Book of the week: “The new fire: war, peace, and democracy in the age of AI” by Ben Buchanan and Andrew Imbrie

February 27, 2023
Book of the week: “The new fire: war, peace, and democracy in the age of AI” by Ben Buchanan and Andrew Imbrie

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the modern world. It is ubiquitous—in our homes and offices, in the present and most certainly in the future. Today, we encounter AI as our distant ancestors once encountered fire. If we manage AI well, it will become a force for good, lighting the way to many transformative inventions. If we deploy it thoughtlessly, it will advance beyond our control. If we wield it for destruction, it will fan the flames of a new kind of war, one that holds democracy in the balance. As AI policy experts Ben Buchanan and Andrew Imbrie show in The New Fire, few choices are more urgent—or more fascinating—than how we harness this technology and for what purpose.