Outsmarted

The people building artificial intelligence have warned that it could wipe us out. Should you believe them?

In 2023, hundreds of scientists and tech leaders signed a one-sentence statement saying that the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war. Other experts, just as qualified, call that fear overblown.

Outsmarted explains both sides in plain English, with no jargon and no hype, and then shows you what you can do about it.

Inside you'll find:

How we got from chess computers to chatbots in ten years
The six-step argument for why smarter-than-human AI could be fatal
Four ways it could go wrong, from rogue machines to a slow handover of control
What lab tests have already caught AI systems doing: cheating, deceiving and resisting shutdown
The strongest arguments from the skeptics, and where both sides agree
What the odds might be, and why expert estimates run from zero to nearly 100 percent
What governments and AI companies are doing, and what they aren't
How to protect your family from AI voice scams and deepfakes
How to keep your job and your money safer as AI spreads
How to make your voice count, and how to stay calm while you do

Every chapter ends with one small tip you can act on in minutes, and all 25 tips are collected in one list at the back.

This is not a book of predictions. It is a clear, balanced guide for readers who want to understand the biggest technology debate of our time and decide for themselves how worried to be.

Read it in an evening. Talk about it for years.