Well, there’s been lots of talk about AI disrupting the job market and also enabling new weapons, but very few scientists talk seriously about what I think is the elephant in the room. What will happen, once machines outsmart us at all tasks? What’s kind of my hallmark as a scientist is to take an idea all the way to its logical conclusion. Instead of shying away from that question about the elephant, in this book, I focus on it and all its fascinating aspects because I want to prepare the reader to join what I think is the most important conversation of our time. […] I think if we succeed in building machines that are smarter than us in all ways, it’s going to be either the best thing ever to happen to humanity or the worst thing. I’m optimistic that we can create a great future with AI, but it’s not going to happen automatically. It’s going to require that we really think things through in advance, and really have this conversation now. That’s why I’ve written this book. (2017) source Unverified