
Our Next Reality
How the AI-Powered Metaverse Will Reshape the World
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Narrated by:
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Ciaran Saward
About this listen
"Our Next Reality does a fantastic job of giving a balanced and insightful analysis to some of the most pressing questions our society will face in the near future. The material is data driven, digestible, and very actionable." RAY KURZWEIL, Author/Entrepreneur/Futurist
"A wide-reaching exploration of the intersections between AI, VR and AR: it's a mind-opener, and a source of reflection on how transformative and still unknown the future of communication, personal technology and even personal privacy might become." SCOTT STEIN, Editor at Large, CNET
Over the last 100 years, technology has changed our world. Over the next decade it will transform our reality.
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. Powered by immersive eyewear and driven by interactive AI agents, this new age of computing has the potential to make our world a magical place where the boundaries between the real and the virtual, the human and the artificial, rapidly fade away. If managed well, this could unleash a new age of abundance. If managed poorly, this technological revolution could easily go astray, deeply compromising our privacy, autonomy, agency, and even our humanity.
In Our Next Reality, 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. With a Foreword by renowned author Neal Stephenson and section contributions from industry thought-leaders such as Peter H. Diamandis, Tom Furness, Phillip Rosedale, Tony Parisi, Avi Bar Zeev and Walter Parkes, this book answers over a dozen of the most pressing questions we face as artificial intelligence and spatial computing accelerates the digitization of our world. Find out why our actions in the next decade could determine the trajectory of our species for countless millennia.
"For anyone who wants to use AI and XR to help build the future, read this book to help you skillfully navigate a future of unprecedented danger and promise." JASON HINER, Editor in Chief, ZDNet
"Our Next Reality really is a must-read for anyone who wants to prepare for the massive AI and XR driven disruption coming our way." CHARLIE FINK, Author | Adjunct | Forbes Tech Columnist
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2024 Alvin Wang Graylin, Louis Rosenberg, Neal Stephenson (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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For those with eyes to see, it is painfully apparent. Society everywhere teeters over an abyss, on the edge of the most explosive revolutionary and apocalyptic upheaval. We experience the upheaval everyday, in our minds, as we experience our subjection to ever more audacious forms of menticide - the full-spectrum, systematic campaign that seeks to undermine and destroy our individual and collective values and beliefs. The twenty-first century war over our minds has been waged through the use of prolonged methods of techno-interrogation and torture, through an endless array of drugs, ...
By: Douglas Haugen
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2084 and the AI Revolution (Updated and Expanded Edition)
- How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future
- By: John C. Lennox
- Narrated by: John C. Lennox
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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You don't have to be a computer scientist to have discerning conversations about artificial intelligence and technology. We all wonder where we're headed. Even now, technological innovations and machine learning have a daily impact on our lives, and many of us see good reasons to dread the future. Are we doomed to the surveillance society imagined in George Orwell's 1984? Mathematician and philosopher John Lennox believes that there are credible responses to the daunting questions that AI poses.
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Great book on AI from a biblical perspective!
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-25
By: John C. Lennox
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Interface
- By: Neal Stephenson, J. Frederick George
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In this now-classic thriller, he and fellow author J. Frederick George tell a shocking tale with an all-too plausible premise. There's no way William A. Cozzano can lose the upcoming presidential election. He's a likable midwestern governor with one insidious advantage - an advantage provided by a shadowy group of backers.
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Interface
- By Dianne on 08-14-10
By: Neal Stephenson, and others
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The Singularity Is Nearer
- When We Merge with AI
- By: Ray Kurzweil
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Since it was first published in 2005, Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near and its vision of the future have been influential in spawning a worldwide movement with millions of followers, hundreds of books, major films, and thousands of articles. During the succeeding decade, many of Kurzweil's predictions about technological advancements have been borne out, and their viability has become familiar to the public through such now commonplace concepts. In this entirely new book Ray Kurzweil brings a fresh perspective to advances in the singularity.
