The Coming Wave:
Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma (*****)
Suleyman, Mustafa
I rarely do this, but I recommend anyone reading this to give this book a try. It does not matter what your interests or current views on AI are. This book may change your thinking to some extent. I also believe everyone should pay attention to AI, as it is very likely that this technology will affect your personal life in more ways than we can imagine, just within the next five years.
There are a plethora of books on the societal impact of this technology. These books either take a utopian view and discuss all the amazing and positive things that can happen, or, at the other end of the spectrum, some books discuss the existential threats that AI can pose and how AI can go completely out of human control. The first variety is probably too good to be true, and the second view, though it could be true, is further out in the future.
This book, in contrast, is very balanced and pragmatic. It paints a picture that sounds less like science fiction and predicts a not-so-pleasant future that is just a few years out. It first establishes why stopping it is not a realistic option. This may be particularly important for those who want to prevent nascent technologies from happening at all. While that may make a good political movement, they never have any real-life impact, and the author shows all the reasons behind it.
Knowing that we cannot stop it, the next best course of action is to explore the sources of danger and try to contain it as best we can. The author does not believe it will be easy, but he still wants all of us to try. Interestingly, the author is one of the pioneering figures in the development of AI that we see all around us today. So, his views are not from a university professor but from someone deeply embedded in this industry and a pivotal figure in recent innovations.
Capitalism: A Ghost Story (**---)
Roy, Arundhati
If I could evaluate a book only based on its intent, this book may deserve praise. I admire her writing, and I admire her courage to take a stand. However, beyond that, there are very few reasons to like it.
In the current political atmosphere, we are all too familiar with the extreme right, blaming everything on the liberals and the deep state. The thinking goes like this -- since the "deep state" takes intellectuals seriously, there must be something sinister going on there. The scientists, doctors, and artists are all in collusion, only advancing some hidden agenda. It looks at the world as black-and-white.
While reading this book, I felt the same arguments coming from the other side. Capitalism is evil, especially in developing nations. She establishes that with powerful examples. However, she then extends her thesis to dismantle everything this capital may fund. Almost all social and not-for-profit organizations are in her crosshairs. She sees most NGOs as agents of propagating the capitalist agenda. She is unwilling to give any slack to people like Bill Gates, and paints them as cold, calculating capitalists.
Would the world be in a better place if Gates decided to leave his billions to his children rather than trying to fight malaria in Africa? Would Indians be in a better state if all internationally funded NGOs stopped doing what they do? Why can't we see the world in shades of grey and look at a philanthropist both as a ruthless businessman and as a compassionate human being who wants to leave behind a positive legacy? Why must we see the world in black and white?
The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI (***--)
Kurzweil, Ray
I read the earlier book on this topic, "The Singularity Is Near," almost twenty years ago and liked the arguments but was skeptical of the timeline it predicted. Most people felt the same way then. I still remember a Scientific American review of the book. It also agreed with the overall argument but felt the forty-year prediction of near immortality was arbitrary. It said in jest that the author was sixty and, therefore, would like to enjoy the benefits of this advancement. Even though disbelieved by most other computer scientists, his predictions about Artificial Intelligence are proving to be far closer than what most people expected. The recent dramatic progress in AI in the last few years encouraged the author to write an updated version of the book, incorporating all the changes in the last twenty years. The result is this book.
As before, the facts presented and the arguments used are strong and convincing. Perhaps he is correct in his predictions on AI. I personally do not believe that the current breed of AI products will evolve into General Artificial Intelligence simply through scaling and incremental technological improvements. I think there needs to be a series of breakthroughs in better understanding of how the human brain works before we can incorporate them into machines. Therefore, it is likely to take longer than the four-year horizon he is thinking of, but it will happen fairly soon.
Where I cannot agree with him is his general optimism toward technology and his predictions about life extension and the merging of the human brain with AI. I do believe technology has brought more good than bad to human society, but the risks of what may happen in the next fifty years seems far greater than the author wants to believe.
