These Strange New Minds

Praise

“A clear-minded, accessible examination of how AI systems work.”—Kirkus Reviews


“Provocative… Summerfield brings some welcome nuance and clarity to discussions of LLMs. In a crowded field of AI primers, this rises to the top.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An engaging, insightful, and panoramic survey of where we are, why we got here, and what it means. A brilliant guide to the most important technology of our times.”—Mustafa Suleyman, coauthor of The Coming Wave

“Witty, brilliant, and deeply thought through – by far the best guide to a newly emerging species with which we will share the planet for the foreseeable future.”—Stuart Russell, author of Human Compatible

“As a leading authority in both computational neuroscience and the social impacts of AI, Christopher Summerfield is perfectly situated to explore the meaning and implications of these machines that are so uncannily like—and unlike—ourselves.”—Brian Christian, coauthor of Algorithms to Live By

“We are at a unique moment in human history, with powerful general-purpose AI tools available for the first time. But how do these weird tools work? How will they develop? And what does it mean for humanity? Chris Summerfield takes us on a tour of this astonishing new technology, and helps us to understand the issues it raises. You might choose to be alarmed, excited, or indifferent to LLMs, but you should read Chris’s book before you decide.”—Michael Wooldridge, author of A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

“With clarity, insight, and wit, Christopher Summerfield dives beneath the ever-breaking wave of large language models to reveal the deeper principles at play, and the challenges and opportunities these powerful new technologies present. An essential and highly readable guide to thinking about how, and whether, computers can think, what’s coming next, and what we should do about it.”—Anil Seth, author of Being You