...

The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.

We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check—because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.

We are now on the doorstep of a fourth change brought about by two technologies: AI and robotics. The Fourth Age provides extraordinary background information on how we got to this point, and how - rather than what - we should think about the topics we’ll soon all be facing: machine consciousness, automation, employment, creative computers, radical life extension, artificial life, AI ethics, the future of warfare, superintelligence, and the implications of extreme prosperity.

As AI takes hold across the planet and wealthy nations seek to position themselves as global leaders of this new technology, the gap is widening between those who benefit from it and those who are subjugated by it. As Rachel Adams shows in this hard-hitting book, growing inequality is the single biggest threat to the transformative potential of AI. Not only is AI built on an unequal global system of power, it stands poised to entrench existing inequities, further consolidating a new age of empire.

Who Owns the Future? is a visionary reckoning with the effects network technologies have had on our economy. Lanier asserts that the rise of digital networks led our economy into recession and decimated the middle class. Now, as technology flattens more and more industries - from media to medicine to manufacturing - we are facing even greater challenges to employment and personal wealth. But there is an alternative to allowing technology to own our future....

Leaders already know that the classic approach to strategy - analyze, plan, execute - is losing relevance. But they don't yet know what replaces it. As everyone and everything becomes more interconnected and digitized, how do you operate, compete, and win? Ming Zeng, the former chief of staff and strategy adviser to Alibaba Group's founder, Jack Ma, explains how the latest technological developments, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the mobile internet, and cloud computing, are redefining how value is created.

For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: The union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

From mechanical looms to the combustion engine to the first computers, new technologies have always provoked panic about workers being replaced by machines. For centuries, such fears have been misplaced, and many economists maintain that they remain so today. But as Daniel Susskind demonstrates, this time really is different. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence mean that all kinds of jobs are increasingly at risk.

This book will teach you to: understand what AI and machine learning are, and learn about new developments like ChatGPT; discover strategies for engaging students more fully using AI; automate administrative tasks, grading and feedback, and assessments; use AI in innovative ways to promote higher-order thinking skills; and examine ethical considerations of AI, including the achievement gap, privacy concerns, and bias.

In Artificial Intelligence, Mitchell turns to the most urgent questions concerning AI today: How intelligent - really - are the best AI programs? How do they work? What can they actually do, and when do they fail? How humanlike do we expect them to become, and how soon do we need to worry about them surpassing us? Along the way, she introduces the dominant methods of modern AI and machine learning, describing cutting-edge AI programs, their human inventors, and the historical lines of thought that led to recent achievements.

Human history has always been shaped by technology, but AI is like no technology that has come before it. Unlike the wheel, combustion engines, or electricity, AI does the thing that humans do best: think. Acclaimed author and teacher Martha Brockenbrough guides listeners through the development of this world-changing technology, exploring how AI has touched every corner of our world, including education, healthcare, work, politics, war, international relations, and even romance.

From drone warfare in the Middle East to digital spying by the National Security Agency, the US government has harnessed the power of cutting-edge technology to awesome effect. But what happens when ordinary people have the same tools at their fingertips? Advances in cybertechnology, biotechnology, and robotics mean that more people than ever before have access to potentially dangerous technologies that could be used to attack states and private citizens alike.

The Divine Circuitry: A Journey Beyond Boundaries Step into a realm where cutting-edge technology meets ancient wisdom, where artificial intelligence whispers the secrets of the cosmos, and where the quantum field becomes a gateway to the infinite. "The Divine Circuitry: AI, God, and the Quantum Field" invites you to explore the profound interplay between human consciousness, advanced AI, and the timeless quest for spiritual understanding. A Visionary Exploration of AI and Spirituality In this groundbreaking work, discover how AI is not merely a tool for technological advancement but a ...

Unlock the Potential of Tomorrow’s Tech Giants with Small-Cap Innovation! In an era where technology evolves at lightning speed, small-cap tech companies are the hidden gems driving some of the most groundbreaking innovations of our time. Tech Titans of Tomorrow: Investing in the Future of Small-Cap Innovation is your essential guide to navigating the dynamic and high-potential world of small-cap tech investing. Whether you’re a seasoned investor looking to diversify your portfolio or a newcomer eager to explore the exciting realm of technology stocks, this book provides the insights, ...

We are entering a new technological age in which artificial intelligence and immersive media will transform society at all levels, mediating our lives by altering what we see, hear, and experience. If managed well, this could unleash a new age of abundance. If managed poorly, this technological revolution could easily go astray, compromising our privacy, autonomy, agency, and humanity. Two industry veterans provide a data-driven debate on whether the new world we're creating will be a technological utopia or an AI-powered dystopia and give guidance on how to aim for the best future we can.

In 40 years, Earth's population will reach 10 billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups - Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin.

Hybrid Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): From Design to Future Technologies delivers an in-depth exploration of next-generation nuclear technology at the crossroads of engineering, telecommunications, and sustainable energy. This definitive guide breaks down the architecture, operational principles, fuel cycles, safety systems, and grid integration strategies for hybrid SMRs—compact reactors capable of using diverse fuel sources including MOX, thorium, and recycled nuclear waste. With contributions from industry experts, the book examines the potential of integrating SMRs with smart grids, ...