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victory lap
- By Anonymous User on 06-30-24
By: Ray Kurzweil
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The Cobweb
- By: Neal Stephenson, J. Frederick George
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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When a foreign exchange student is found murdered at an Iowa University, Deputy Sheriff Clyde Banks finds that his investigation extends far beyond the small college townall the way to the Middle East. Shady events at the school reveal that a powerful department is using federal grant money for highly dubious research. And what its producing is a very nasty bug.
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Et tu, Neal?
- By Richard on 06-16-11
By: Neal Stephenson, and others
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The Metaverse
- And How It Will Revolutionize Everything
- By: Matthew Ball
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The term metaverse is suddenly everywhere, from debates over Fortnite to the pages of the New York Times to the speeches of Mark Zuckerberg, who proclaimed in June 2021 that “the overarching goal” of Facebook is to “bring the metaverse to life”. But what, exactly, is the metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is the successor to the mobile internet that has defined the last two decades.
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Not a must read
- By Andrew on 08-09-22
By: Matthew Ball
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T-Minus AI
- Humanity's Countdown to Artificial Intelligence and the New Pursuit of Global Power
- By: Michael Kanaan
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In T-Minus AI: Humanity's Countdown to Artificial Intelligence and the New Pursuit of Global Power, author Michael Kanaan explains the realities of AI from a human-oriented perspective that's easy to comprehend. A recognized national expert and the U.S. Air Force's first Chairperson for Artificial Intelligence, Kanaan weaves a compelling new view on our history of innovation and technology to masterfully explain what each of us should know about modern computing, AI, and machine learning.
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Trivial Book Regarding AI
- By AstroMan on 10-30-20
By: Michael Kanaan
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Dawn of the New Everything
- Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality
- By: Jaron Lanier
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Bridging the gap between tech mania and the experience of being inside the human body, Dawn of the New Everything is a look at what it means to be human at a moment of unprecedented technological possibility. Through a fascinating look back over his life in technology, Jaron Lanier, an interdisciplinary scientist and father of the term virtual reality, exposes VR's ability to illuminate and amplify our understanding of our species and gives listeners a new perspective on how the brain and body connect to the world.
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Extremely impactful, rewarding audio journey
- By Breaks on 09-17-20
By: Jaron Lanier
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AI 2041
- Ten Visions for Our Future
- By: Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin, Justin Chien, Soneela Nankani, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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AI will be the defining development of the 21st century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand-new forms of communication and entertainment. In liberating us from routine work, however, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order.
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Good concept, poor execution
- By Amazon Customer on 12-08-21
By: Kai-Fu Lee, and others
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Supremacy
- AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World
- By: Parmy Olson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In November 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search. Behind the scenes, battles for control and prestige between the world’s two leading AI firms, OpenAI and DeepMind, who now steers Google's AI efforts, has remained elusive—until now.
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Author doesn’t understand AI
- By David on 09-30-24
By: Parmy Olson
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Our Final Invention
- Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era
- By: James Barrat
- Narrated by: Gary Dana
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Artificial Intelligence helps choose what books you buy, what movies you see, and even who you date. It puts the "smart" in your smartphone and soon it will drive your car. It makes most of the trades on Wall Street, and controls vital energy, water, and transportation infrastructure. But Artificial Intelligence can also threaten our existence. In as little as a decade, AI could match and then surpass human intelligence. Corporations and government agencies are pouring billions into achieving AI’s Holy Grail - human-level intelligence.
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Kind of chilling
- By Keegan on 04-11-15
By: James Barrat
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Co-Intelligence
- Living and Working with AI
- By: Ethan Mollick
- Narrated by: Ethan Mollick
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Something new entered our world in November 2022—the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human thinking. Through his writing, speaking, and teaching, Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI.
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great intro book marred by poor narration
- By Amazon Customer on 04-14-24
By: Ethan Mollick
What listeners say about Our Next Reality
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Luc Micaelli
- 03-22-24
Informative… and frightening
This is an important book. I would recommend it to educators, policy makers, and anyone who wants to be as prepared as possible for the future, because it’s coming fast. The book really helped me think through how AI and XR technologies are coming together, and the opportunities and pitfalls that new technological revolution will bring.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-02-24
Deep insight into our future from entrenched experts
As someone with more background/career experience in humanities and social science, I have been casually trying XR devices for the past five years & feverishly trying to keep pace with the latest happening in AI the past two years. These authors help explain why these two technologies are inextricably linked and provide decades of history to inform future cast ideas, outcomes, and suggested policy. It’s the most rich synthesis I’ve found yet. Well worth the time.
