A Brief History of Intelligence: Why The Evolution of The Brain Holds The Key To The Future of AI

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If there is one book in AI you should read, this is it. Better than any of Yuval Noah Harari"s work I had read.

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A lovely book tracing the development of the brain from bilaterians to present day . A must read popular science book.

To understand the AI revolution sweeping the world, the best starting point is always to understand how our brains work. But to do that is no easy thing. Content available is either too technical, or too simplistic. This book changes all that. In one giant sweep, the author starts from the first animal brains that arrived on the scene 60 crore (600 m) years ago, and explains why. That is brilliant. Once the reader starts understanding the whys of it, the journey is smooth. The author explain the giant leaps in brain evolution, linking it clearly with both the anatomical and behavioural aspects. At each step, there's an "Aha moment" for the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and felt hugely enlightened. Buy now without a second thought.Totally recommended. Thanks to the author!

Sheer pleasure to read though the biology bits in the first three sections were a bit of a challenge to a non-biologist like me. So carefully researched in every paragraph, every sentence. This book makes me want more! Max, what are you up to next?

"A Brief History of Intelligence" is the brain book I've always wanted. It has a big scope and is not afraid to simplify to make that possible. It also mostly does its best to stick to presenting science as currently understood without letting caveats damage readability.The book is at its most enjoyable when recounting evolutionary history and well-understood mechanisms. For example, its discussion of mass extinctions was a good read, and the explanations of the mechanisms involved in neurons, steering, and trial-and-error learning were understandable. It also has the best exposition of dopamine and serotonin that I've seen anywhere.The mechanistic expositions are satisfying for early vertebrates and earlier, but they unfortunately begin lacking when reaching mammals and beyond, which I assume is because those mechanisms aren't sufficiently well-understood yet. Still, I'm glad they were included to the extent possible.The book left me with an appreciation for the diversity of accumulated techniques at play in the human brain, while also making it seem possible to one day achieve a thorough understanding of the whole organ. It also provides much-needed background for the debate over what today's AI can and can't do.

Taking us from the emergence of life to the modern human brain through 5 breakthroughs this was a wonderful book telling a unique story. Very well laid out, the Author is a clear concise and articulate communicator. I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a long time. Highly recommended

Boken är en pedagogisk sammanställning av dagens vetenskap om hjärnans utveckling, och även om hur människor fick språkförmåga.Den är skriven populärvetenskapligt, för att vara tillgänglig för alla läsare, och kräver inga förkunskaper.Jag tycker boken är lättläst och intressant, den är inget man vill lägga ifrån sig.

The author did a fantastic job to explain complex ideas in an easy way. The arguments are logical and very easy to follow. I can’t wait to re-read it as the ideas presented in the book is so eye opening and interesting.