The Loop - by Jacob Ward (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: 2022; includes new 2023 foreword by the author.

Book Synopsis

This eye-opening narrative journey into the rapidly changing world of artificial intelligence reveals the dangerous ways AI is exploiting the unconscious habits of our minds, and the real threat it poses to humanity: "The best book I have ever read about AI" (New York Times bestselling author Roger McNamee).

Artificial intelligence is about to amplify the most primitive version of who we are, and spit it back at us for entertainment and profit. That's the warning from award-winning technology journalist Jacob Ward, whose decade-long journey through the cutting edge of AI and behavioral science reveals that we're on the verge of becoming caught in The Loop: a shrinking cycle of narrowed choices and lost skills that will turn us away from expertise, human connection, and creativity if we don't act fast. From biometric surveillance states that track the movements and relationships of over a billion people, to the algorithms that determine what movies get made, to the risky multiple-choice simplicity of automated battlefield systems, this book reveals that the most obvious patterns in our behavior--patterns that AI is most likely to vacuum up--are not the ones we want to perpetuate. As the tech industry begins writing flawed human habits into AI, The Loop is a call to look at ourselves more clearly, so we can put only the best parts of ourselves into the systems we create.

Review Quotes

"[The Loop] combines a remarkable synthesis of a mountain of behavioral science research about the human mind, and a travelogue through the world of artificial intelligence history and current practice."

--Alexis Madrigal, KQED (NPR) Forum

"A salutary effect of growing disillusionment with tech has been a shelf of excellent critiques. But The Loop is a strong entry in the canon...AI represents perhaps the ultimate shiny object. But Ward penetrates to the dark vacancy at its core."

--San Francisco Chronicle

"Scary stuff...this book has it all [and] the "how to fight back" part is very important."

--Hoda Kotb, The Today Show

"The Loop is about the unconscious patterns of human behavior and the even less conscious patterns in the software of machine-learning algorithms. Jacob Ward argues, precisely and elegantly, that those magisteria overlap--digital algorithms that take advantage of wobbly human habits increasingly determine how society works, and that may well make us all less happy and less free. When a reporter with Ward's brains and experience warns you about something this serious, you should listen."--Adam Rogers, bestselling author of Proof and Full Spectrum

"A brilliant explanation of how artificial intelligence turned to the dark side, it's that rare book that explains a complicated subject -- AI -- in language anyone can understand, while simultaneously providing the context that every policy maker and citizen will require to deal with it. If AI is to get back on track, then Ward will be the guide."--Roger McNamee, bestselling author of Zucked

"A fantastic, groundbreaking new book."--Ali Velshi, MSNBC

"A fascinating survey of the known spectrum of human biases...rebuts the Silicon Valley-esque assumption that A.I. will always do good." --Cathy O'Neil, New York Times

"Fascinating and unsettling. The future is here and Jacob Ward's lively narrative takes us headlong into the dangerous foray of artificial intelligence into our very core as humans."--Cecilia Kang, bestselling author of An Ugly Truth

"Ward is a thoughtful reporter who has spent the past decade chronicling the rise of a new set of tools pioneered by social scientists, AI researchers and technology companies. The Loop is simultaneously his powerful account of these forces and a wakeup call to remind us that we retain the capability to escape the silicon tendrils of those who seek to exploit our unconscious tendencies."--John Markoff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots

About the Author

Jacob Ward is technology correspondent for NBC News, and previously worked as a science and technology correspondent for CNN, Al Jazeera, and PBS. The former editor-in-chief of Popular Science magazine, Ward writes for The New Yorker, Wired, and Men's Health. His ten-episode Audible podcast series, Complicated, discusses humanity's most difficult problems, and he's the host of a four-hour PBS documentary series, "Hacking Your Mind," that introduces a television audience to the fundamental scientific discoveries in human decision making and irrationality. In 2018, he was a Berggruen Fellow at Stanford University's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He lives in Oakland, California.