Scholar Gary Marcus has become a kind of Poet Laureate on the shortcomings of artificial intelligence (AI), chronicling in numerous books and articles how the technology often comes up short and is less impressive than the average individual believes.
When, five years ago, Marcus wrote about the technical shortcomings of AI, in Rebooting AI, with co-author Ernest Davis, his critique was still somewhat theoretical, pointing to potential dangers of the technology.
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In the years since, ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. That situation leaves Marcus with a real-world canvas upon which to reflect on the actual, present danger of AI.
His latest work, Taming Silicon Valley, published last month by MIT Press, catalogs those real-world effects. The book should be required reading for anyone whose life will be touched in any small part by AI, which is …