Life extension is also possible, but probably not at the rate it predicts. This is particularly true of brain-machine interlinking. In 1957 we launched the first artificial satellite in space, and in just twelve years, we had a person walking on the moon. Seeing that rate of progress, many futurists and almost all science fiction writers predicted an accelerating growth of space exploration. It was reasonable to predict that in another ten years, we would have a permanent base on the moon, and by now, we would have colonized space. Yet, no one else walked on the moon since then. This is not because it was impossible to do but because there are many more political and economic factors that prevented it. Massive changes like large-scale brain implants or adding nano-robots in our bodies are not just technological challenges but would take enormous societal will to accomplish. The author ignores these factors in his analysis. AI improvements require much less money and do not require such social will, so progress has happened rapidly. The same may not occur when we play around with our bodies.
Rethinking Work: Seismic Changes in the Where, When, and Why (****-)
Tobaccowala, Rishad
I generally don't write about books written by personal friends, but I'll make an exception here because many people, especially younger ones with long careers ahead of them, can benefit from reading this book. We are at a point in time when the nature of work is changing rapidly. Unlike the author, I do not feel it is predictable with any degree of confidence, but that it will change radically in the next ten to twenty years is unquestionable. This was not the case for people of earlier generations. One could pick a career path from their college days and more or less follow that till retirement. That is very unlikely to happen again. It is easier to deal with this uncertainty if one thinks seriously about the possibilities. This book can help you do that.
There Are Rivers in the Sky (***--)
Shafak, Elif
Let me start with what I liked. It is a gripping historical novel, with the novelty of spanning thousands of years. The three main characters come from a span of two hundred years. The chapters jump between three different stories- one in late nineteenth-century London, the other two in twenty-first-century London, and along the river Tigris. As you can guess, the connecting thread is water. The book also narrates the story of a single drop of water that played a significant role in each of these stories, as it fell from the sky as a drop of rain, or came down as a snowflake, or flowed down Thames and Tigris, each time returning to the sky as vapor to come down again.
The author bravely took up the challenge of combining various global concerns- both environmental and social. The issue of climate change and resultant politics around freshwater created a backbone. There is also the plight of ethnic minorities and ethnic cleansing. A good part of the book deals with cultural appropriation by powerful and wealthy nations. The author mostly successfully combines so many disconnected issues into a single story, which is remarkable.
However, I wish all this alchemy remained shrouded and invisible to the reader. As a reader, I could mostly see the strings the author pulls to make her characters move. The actions of the characters remained predictable and a little too intentional. It is a well-intentioned work, but I wish she could hide her intentions more skillfully.
The Safekeep (****-)
Wouden, Yael van der
This book came as a pleasant surprise. The story takes place in post-WWII Holland, mainly in the early sixties. I had never heard of the author and was unfamiliar with modern Dutch literature. As I started reading, the behavior of some of the main characters seemed a little artificial and unlikely. However, as the story unfolded, the logic behind their unexpected behavior became increasingly believable.
There are some unexpected twists in the tale. Most fictional twists are based on coincidences, but that's not the case here. Whatever happens, it eventually becomes clear that it was intentional and had to happen, which is very refreshing.
I am always attracted to obsessive behavior, so it is no surprise that I enjoyed understanding the obsessions that drove the two main characters. However, the most remarkable aspect of this writing is the dialog -- broken, unfinished, and awkward, yet it makes the characters and situations uncannily real, complex, and palpable. The credit also goes to the translator because it is not easy to capture broken sentences in another language.
The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story (****-)
Tokarczuk, Olga
To fully enjoy this book, you may need to read Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain first. Although the two books are separated by exactly one hundred years, their themes run parallel. Both novels take place in an isolated mountain village inside a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. In both books, the protagonist is a young male patient and a cast of older patients and medical staff. The two novels also start with very similar tones.
