Mo Gawdat - Scary Smart

Mo Gawdat is a serial entrepreneur, the former chief business officer of Google [X] and author of Solve for Happy. Mo has co-founded more than twenty businesses in fields such as healthand fitness, food and beverage and real estate. He has 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 multiple start-ups at any point in time. Outside of work, when hes 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.

The gravity of the battle means nothing to those at peace.

For Ali
Its now or never
Its me and you

T his book is a wake-up call. It is written for you and for me and for everyone who is uninformed about the approaching pandemic the imminent arrival of artificial intelligence. This book will be criticized by the experts and that is the very reason Im writing it. Because to become an expert in artificial intelligence you need a specialized, narrow view of it. That specialized view of AI completely misses the existential aspects that go beyond the technology: issues of morality, ethics, emotions, compassion and a whole suite of ideas that concern philosophers, spiritual seekers, humanitarians, environmentalists and, more broadly, the common human being (that is to say, each and every one of us). Besides, the core premise of this book is to show you that it is not the experts who have the capability to alleviate the threat facing humanity as a result of the emergence of superintelligence. No, it is you and I who have that power. More importantly, it is you and I who have that responsibility.

Around the time this book is published, we will be coming out of almost two years of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be feeling optimistic that the vaccines are starting to work and that there is a chance for our way of life to go back to normal. But normal is forever changing. I believe that the way our global community and political leaders have handled the outbreak of COVID-19 is not that different to the way they are handling the imminent outbreak of the artificial intelligence pandemic. I just hope that we can learn from the mistakes we made with COVID-19, and perhaps deal with this new shift in our way of life in a manner that ensures less disruption, more predictability and less social and economic adversity.

Please dont let the simplicity with which I have attempted to write this book mislead you. The facts backing up my assertions here are undeniable. They are informed by my long career of more than thirty years in technology. Before my current start-up (which utilizes some of the most sophisticated systems, robotics, artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies in a way that could conceivably save our planet), one of the highlights of my career included a twelve-year stint at Google. There, I was privileged to lead the launch of Googles operations and technologies in close to half of Googles offices worldwide, encompassing more than a hundred languages. My time there concluded when I assumed the role of Chief Business Officer of Google [X], the infamous innovation arm of Google that incubated some of the artificial intelligence development projects such as Googles self-driving cars, Google Brain and most of Googles robotics innovation.

My insights into the very core of the artificial intelligence developments that have led us to where we are today, derived in part from my time at Google [X], are unique. I am combining my direct experience with AI development with my work in the field of happiness research (documented in my internationally bestselling book Solve for Happy, a very successful podcast, Slo Mo, and the non-profit organization I founded, OneBillionHappy.org) to bring you a unique perspective on the challenges we face in the age of the rise of superintelligence. My hope is that together with AI, we can create a utopia that serves humanity, rather than a dystopia that undermines it. In this book I will argue that this is a responsibility that everyone including you and I must assume to create a brighter future for us all. Please dont worry. This is not a science fiction story told out of fear but rather a tale of one of humanitys biggest opportunities. This is a chance to turn around the excessive reliance on consumerism and technological advancement that may have improved our quality of life but at the expense of every other being on our planet. Only if we you and I take charge and change, will this be a story of hope.

In the Middle of Nowhere

To begin, I want you to imagine yourself and a frail old version of me sitting in the wilderness next to a campfire in the year 2055, exactly ninety-nine years since the story of artificial intelligence began at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in the summer of 1956. Im telling you the story of what I have witnessed through the years of the rise of AI a story that has led us both to be sitting here in the middle of nowhere. But Im not going to tell you till the end of this book if we are there because we are staying off the grid to escape the machines, or if we are there because AI has relieved us of our mundane work responsibilities and allowed us the time, safety and freedom to just enjoy being in nature, doing what humans do best connecting and contemplating.

I wont tell you yet simply because, at this current moment, I dont know how our story with the machines will end. That, my friend, will be up to you. Yes, you as an individual. Not your government, your boss or the thought leaders that you follow. The future, truly, is up to you. It will depend on the actions you decide to take in the next ten years, starting from today.

This is a prophecy of whats about to come. I have watched closely over the years I spent on the cutting edge of technology as we built machines that are smarter than we are. I personally contributed to the rise of artificial intelligence. I believed in the promise that tech would always make our lives better until I didnt. When I really opened my eyes, I recognized that for every improvement technology has given us, it also took away part of who we are.

Technology today poses an unprecedented threat to our planet and all of its inhabitants. This book is not for the engineers that write the code, the policymakers who claim they can regulate it or the experts that keep creating the buzz around it. They all know what Im about to tell you. This is a book for you, your best friend and your neighbour. Because, believe it or not, we are the only ones who can create our future but only if we take charge together and commit to taking the right action. This book is a movement, the start of a rebellion, and I have kept it short because, as much as I would like to tell you otherwise, were running out of time. Weve been writing the chapters of the story Im about to tell you over the last seventy years. Its now time for all of us including you to write its ending.