Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit

by Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, Craig Mundie, Niall Ferguson (Foreword by)

Overview

In his final book, the late Henry Kissinger joins forces with two leading technologists to mount “a profound exploration” (Walter Isaacson) of the epochal challenges and opportunities presented by the revolution in Artificial Intelligence: a breakthrough that dramatically empowers people in all walks of life while also raising urgent questions about the future of humanity.
 
As it absorbs data, gains agency, and intermediates between humans and reality, AI (Artificial Intelligence) will help us to address enormous crises, from climate change to geopolitical conflicts to income inequality. It might well solve some of the greatest mysteries of our universe and elevate the human spirit to unimaginable heights. But it will also pose challenges on a scale and of an intensity that we have never seen—usurping our power of independent judgment and action, testing our relationship with the divine, and perhaps even spurring a new phase in human evolution.
 
The last book of elder statesman Henry Kissinger, written with technologists Craig Mundie and Eric Schmidt, Genesis charts a course between blind faith and unjustified fear as it outlines an effective strategy for navigating the age of AI.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316581325
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	11/19/2024
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook

About the Author

Henry A. Kissinger was born in Germany in 1923, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and taught history and government for two decades at Harvard University before becoming National Security Advisor and Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among other awards, he authored numerous influential works on statesmanship and international relations, most recently Leadership, and with Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher coauthored The Age of AI. Until his death in November 2023, he remained in ceaseless demand as an adviser to American presidents and many other world leaders and policymakers.

Eric Schmidt is a technologist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Joining the founders of Google in 2001, he helped grow the company from a Silicon Valley startup to a global leader in technology, first as chief executive officer and chairman, and later as executive chairman and technical adviser. In 2021, he founded the Special Competitive Studies Project, a non​profit initiative to strengthen America’s long-​term competitiveness in AI and technology. Most recently, he and his wife Wendy co‑founded Schmidt Sciences, a nonprofit organization working to advance science and technology that deepens human understanding of the natural world and develops solutions to global issues.

Craig J. Mundie, president of Mundie & Associates, joined Microsoft in 1992 and retired in 2014 as chief research and strategy officer. He advises Microsoft on quantum computing and cybersecurity, is a director of the Institute for Systems Biology, a technology advisor to the Cleveland Clinic, and also an investor/advisor in early-stage companies involved in AI, biotech, fusion energy, and materials science. He served Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Council and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Among his honors is a Doctor of Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Editorial Reviews

09/02/2024

The late former secretary of state Kissinger and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who previously collaborated on 2021’s The Age of A.I., team up with technology consultant Craig Mundie for this warmed-over consideration of how AI might change the world. Their prognostication careens between the dystopian and utopian. On the one hand, they caution that countries might weaponize AI to sic supercharged computer viruses on their enemies’ digital infrastructure, and that humans’ inability to understand how AI reaches its conclusions might “catalyze a return to a premodern acceptance of unexplained authority.” On the other hand, the technology might raise living standards by devising cheap “synthetic substitutes” for in-demand physical resources like oil and gas, or extend lifespans by editing genomes. Unfortunately, the authors offer precious little in the way of evidence and lean heavily on speculation. For instance, their assertion that machines could one day achieve sentience is grounded only in their faith in the inevitability of technological progress. They give short shrift to AI’s well-documented limitations, and the policy recommendation to pursue AI development in a manner consistent with humanity’s “moral convictions” is a vague cop-out. This doesn’t add anything of significance to the conversation on AI. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

AI may be one of the greatest technological revolutions ever, and the biggest question is how humans will adapt. This important book offers one of the first real looks at the future now in front of us—a future of almost limitless possibility, along with very complex new challenges.”—Sam Altman

“A timely exploration of the relationship between artificial intelligence and knowledge, power, and politics, this book pushes us to think hard about the risk and potential AI holds for humanity.”—Bill Gates

“In the coming Age of Artificial Intelligence, what will be the role of humans?  In the final years of his life, Henry Kissinger immersed himself in studying AI, and he coauthored this book with technologists Eric Schmidt and Craig Mundie. It is a profound exploration of how we can protect human dignity and values in an era of autonomous machines.”—Walter Isaacson

“Kissinger, Mundie and Schmidt provide the deepest reflections we yet have on the opportunities and challenges posed by the looming AI-shaped global system.  Readers of their book will learn something profoundly important. Before we can even think about new policies regarding AI, we will need to develop new conceptions of human reason and humanity itself.  This book was Henry Kissinger’s final work. It may well prove his most prophetic and important. It is profoundly important reading.”—Larry Summers

“The next great technological revolution — in artificial intelligence — is already happening. While much of the conversation is about what AI can do and where AI will go, this book brilliantly reframes the discussion. How will human beings relate to AI? How does this thrilling, terrifying new scientific explosion change our conception of what it means to be human. You would expect a profound book given the three authors involved — and you will get it.”—Fareed Zakaria

“The authors of Genesis raise profound questions that are best answered by placing intelligent tools and technologies in the hands of people, empowering them with real agency to be more confident, more capable, and more in control.”—Satya Nadella

“A must read for anyone trying to think seriously about the challenges posed by AI. Genesis captures what we know—and most importantly don’t know—about the dangers posed by the unconstrained advance of AI. Drawing on lessons learned in the nuclear age, Kissinger and his colleagues illuminate the murky path ahead.”—Graham Allison

“Kissinger, Schmidt, and Mundie have crafted a roadmap for navigating our near-future in which unimaginably powerful and ubiquitous AI systems have become autonomous. Their insights into the practical and philosophical implications of humanity's first encounter with a superior intelligence are sobering and inspiring, challenging us to rethink our relationship with technology and our place in the universe. Genesis is vital reading for anyone seeking to understand how AI will reshape our world and what it takes to remain human in the age of intelligent machines.”—Ian Bremmer

“What does AI mean for discovery? For truth? For security, prosperity and politics? In answering these questions, these three extraordinary thinkers are (characteristically) unafraid to tackle the biggest themes and most profound questions around the dominant technology of our times. Epic in scope, bracing in clarity and always rooted in deep experience, this is an essential read.”—Mustafa Suleyman

“Genesis is thought-provoking in the best way — a much needed exploration of AI’s implications for humanity’s progress and what makes us human. It is also a roadmap for how we can harness AI’s possibilities, address its challenges, and ultimately co-exist with intelligent machines in the age of AI.”—James Manyika

“Artificial intelligence boggles the mind, and we struggle to comprehend its promises and perils. In his final book, it is fitting that the master of Grand Strategy, Henry Kissinger, with his superb coauthors Eric Schmidt and Craig Mundie, have focused on this topic. Genesis is the book our world needs to read today.”—Arthur C. Brooks

“As we try to navigate a responsible path into the future of AI, this book establishes a hopeful framework for how we might coexist while maintaining what it means to be human. In his final work, Henry Kissinger, one of the most consequential thinkers of our time, partnered with Eric Schmidt and Craig Mundie, to help guide us into this unprecedented frontier, so that we might harmonize its growth and importance with the wisdom needed to ensure - that this time - technology will be used for the good of humankind. It is a must read for the decision makers – which is all of us.”—Condoleezza Rice

From the Publisher