Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Yuval Noah Harari is a historian. By his own admission, he is neither a scientist nor specialized in anything with regards to artificial intelligence. As a result, Nexus is a book about artificial intelligence in which the new technology is situated within broader historical contexts. Harari wants to highlight the way in which humanity’s relationship to AI is the latest chapter in an ongoing narrative about human social progress rather than an entirely new development, thereby highlighting the role of change in human history.

Harari suggests that the only constant of history is change. Society changes regularly, often influenced by new technologies. While he concedes that AI is fundamentally different from previous technologies, as it has the capacity to create content rather than just represent it, he believes that this is simply a variation on previous changes rather than something new and terrifying. A key element of this argument is his repeated refrain that technology is “seldom deterministic” (226). Technology changes, but humanity is not beholden to these changes, nor to these new technologies. Instead, Harari believes that the changing nature of society imbues humanity with a responsibility to comprehend and master each change in a way that fully reflects human intention and agency.