The Digital Ape

‘[W]e should be grateful to Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Roger Hampson for pausing for breath and helping us to think through the true significance of our latest technological developments.’

* Financial Times *

‘Numbed by dire warnings of technological Armageddon? Computer scientist Nigel Shadbolt and economist Roger Hampson dispel the miasma with this superb survey of the landscape we “digital apes” have wrought.’

-- Barbara Kiser * Nature *

'Nigel Shadbolt is one of the most fascinating and important scientists alive today.'

-- Professor Jim Al-Khalili

'There has never been a more important time to discuss what it means to be human, in the past, now, and in the future. This is a book for anyone interested in getting behind the headlines and understanding how technology is impacting our world. The writers are two masters in their field who are not only erudite but immensely humane and compassionate.'

-- Martha Lane Fox

'This is a brilliantly readable, genuinely cutting-edge book that is also often very entertaining. Of all the recent studies of automation and AI, The Digital Ape stands head and shoulders above the rest. Shadbolt and Hampson have written a landmark book.'

* Andrew Keen, author of How to Fix the Future and The Internet is Not the Answer *

‘Rich in ideas and insights, the book is especially strong on our growing personal relationships with Alexa and other robots … An upbeat — even reassuring — take on what will be an AI-saturated future.’ STARRED REVIEW

* Kirkus Reviews *

‘All explore the relationship between the human animal and what might be its most momentous creation yet: artificial intelligence … In a series of wide-ranging chapters, the authors argue that human beings are not just distinguished by their ability to use tools but also largely shaped by it.’

* Weekend Australian *

‘[An] interdisciplinary approach comes over in The Digital Ape, which has arresting sentences.’

* Computer Week