However, as the book progresses, they start to diverge. And there lies the genius of this book. The Nobel-winning author takes on the challenge of starting a novel with almost the same theme as an all-time classic, which is a risky move for any author, but cleverly steers it in a new direction.
I cannot say the book moved me the same way Magic Mountain did, but the sheer intelligence behind this creation is stunningly mesmerizing. It will probably not leave the same deep impression, but I enjoyed the journey.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls
Murakami, Haruki
I have admired Murakami since I read 1Q84, probably fifteen years ago. Since then, I read almost anything he wrote and eagerly await his next novel. However, this time, the experience of reading his latest has been somewhat underwhelming.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls takes place in two different places. Half of the book takes place in present-day Japan, mainly in a small sleepy town in the hilly parts of the country. In this town, the people and activities are "real" with a sprinkling of magic, as one would expect in any Murakami environment. The other half takes place in an imaginary town surrounded by an impenetrable wall—timeless, strange, and entirely magical.
Murakami, as usual, is a great storyteller. He held my attention and interest all through. He also has a masterly ability to create a magical world, and he succeeds in his world-building in this book. The problem is it did not come together for me. It felt forced and a bit pointless. It feels like a master with tremendous skill painting brilliant strokes, but he does not have a view of the entire painting. Not all works of art need to have a definite, preplanned trajectory. But even if it is improvised all through, it must gell together as a coherent piece in the end. I feel that's where the novel fails. In the end, it seemed scattered and incoherent.
In any translated work, it is hard for the reader to judge if the language is weak or if it is the translation. I just could not like the writing style of this novel. It is oversimplified and unsophisticated. I enjoyed earlier Murakamis because he did not try to explain things and left it to the reader's perception. Here, again and again, he seems to have lost the confidence that the reader can figure things out, and he comes in to explain things literally. For example, in the mythical town, there is only one clock, but the clock's hands are missing—a poignant imagery. However, why did he have to say, "... because time has stopped here"?
The Coming Wave:
Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma (*****)
Suleyman, Mustafa
I rarely do this, but I recommend anyone reading this to give this book a try. It does not matter what your interests or current views on AI are. This book may change your thinking to some extent. I also believe everyone should pay attention to AI, as it is very likely that this technology will affect your personal life in more ways than we can imagine, just within the next five years.
There are a plethora of books on the societal impact of this technology. These books either take a utopian view and discuss all the amazing and positive things that can happen, or, at the other end of the spectrum, some books discuss the existential threats that AI can pose and how AI can go completely out of human control. The first variety is probably too good to be true, and the second view, though it could be true, is further out in the future.
This book, in contrast, is very balanced and pragmatic. It paints a picture that sounds less like science fiction and predicts a not-so-pleasant future that is just a few years out. It first establishes why stopping it is not a realistic option. This may be particularly important for those who want to prevent nascent technologies from happening at all. While that may make a good political movement, they never have any real-life impact, and the author shows all the reasons behind it.
Knowing that we cannot stop it, the next best course of action is to explore the sources of danger and try to contain it as best we can. The author does not believe it will be easy, but he still wants all of us to try. Interestingly, the author is one of the pioneering figures in the development of AI that we see all around us today. So, his views are not from a university professor but from someone deeply embedded in this industry and a pivotal figure in recent innovations.
Capitalism: A Ghost Story (**---)
Roy, Arundhati
If I could evaluate a book only based on its intent, this book may deserve praise. I admire her writing, and I admire her courage to take a stand. However, beyond that, there are very few reasons to like it.
In the current political atmosphere, we are all too familiar with the extreme right, blaming everything on the liberals and the deep state. The thinking goes like this -- since the "deep state" takes intellectuals seriously, there must be something sinister going on there. The scientists, doctors, and artists are all in collusion, only advancing some hidden agenda. It looks at the world as black-and-white.
While reading this book, I felt the same arguments coming from the other side. Capitalism is evil, especially in developing nations. She establishes that with powerful examples. However, she then extends her thesis to dismantle everything this capital may fund. Almost all social and not-for-profit organizations are in her crosshairs. She sees most NGOs as agents of propagating the capitalist agenda. She is unwilling to give any slack to people like Bill Gates, and paints them as cold, calculating capitalists.
Would the world be in a better place if Gates decided to leave his billions to his children rather than trying to fight malaria in Africa? Would Indians be in a better state if all internationally funded NGOs stopped doing what they do? Why can't we see the world in shades of grey and look at a philanthropist both as a ruthless businessman and as a compassionate human being who wants to leave behind a positive legacy? Why must we see the world in black and white?
The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI (***--)
Kurzweil, Ray
I read the earlier book on this topic, "The Singularity Is Near," almost twenty years ago and liked the arguments but was skeptical of the timeline it predicted. Most people felt the same way then. I still remember a Scientific American review of the book. It also agreed with the overall argument but felt the forty-year prediction of near immortality was arbitrary. It said in jest that the author was sixty and, therefore, would like to enjoy the benefits of this advancement. Even though disbelieved by most other computer scientists, his predictions about Artificial Intelligence are proving to be far closer than what most people expected. The recent dramatic progress in AI in the last few years encouraged the author to write an updated version of the book, incorporating all the changes in the last twenty years. The result is this book.
As before, the facts presented and the arguments used are strong and convincing. Perhaps he is correct in his predictions on AI. I personally do not believe that the current breed of AI products will evolve into General Artificial Intelligence simply through scaling and incremental technological improvements. I think there needs to be a series of breakthroughs in better understanding of how the human brain works before we can incorporate them into machines. Therefore, it is likely to take longer than the four-year horizon he is thinking of, but it will happen fairly soon.
Where I cannot agree with him is his general optimism toward technology and his predictions about life extension and the merging of the human brain with AI. I do believe technology has brought more good than bad to human society, but the risks of what may happen in the next fifty years seems far greater than the author wants to believe.
Life extension is also possible, but probably not at the rate it predicts. This is particularly true of brain-machine interlinking. In 1957 we launched the first artificial satellite in space, and in just twelve years, we had a person walking on the moon. Seeing that rate of progress, many futurists and almost all science fiction writers predicted an accelerating growth of space exploration. It was reasonable to predict that in another ten years, we would have a permanent base on the moon, and by now, we would have colonized space. Yet, no one else walked on the moon since then. This is not because it was impossible to do but because there are many more political and economic factors that prevented it. Massive changes like large-scale brain implants or adding nano-robots in our bodies are not just technological challenges but would take enormous societal will to accomplish. The author ignores these factors in his analysis. AI improvements require much less money and do not require such social will, so progress has happened rapidly. The same may not occur when we play around with our bodies.
Rethinking Work: Seismic Changes in the Where, When, and Why (****-)
Tobaccowala, Rishad
I generally don't write about books written by personal friends, but I'll make an exception here because many people, especially younger ones with long careers ahead of them, can benefit from reading this book. We are at a point in time when the nature of work is changing rapidly. Unlike the author, I do not feel it is predictable with any degree of confidence, but that it will change radically in the next ten to twenty years is unquestionable. This was not the case for people of earlier generations. One could pick a career path from their college days and more or less follow that till retirement. That is very unlikely to happen again. It is easier to deal with this uncertainty if one thinks seriously about the possibilities. This book can help you do that.
There Are Rivers in the Sky (***--)
Shafak, Elif
Let me start with what I liked. It is a gripping historical novel, with the novelty of spanning thousands of years. The three main characters come from a span of two hundred years. The chapters jump between three different stories- one in late nineteenth-century London, the other two in twenty-first-century London, and along the river Tigris. As you can guess, the connecting thread is water. The book also narrates the story of a single drop of water that played a significant role in each of these stories, as it fell from the sky as a drop of rain, or came down as a snowflake, or flowed down Thames and Tigris, each time returning to the sky as vapor to come down again.
