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The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning (Not yet published)

AUTHOR Wright, Robert
PUBLISHER Simon & Schuster (06/23/2026)
PRODUCT TYPE Hardcover (Hardcover)

Description
From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright comes a sweeping new view of artificial intelligence that argues this revolution will challenge us spiritually and could restore a missing ingredient in modern life--our sense of purpose.

The God Test is the first book that sees AI not just as a technological tool with good and bad applications, but as an evolutionary force that will alter the trajectory of humanity itself. Written by one of our foremost public intellectuals, and informed by his decades of chronicling the digital age, the book boldly asserts that the current wave of AI progress is just the beginning. The changes we are about to witness will bring the most abruptly dramatic transformation in the history of our species.

Wright provocatively suggests that to truly understand the significance of the AI revolution, we need to expand our perspective beyond the last century or even the whole history of technology and look back billions of years, across the entire history of life on Earth. All along, he says, evolution has been pushing life toward this technological threshold, which now confronts our species with a climactic challenge: Can we muster the political, moral, and spiritual resources needed to guide this technology wisely?

If we fail this challenge, the consequences for the whole planet could be grave. But if we meet the challenge--if we pass "the God test"--we can live in a world where humanity thrives, finding not just happiness but deeper meaning and purpose. We can be enriched and uplifted by, rather than imperiled by, awesomely intelligent machines.

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Product Format
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9781668061657
ISBN-10: 1668061651
Binding: Hardback or Cased Book (Sewn)
Content Language: English
More Product Details
Page Count: 288
Carton Quantity: 20
Product Dimensions: 6.00 x 0.91 x 9.00 inches
Weight: 1.21 pound(s)
Country of Origin: US
Subject Information
BISAC Categories
Computers | Artificial Intelligence - Expert Systems
Computers | Future Studies
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
publisher marketing
From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright comes a sweeping new view of artificial intelligence that argues this revolution will challenge us spiritually and could restore a missing ingredient in modern life--our sense of purpose.

The God Test is the first book that sees AI not just as a technological tool with good and bad applications, but as an evolutionary force that will alter the trajectory of humanity itself. Written by one of our foremost public intellectuals, and informed by his decades of chronicling the digital age, the book boldly asserts that the current wave of AI progress is just the beginning. The changes we are about to witness will bring the most abruptly dramatic transformation in the history of our species.

Wright provocatively suggests that to truly understand the significance of the AI revolution, we need to expand our perspective beyond the last century or even the whole history of technology and look back billions of years, across the entire history of life on Earth. All along, he says, evolution has been pushing life toward this technological threshold, which now confronts our species with a climactic challenge: Can we muster the political, moral, and spiritual resources needed to guide this technology wisely?

If we fail this challenge, the consequences for the whole planet could be grave. But if we meet the challenge--if we pass "the God test"--we can live in a world where humanity thrives, finding not just happiness but deeper meaning and purpose. We can be enriched and uplifted by, rather than imperiled by, awesomely intelligent machines.

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Your Price  $29.69
Hardcover