Artificial intelligence will shake up life in the 2020s as dramatically as the internet did in the 2000s. This accessible, up-to-date book charts AI’s rise from its origins in Cold War America to its imminent and far-reaching impact on us today. Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker (TikTok Boom and YouTubers) goes into the laboratories of the Silicon Valley innovators making rapid advances in ‘large language models’ of machine learning.

He meets the insiders at Google and OpenAI who built Bard and ChatGPT and reveals the extraordinary plans they have for them. And he explores the dark side of AI by talking to workers who have lost their jobs to chatbots and engages with futurologists worried that we are creating a dangerous super-intelligence that could threaten humankind. Along the way, he answers critical questions about the AI revolution, such as what, if anything, humanity is jeopardising; the professions that will win and lose; and whether the existential threat Elon Musk and Sam Altman warn about is realistic – or a smokescreen to divert attention away from their growing power. How AI Ate the World is a ‘start here’ guide for anyone who wants to know more about the next big tech wave.

It’s vital reading.