The author bravely took up the challenge of combining various global concerns- both environmental and social. The issue of climate change and resultant politics around freshwater created a backbone. There is also the plight of ethnic minorities and ethnic cleansing. A good part of the book deals with cultural appropriation by powerful and wealthy nations. The author mostly successfully combines so many disconnected issues into a single story, which is remarkable.
However, I wish all this alchemy remained shrouded and invisible to the reader. As a reader, I could mostly see the strings the author pulls to make her characters move. The actions of the characters remained predictable and a little too intentional. It is a well-intentioned work, but I wish she could hide her intentions more skillfully.
The Safekeep (****-)
Wouden, Yael van der
This book came as a pleasant surprise. The story takes place in post-WWII Holland, mainly in the early sixties. I had never heard of the author and was unfamiliar with modern Dutch literature. As I started reading, the behavior of some of the main characters seemed a little artificial and unlikely. However, as the story unfolded, the logic behind their unexpected behavior became increasingly believable.
There are some unexpected twists in the tale. Most fictional twists are based on coincidences, but that's not the case here. Whatever happens, it eventually becomes clear that it was intentional and had to happen, which is very refreshing.
I am always attracted to obsessive behavior, so it is no surprise that I enjoyed understanding the obsessions that drove the two main characters. However, the most remarkable aspect of this writing is the dialog -- broken, unfinished, and awkward, yet it makes the characters and situations uncannily real, complex, and palpable. The credit also goes to the translator because it is not easy to capture broken sentences in another language.
The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story (****-)
Tokarczuk, Olga
To fully enjoy this book, you may need to read Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain first. Although the two books are separated by exactly one hundred years, their themes run parallel. Both novels take place in an isolated mountain village inside a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. In both books, the protagonist is a young male patient and a cast of older patients and medical staff. The two novels also start with very similar tones.
However, as the book progresses, they start to diverge. And there lies the genius of this book. The Nobel-winning author takes on the challenge of starting a novel with almost the same theme as an all-time classic, which is a risky move for any author, but cleverly steers it in a new direction.
I cannot say the book moved me the same way Magic Mountain did, but the sheer intelligence behind this creation is stunningly mesmerizing. It will probably not leave the same deep impression, but I enjoyed the journey.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls
Murakami, Haruki
I have admired Murakami since I read 1Q84, probably fifteen years ago. Since then, I read almost anything he wrote and eagerly await his next novel. However, this time, the experience of reading his latest has been somewhat underwhelming.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls takes place in two different places. Half of the book takes place in present-day Japan, mainly in a small sleepy town in the hilly parts of the country. In this town, the people and activities are "real" with a sprinkling of magic, as one would expect in any Murakami environment. The other half takes place in an imaginary town surrounded by an impenetrable wall—timeless, strange, and entirely magical.
Murakami, as usual, is a great storyteller. He held my attention and interest all through. He also has a masterly ability to create a magical world, and he succeeds in his world-building in this book. The problem is it did not come together for me. It felt forced and a bit pointless. It feels like a master with tremendous skill painting brilliant strokes, but he does not have a view of the entire painting. Not all works of art need to have a definite, preplanned trajectory. But even if it is improvised all through, it must gell together as a coherent piece in the end. I feel that's where the novel fails. In the end, it seemed scattered and incoherent.
In any translated work, it is hard for the reader to judge if the language is weak or if it is the translation. I just could not like the writing style of this novel. It is oversimplified and unsophisticated. I enjoyed earlier Murakamis because he did not try to explain things and left it to the reader's perception. Here, again and again, he seems to have lost the confidence that the reader can figure things out, and he comes in to explain things literally. For example, in the mythical town, there is only one clock, but the clock's hands are missing—a poignant imagery. However, why did he have to say, "... because time has stopped here"?
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