The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma” Author: Mustafa Suleyman, Co-Author: Michael Bhaskar

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage now, it has become the focal point of technological advancement with industry giants like Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others vying for supremacy. In this landscape, Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind, delivers a sobering assessment of our AI-drive world. His urgent warning about the unprecedented risks posed by emerging technologies is both informative and unsettling. 

Here is my take on the book and authors writing:

The Book: 

1. The phone is ringing, pick it up. This is an insightful wake up call that we all must answer. Suleyman’s exploration serves as a wake-up call. Humanity stands at an inflection point, where the fast-paced narrative reveals sobering facts about AI- what’s happening today, not decades away.  

2. Suleyman posits that we’ve evolved beyond Homo sapiens. We’re now Homo technological - a fusion of human, technology, and synthetic biology. This combination demands our attention. 

3. We all know that corporations live to prioritize and maximize shareholder returns. The authors asks, how do we balance profit with the urgency to contain AI’s risk? As someone  familiar with corporate pressures, I wonder about the risk AI poses. 

4. Should there be a Hippocratic Oath for AI? Suleyman invokes the ancient principle: “Primus non nicer” (First, do no harm). His ten steps toward containment raises critical questions. Are we willing to take necessary measures? 

5. While AI offers numerous benefits, there’s an urgency in Suleyman’s message. We must be critical and take action. The paradox lies in building positive tools while avoiding bad outcomes. We risk accelerating what we wish to avoid. If you haven’t seen the movie Oppenheimer, go see it and then ask yourself, is this the same road we are traveling with AI? 

6. AI permeates our lives - from Siri to self-driving cars. How do we ensure it serves us rather than controlling us? The specter of dystopia looms. 

7. Suleyman’s book isn’t mere sci-fi. It’s our reality. It will scare the hell out of you and keep you awake at night. This isn’t an Apple TV+ or Netflix show; it’s the world we inhabit. 

8. Orwellian totalitarianism? Forget movie tropes like iRobot or the Terminator; George Orwell’s “1984” is here. Totalitarian control threatens our future. 

Writing Style:

1. Suleyman and Bhaskar writing style grabs the readers from the first page. Their urgency about AI and synthetic biology keeps us engage.  

2. No fluff, just well-researched facts. Their prose avoids intellectual hyperbole. Instead, they present well-researched facts, distilling complexity into digestible insights. As a co-founder of DeepMind, Suleyman delivers as expected. 

3. Whether discussing genetic sequencing costs or AI-SB convergence, their stories hit home. Practical solutions emerge from abstract ideas. 

4. They don’t shy away from fear-inducing scenarios. Yet, they offer hope-if we act responsibility, we can harness AI’s benefits while containing its power. 

In summary, Suleyman and Bhaskar’s timely book is informative, eye-opening, captivating, enlightening, and unsetting. Their message is one we cannot afford to ignore.