Scary Smart explains tech and why we need to pay attention to it. From Mo Gawdat, international bestselling author of Solve for Happy.
Mo Gawdat is a serial entrepreneur, the former chief business officer of Google [X] and author of Solve for Happy . Mo has cofounded more than 20 businesses in fields such as health and fitness, food and beverage and real estate. He served as a board member in several technology, health and fitness and consumer goods companies as well as several government technology and innovation boards in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He mentors tens of start-ups at any point in time. Outside of work, when he's not writing or reading up on business and the latest technology innovations and trends, Mo spends his time drawing charcoal portraits, creating mosaics, carpentry and indulging in his passion for restoration of classic cars. Scary Smart is his second book.
Mo Gawdat is my life guru. His writing, his ideas and his
generosity in sharing them has changed my life for the better in so
many ways. Everything he writes is an enlightening education in how
to be human.
*Elizabeth Day*
A proactive and bold read that provides the shake that humans need
to take back our agency over AI, and therefore the fate of the
world as we see it.
*Dr Camilla Pang, author of Explaining Humans: What Science Can
Teach Us About Life, Love and Relationships*
From a brilliant mind comes a terrifying prediction - our puny
efforts will not be enough to control the rise of the machines...
Mo takes us on a whirlwind exploration of the fast-approaching
singularity, and offers a desperate last chance to have a say in
the future of humanity. Read this book!
*Tim Ash, bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal
Brain*
Scary Smart is unlike anything I’ve ever read . . . What Mo does is
help us analyze what it means to be human, by looking at what can
or cannot happen with the rise of artificial intelligence.
*Poppy Jamie, author and founder of Happy Not Perfect*
Our brain fog about artificial intelligence makes it both exciting
and terrifying in equal measure, Mo Gawdat is the expert guide you
need to help decipher the realities of a complex subject. Mo writes
so beautifully that a complex subject reads like a page turner.
*Bruce Daisley, Former Twitter VP and bestselling author of The
Joy of Work*
As we face the future we can either choose to deny reality and
suffer or face reality head on. We can withdraw into our own
private worlds and give up on humanity or remain joyful and engaged
to do our part to improve our future for our children,
grandchildren, and future generations. The choice is ours. I’m
choosing to “go with Mo.”
*Jed Diamond, PhD, author of The Enlightened Marriage and
Twelve Rules for Good Men*
I am so grateful for Mo's work - his ability to distill big ideas,
share mind-blowing research and inspire change alongside kindness.
His words have had a profound tangible impact on my life. No one
ever regrets reading anything Mo Gawdat has written.
*Emma Gannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The
Multi-Hyphen Method and host of award-winning podcast Ctrl
Alt Delete*
The call from Mo is loud and clear: this is the greatest
responsibility of our lifetimes - to evolve and take full
responsibility for how we allow reality, and in this case AI, to
echo back to us our inner thoughts and actions. Thank you for
giving us this genius catalyst.
*John Sanei, Future Strategist, best-selling author and Singularity
University faculty member.*
Mo Gawdat shows, in this beautifully written book, the grave threat
posed to humanity by failing to live up to our responsibility as
AI's parents. He has the wisdom to know that the solution requires
learning to love.
*Donald Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman
Emperor*
In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat fans the flames of all the classic fears
about artificial intelligence. Then, he points out all the fire
extinguishers and teaches us how to use them.
*Dr Robert Blswas-Diener, author of The Upside of Your Dark
Side*
Mo Gawdat’s book Scary Smart offers a fresh perspective on
Artificial Intelligence. Rather than simply focus on the future
impact of AI on people’s lives, he highlights the importance of the
values we impart to it, rather like parents. His in-depth knowledge
of the industry, coupled with his ability to examine what it means
to be human, makes fascinating reading. This book has given me a
whole new perspective on how we envisage our world. Artificial
Intelligence is not separate from us, it reflects our human-ness,
so we better get it right.
*Bodour Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Publishing Group*
I believe Mo is one of the most important voices of our time. He
possess a rare combination of authenticity, insight and
intelligence. Scary Smart is ultimately a book about taking
responsibility and working with the facts. It’s a fascinating read
that addresses the very real concerns of Artifical Intelligence for
all our futures. This book will challenge you in a very healthy
way.
*Owen O'Kane, psychotherapist and Sunday Times bestselling
author*
It takes a great writer to make something so complex seem so simple
to a bloke like me. Mo Gawdat is a truly great writer. Combining
decades of experience in business and technology with his research
and writings on happiness and philosophy, my eyes were opened to
just how smart (and scary) the digital world around us is about to
become... and exactly what it may mean for us mere humans.
*Adam Ashton, host of the What You Will Learn podcast*
Mo Gawdat's book brilliantly explores one of the most pressing
issues of our time. He does it with simplicity while not
compromising on rigor; the scope of his project is broad while his
insights are deep. Reading Scary Smart can help us become smarter
about what we do today, so that we can better prepare for, and be
less scared of, the future.
*Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, Founder of the Happiness Studies Academy*
It’s time to choose. …Avoid reality and hide or empower yourself
and lead on. Will you give up on our best self - your humanity - or
be proactive, engaged and dynamic to enhance our future with more
human values? There is always a choice. …. “go with Mo.”… BE MORE
HUMAN. That’s my choice.
*Rajshree Patel, author of The Power of Vital Force*
This book is scary good. It will open your eyes to all the ways
that AI already shapes our daily lives and to the choices we face
in creating a future where we are no longer in charge. Mo Gawdat
asks what it is about being human that we most want to preserve,
and then shows us the urgency of fighting for those values each
time we choose where to click.
*Dr. Robert Waldinger, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of
Harvard Study of Adult Development*
There is no more important message for humanity than the content of
Scary Smart. We must take responsibility for our future with
respect to AI, and lean into the power of human love and trust. Mo
Gawdat is the best person I know, to bring these solutions to us in
a tangible and thought provoking way. Choose this book to choose a
better path and purpose in life.
*Tara Swart, Neuroscientist and bestselling author of The
Source*
Whether AI will help or harm humankind is ultimately in our hands.
In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat helps us understand how sci-fi is now
sci-fact and the actions we need to take to create AI for good and
in turn create good AI.
*Helen Tupper, co-author of The Squiggly Career*
Mo is an exquisite writer and speaker with deep expertise of
technology as well as a passionate appreciation for the importance
of human connection and happiness. He possesses a set of
overlapping skills and a breadth of knowledge in the fields of both
human psychology and tech which is a rarity. This book will teach
you how to navigate the scary and inevitable intrusion of AI as
well as who really is in control. Us.
*Dr Rupy Aujla, MBBS, BSc, MRCGP, Founder of "The Doctor's
Kitchen"*
Reading Mo’s outstanding book Scary Smart reminded me of Gandhi’s
Seven Blunders of the World, one of which is SCIENCE WITHOUT
HUMANITY. We have used our knowledge to exploit, dominate, oppress,
impoverish humanity for personal gains. Now the same people are
creating Artificial Intelligence. How do we know AI will not be
worse than the Genuine Intelligence that brought us to this sorry
state?
*Arun Gandhi, Peace Farmer and Grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma”
Gandhi*
In Scary Smart, Mo Gawdat gives a tour de force in educating us
both in regard to the dangers of artificial intelligence but also
shining a mirror on our own failings and biases which prevent us
from seeing this reality. It always offers us a clear path to our
own salvation. Humbling and profound.
*James R. Doty, M.D., founder of the Stanford Center for Compassion
and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) and New York
Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop*
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