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- Jesse Wang
- 04-07-24
Paints a Vivid Picture, Hopeful & Balanced
The authors have struck a delicate balance between hope and caution, with relevance beyond the realm of speculative futurism.
The book does a good job of reifying the transformative power of these converging technologies. As another reviewer had said, I found the protopia and anti-utopia short stories at the end of the book to be extremely effective.
As a natural pessimist, I found solace in the balanced approach in "Our Next Reality", allowing me to also take part in the optimistic outlook.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-07-24
Incredible overview of the biggest technology impacts
If you are looking to pivot into deep technology this should be standard reading. It covers all the biggest trends that are unraveling now. Great shout out to Neurable ;)
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- Olivier
- 10-22-24
The vision is strong with this one!
Quite an in depth vision and tour of the future. And the writers have real world experiences as well - it is not just vision, it’s anchored in the possible.
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- Matthew C. Daly
- 04-02-24
Outstanding holistic view of an inevitability
"Our Next Reality" does a great job taking a holistic view of the metaverse as the next evolutionary stage of the internet, interfaced spatially, whose content/context crisis will be solved by AI agents.
If you work in this space it’s a no-brainer to pick it up. Great primer for anyone curious or onnboarding.
Im also happy to see the term metaverse been decoupled again from the company Meta specifically, and no longer being a bad word 😆
I personally recommend reading the final protopia and anti-utopia stories first, read the book, then read them again. Brilliant play on metanarrative.
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- Scott Pollack
- 03-24-24
Worthy Prophets Explore our AI & XR Powered Future
Captivating exploration of AI, XR and the Metaverse that stands out for its unique structure and the remarkable qualifications of its authors, who have rightfully earned their reputations. The book is ingeniously structured as a debate, providing a dynamic and engaging format that invites readers into the heart of the most pressing conversations surrounding these transformative technologies. This format not only makes complex concepts accessible but also stimulates critical thinking, allowing readers to weigh differing perspectives about potential futures.
For anyone curious about the future of these technologies and how they will impact society, this book is an essential read. The authors (playing on the famous Steve Jobs bicycle for our minds quote) quip that by the end of the book they hope to convince the reader "the AI-powered metaverse will be the spaceship for our soul." I'm convinced.
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- Bearandcubs
- 03-30-24
A Multifaceted Diamond for the Modern Age
"Our Next Reality" by Alvin Graylin and Louis Rosenberg is a captivating and insightful exploration of the emerging technologies that will shape our future. The book combines expert knowledge with engaging storytelling, making it highly accessible and fascinating.
The authors address the potential societal, ethical, and personal implications of XR and AI technologies and offer their varied perspectives on the potential benefits and disadvantages these radical technologies could bring to society. With real-world examples and forward-thinking ideas, this book is not just about technology; it's an informative and inspiring vision of what is possible, what is probably, and what might be problematic about this range of potentials.
With a foreword by Neil Stephenson, who wrote about these potentials 30 years ago in his science fiction epic novel Snow Crash, this book anchors a view of our techno present as one that is posed at an inflection point. The last 30 years of development, which are today realized in modern XR headsets and AI labs, make "Our Next Reality” read like a beacon illuminating 30 years hence, coloring the sci-fi writings of Stephenson, Gibson, and Cline like prophecy rather than prose.
As a developer of this coming future myself, I appreciate this rare find, which offers both a deep, well-grounded perspective on these technologies and a thoughtful examination of their broader implications for our humanity. I'm grateful to the authors for this elucidating journey and highly recommend it to others interested in ensuring we come out on the brighter side of this radically advancing paradigm shift for our creative work, play, health, education, collective human agency, and intelligence.
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- Jeff
- 02-08-25
Poor thought process on need for government regulation.
This is a VERY bad take on needing to slow down and create national and even international regulation on AI and it's use with AR/VR. I could not disagree more with the author.
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