The book reads like a Scientology manual, the text interspersed with weird, unhelpful parables and extra notes available via QR codes ... Following their unspooling tangents evokes the feeling of being locked in a room with the most annoying students you met in college while they try mushrooms for the first time.
Tendentious and rambling, simultaneously condescending and shallow ... They are just wrong ... Yudkowsky and Soares fail to make an evidence-based scientific case for their claims. Instead, they rely on flat assertions and shaky analogies.
Well timed ... As clear as its conclusions are hard to swallow. Where the discussions become more technical, mainly in passages dealing with AI model training and architecture, it’s still straightforward enough for readers to grasp the basic facts ... Yudkowsky and Soares present their case with such conviction that it’s easy to emerge from this book ready to cancel your pension contributions ... Whatever the case, it feels like everyone with an interest in the future has a duty to read what he and Soares have to say.
Given the gravity of the case they make, it feels an odd thing to say that this book is good. It is readable. It tells stories well. At points it is like a thriller — albeit one where the thrills come from the obliteration of literally everything of value ... The achievement of this book is, given the astonishing claims they make, that they make a credible case for not being mad. But I really hope they are: because I can’t see a way we get off that ladder.
Stark ... This is not a book about innovation; it is a book about survival. Aimed at technologists, policymakers, ethicists, and concerned citizens, it serves as a fire alarm for anyone shaping the future. Whether one agrees with its conclusions or not, the book demands serious attention and reflection.
Urgent ... To drive home their point, Yudkowsky and Soares make extensive use of parables and analogies, some of which are less effective than others. They also present precious few opposing viewpoints, even though not all experts agree with their dire perspective. Still, this is a frightening warning that deserves to be reckoned with.
