Gerd Gigerenzer’s How to Stay Smart in a Smart World reveals how to stay in charge in a world populated by algorithms that beat us in chess, find us romantic partners, and tell us to “turn right in 500 yards”
Doomsday prophets of technology predict that robots will take over the world, leaving humans behind in the dust. Tech industry boosters think replacing people with software might make the world a better place—while tech industry critics warn darkly about surveillance capitalism. Despite their differing views of the future, they all seem to agree: machines will soon do everything better than humans.
In How to Stay Smart in a Smart World, Gerd Gigerenzer shows why that’s not true, and tells us how we can stay in charge in a world populated by algorithms. Machines powered by artificial intelligence are good at some things (playing chess), but not others (life-and-death decisions, or anything involving uncertainty). Gigerenzer explains why algorithms often fail at finding us romantic partners (love is not chess), why self-driving cars fall prey to the Russian Tank Fallacy, and how judges and police rely increasingly on nontransparent “black box” algorithms to predict whether a criminal defendant will reoffend or show up in court.
Gary Klein, author of Sources of Power and CEO of ShadowBox writes that the book “provides an important perspective on AI for all those who are tired of being bombarded by hype and exaggerated claims, and for those who are rightfully worried about the dangers to society that are posed by AI.”
Gigerenzer—Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development—invokes Black Mirror, considers the privacy paradox (people want privacy but give their data away), and explains that social media gets us hooked by programming intermittent reinforcement in the form of the “like” button.
We shouldn’t trust smart technology unconditionally, Gigerenzer tells us, but we shouldn’t fear it unthinkingly, either.
How to Stay Smart in a Smart World in the media:
- The Times UK reviewed the book, calling it “persuasive.”
AI, big data and the superhighway to serfdom - New Scientist wrote that in How to Stay Smart in a Smart World, “Gigerenzer deftly explains the limits and dangers of technology and AI.”
How to Stay Smart in a Smart World review: Why humans still trump AI
- How to Stay Smart in a Smart World was included in a round-up in Inc. of the best behavioral science books.
20 New Books on Behavioral Science That Will Help You Understand Humans Better - According to Morning Star, the book is “essential reading for anyone exposed to technology that shapes our behavior rather than meeting our needs. In other words, it is essential reading for all of us.”
Books Capitalism’s golden cage locked by algorithms - Gigerenzer spoke to The Spectator about How to Stay Smart in a Smart World and the benefits and drawbacks of algorithms.
The algorithm myth: why the bots won’t take over - Publishers Weekly’s review of the book reads, “anyone worried about the age of AI will sleep better after reading this intelligent account.”
How to Stay Smart in a Smart World: Why Human Intelligence Still Beats Algorithms - The book was included in Behavioral Scientist’s summer book list for 2022.
Behavioral Scientist’s Summer Book List 2022
- “In clear, unencumbered, and unpretentious prose, Gigerenzer demystifies the logic of our ‘smart’ societies. And despite cataloguing many depressing examples of the ambitions of big tech, the overall message of the book—and indeed the author’s view of human nature—is empowering.”
—John Zerilli, University of Oxford, co-author of A Citizen’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence