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A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going

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A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

By: Michael Wooldridge
Narrated by: Glen McCready
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From Oxford's leading AI researcher comes a fun and accessible tour through the history and future of one of the most cutting edge and misunderstood field in science: artificial intelligence

The somewhat ill-defined long-term aim of AI is to build machines that are conscious, self-aware, and sentient; machines capable of the kind of intelligent autonomous action that currently only people are capable of. As an AI researcher with 25 years of experience, professor Mike Wooldridge has learned to be obsessively cautious about such claims, while still promoting an intense optimism about the future of the field. There have been genuine scientific breakthroughs that have made AI systems possible in the past decade that the founders of the field would have hailed as miraculous. Driverless cars and automated translation tools are just two examples of AI technologies that have become a practical, everyday reality in the past few years, and which will have a huge impact on our world.

While the dream of conscious machines remains, Professor Wooldridge believes, a distant prospect, the floodgates for AI have opened. Wooldridge's A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence is an exciting romp through the history of this groundbreaking field - a one-stop-shop for AI's past, present, and world-changing future.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Michael Wooldridge (P)2021 Macmillan Audio Computer Science History & Culture Innovations Technology Artificial Intelligence Data Science Machine Learning Robotics Computer History

Featured Article: These Listens Get Real About Artificial Intelligence


It seems artificial intelligence—or AI, for short—is a mainstay of headlines these days. But with the field growing so rapidly and changing day by day, it’s practically impossible to keep up with all the new developments. And whether you're excited, skeptical, or just curious about AI, there's one thing that seems certain—artificial intelligence is here to stay. Stay up-to-date on the ever-growing field of AI with these exceptional nonfic audiobooks and podcasts.

Featured Article These Listens Get Real About Artificial Intelligence
Engaging Storytelling • Easy-to-follow Narrative • Captivating Historical Journey • Informative Personal Reflections
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Both the writing and narration of this book are top-shelf, enjoyable and informative. The book manages to put forth a lot of historical background in an easy to follow story-like format with added personal reflections from the author that don't distract or make the historical journey biographical or all about Woodridge. It's from 2021 and I hope the book has been successful enough that he'll put out further editions.

Like an enjoyable freshman history class

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The story is interesting, captivating, and pedagogical. It covers the entire history of AI, including its major events, people, and trends, explaining important concepts without excessive detail that could make the book too dense. As a result, you can follow the reasoning and learn about the subject in a pleasant way. The amazing narrator is also a crucial component.

The superb quality of the narration made an impressive difference.

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A great intro tracing the history and evolution of AI. it's straight forward and should be accessible to anyone curious. He ends with how he thinks AI will evolve. Highly recommended!

Fantastic!

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This was a very good historical overview of how we got here with AI. I think that we need to know where we have been in order to see where we might be heading. This book helps.

Good Context

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I enjoyed the listen overall. The narration takes a bit of time to get used to, but it was fine after a few hours. The level is best for readers seeking a broad historical basis to provide context for further AI understanding. The field of AI is
rapidly advancing so don’t expect the latest advances to be included in any book.

Nice Overview

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The book's recounting of AI history truly stands out, earning it a solid four-star rating. The discussions on AI risks and machine consciousness are particularly well-crafted, contributing significantly to the overall quality of the book. Nestled between these sections is a speculative exploration of AI's future direction. Regrettably, this part hasn't aged gracefully, failing to foresee the emergence of generative AI. Readers might consider skipping these sections. The narration imparts a distinctive flavor to the book. Presented in received pronunciation, it effectively brings out the nuances of the diction, enhancing the overall rendering of the authors message.

A must read for AI affectionados

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Wooldridge does a great job of telling the story of artificial intelligence from its beginning to the present day. The book is not too long so it makes for a more comfortable listening. The reading is clear and easy to understand .

Clear account of AI

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This was great for educating on the begining and basic foundation of AI and Machine Learning. Gave me enough to look for more. Being older with no current knowledge in programing I feel more informed about AI. No discussion of programming programs. You will hear this is nothing new and might be surprised how far back it goes.

career for the aged

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I enjoyed the book. It was informative and entertaining. A couple parts lost my attention somewhat, but overall it was good to well done. The voice performer did a great job.

One observation is that for all the conversation on this book about how amazing humans are and how very difficult it is to try to achieve anything close to human level intelligence or consciousness by our brightest AI researchers, the author concludes the book by saying "evolutionary forces" somehow created what we enjoy and experience as humans. That no consideration for intelligent design entered the picture is fascinating.

Informative and mostly fun

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This is a good read to get a insiders point of view of AI, the authors scholarship is appreciated, they speak from a point of expertise while still keeping it understandable for the layman

Great insight

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