The Shortcut

"Nello Cristianini's brilliant book accessibly explains the shortcuts computer scientists took in their search for artificial intelligence, and how the interaction between engineers, companies and consumers created our online world. The shortcuts enabled problems to be solved, but using them on a massive scale also had unintended consequences. One of the most important points of this book is that the feedback loops between humans and AIs are changing us. Another is that the form taken by AI and IT could have been different, and that regulation and scrutiny could make it more compatible with human flourishing. The book tells key stories in the history of AI and big data, and introduces many critical ideas lucidly. The Shortcut is itself an elegant shortcut to understanding."
-- James Ladyman, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bristol, President-elect of The British Society for the Philosophy of Science

"Nello Cristianini is a prominent AI researcher who has contributed to the field for more than twenty-five years. In this exquisitely written book, rich in anecdotes, he traces the history of AI over that time up to the latest developments. In looking to the future, he takes an unusual but revealing perspective that the present form of AI is a social machine which has effects -- intended and unintended -- on us."

--Chris Watkins, Professor of Machine Learning, Royal Holloway, University of London

"The writing style is wonderful. Clear, lucid and unfussy. Very readable and very accessible. The first four chapters in particular make accessible the basic difference between rule-based programming and the pattern-based approach of ML techniques. They provide a clear and engaging account of the field's development. These chapters also put forward a persuasive account of the notion of 'intelligence' and distinguish human intelligence from that of other agents - it is very well done, and convincing. The remaining chapters tackle many different applications and consequences of intelligent agents, including unintended harms, social media data harvesting, recommender systems, addiction, manipulation and polarisation, social machines and regulation."

--Karen Yeung, Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow in Law, Ethics and Informatics, University of Birmingham and Birmingham Law School, UK

"Written in a clear and engaging style, this book does not just describe how Artificial Intelligence evolved, it also confronts important questions about the nature of intelligence, our relation with technology, and how we can be affected by it. I really enjoyed being taken on the journey form my previously comfortable analogue world to today's and tomorrow's world of living with digital intelligence."

--Stafford Lightman, FMedSci, FRS, Professor of Medicine, University of Bristol, UK