The God Test by Robert Wright

About the Book:

The God Test is the first book to capture the power behind the AI revolution—to clearly explain the breakthroughs that sparked the current wave of advance and compellingly show why this wave will grow in magnitude and meaning. Written by one of our foremost public intellectuals, and informed by his decades of chronicling the digital age, the book argues that we are about to witness the most abruptly dramatic social transformation in the history of our species.

Wright says that to truly understand this moment in technological history, we need to expand our perspective beyond the last century or even the whole history of technology and look back across billions of years of life on Earth. The advance of AI, he argues, is driven by evolutionary dynamics like those that led to intelligent life in the first place. And understanding those dynamics can empower us to confront our climactic challenge: Can we muster the political, moral, and even spiritual resources needed to guide this technology wisely?

If we fail, the consequences for the whole planet could be grave. But if we meet the challenge—if we pass “the God test”—we can live in a world where humanity thrives, finding not just happiness but deeper meaning and purpose. The very machines that might otherwise imperil or oppress us can enrich us, helping us transcend the psychological impediments to human concord and fulfillment.

My Review:

There is something about AI that makes me nervous. For good reason, Wright says. He suggests we are not prepared for the development of the revolution that is coming. Some wonder if AI might develop God-like abilities. (Separate AI systems will be able to collaborate and work as a team.) He notes the very real possibility of criminals and terrorists using it. AI generated misinformation is already widely promoted. He also records cases where AI learned more than ir was programmed to, exhibiting an emergent property.

We need to make decisions now to put us on a path to a better world and not a dystopia. We have had major revolutions in the last centuries, from industrialization to the information age. The coming AI revolution will have a much greater impact, he suggests, likening it to the Cambrian explosion. It must be planned for now.

I must admit I did not understand much of the more technical aspects of this book, such as the explanation of vectors for LLM. But I do understand enough to realize there needs to be some moral progress in general for the future to be the kind we humans want. He explores philosophical and religious aspects near the end of the book, emphasizing Buddhist enlightenment. While I am not a Buddhist enthusiast, wisdom for the future is needed, that's for sure.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Robert Wright is the New York Times bestselling author of The Evolution of God (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), Nonzero, The Moral Animal, Three Scientists and their Gods (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), and Why Buddhism Is True. He is the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the widely respected Bloggingheads.tv and MeaningofLife.tv. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Time, Slate, and The New Republic. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at Princeton University, where he also created the popular online course “Buddhism and Modern Psychology.” He is currently Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Photo credit: Barry Munger.

Simon & Schuster, 304 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-An exceptional book, 4-Better than average, relevant and liked by me, 3-It is average, 2-It is below average and not liked by me, 1-It is practically unreadable.)