Future Tense: How We Made Artificial Intelligence--And How It Will Change Everything - Hardcover

by Martha Brockenbrough (Author)

Human history has always been shaped by technology, but AI is like no technology that has come before it. Unlike the wheel, combustion engines, or electricity, AI does the thing that humans do best: think. While AI hasn't reproduced the marvelously complex human brain, it has been able to accomplish astonishing things. AI has defeated our players at games like chess, Go, and Jeopardy!. It's learned to recognize objects and speech. It can create art and music. It's even allowed grieving people to feel as though they were talking with their dead loved ones.

On the flip side, it's put innocent people in jail, manipulated the emotions of social media users, and tricked people into believing untrue things.

In this non-fiction book for teens, acclaimed author and teacher Martha Brockenbrough guides readers through the development of this world-changing technology, exploring how AI has touched every corner of our world, including education, healthcare, work, politics, war, international relations, and even romance. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how artificial intelligence got here, how to make the best use of it, and how we can expect it to transform our lives.

Author Biography

Martha Brockenbrough is an award-winning and critically acclaimed author of fiction and nonfiction for young readers. She has won many awards and was a finalist for the prestigious Kirkus Prize. She's a faculty member and faculty co-chair at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has worked as a journalist, a teacher, and the editor of MSN.com.