Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World
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- Create Date：2022-05-10 06:53:51
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Cade Metz
- ISBN：1524742694
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Summary
This colorful page-turner puts artificial intelligence into a human perspective。 Through the lives of Geoff Hinton and other major players， Metz explains this transformative technology and makes the quest thrilling。
--Walter Isaacson， author of The Code Breaker
Entertaining and valuable。。。 essential。--Los Angeles Times
THE UNTOLD TECH STORY OF OUR TIME
What does it mean to be smart？ To be human？ What do we really want from life and the intelligence we have， or might create？
With deep and exclusive reporting， across hundreds of interviews， New York Times Silicon Valley journalist Cade Metz brings you into the rooms where these questions are being answered。 Where an extraordinarily powerful new artificial intelligence has been built into our biggest companies， our social discourse， and our daily lives， with few of us even noticing。
Long dismissed as a technology of the distant future， artificial intelligence was a project consigned to the fringes of the scientific community。 Then two researchers changed everything。 One was a sixty-four-year-old computer science professor who didn't drive and didn't fly because he could no longer sit down--but still made his way across North America for the moment that would define a new age of technology。 The other was a thirty-six-year-old neuroscientist and chess prodigy who laid claim to being the greatest game player of all time before vowing to build a machine that could do anything the human brain could do。
They took two very different paths to that lofty goal， and they disagreed on how quickly it would arrive。 But both were soon drawn into the heart of the tech industry。 Their ideas drove a new kind of arms race， spanning Google， Microsoft， Facebook， and OpenAI， a new lab founded by Silicon Valley kingpin Elon Musk。 But some believed that China would beat them all to the finish line。
Genius Makers dramatically presents the fierce conflict between national interests， shareholder value， the pursuit of scientific knowledge， and the very human concerns about privacy， security， bias， and prejudice。 Like a great Victorian novel， this world of eccentric， brilliant， often unimaginably yet suddenly wealthy characters draws you into the most profound moral questions we can ask。 And like a great mystery， it presents the story and facts that lead to a core， vital question:
How far will we let it go？
--Walter Isaacson， author of The Code Breaker
Entertaining and valuable。。。 essential。--Los Angeles Times
THE UNTOLD TECH STORY OF OUR TIME
What does it mean to be smart？ To be human？ What do we really want from life and the intelligence we have， or might create？
With deep and exclusive reporting， across hundreds of interviews， New York Times Silicon Valley journalist Cade Metz brings you into the rooms where these questions are being answered。 Where an extraordinarily powerful new artificial intelligence has been built into our biggest companies， our social discourse， and our daily lives， with few of us even noticing。
Long dismissed as a technology of the distant future， artificial intelligence was a project consigned to the fringes of the scientific community。 Then two researchers changed everything。 One was a sixty-four-year-old computer science professor who didn't drive and didn't fly because he could no longer sit down--but still made his way across North America for the moment that would define a new age of technology。 The other was a thirty-six-year-old neuroscientist and chess prodigy who laid claim to being the greatest game player of all time before vowing to build a machine that could do anything the human brain could do。
They took two very different paths to that lofty goal， and they disagreed on how quickly it would arrive。 But both were soon drawn into the heart of the tech industry。 Their ideas drove a new kind of arms race， spanning Google， Microsoft， Facebook， and OpenAI， a new lab founded by Silicon Valley kingpin Elon Musk。 But some believed that China would beat them all to the finish line。
Genius Makers dramatically presents the fierce conflict between national interests， shareholder value， the pursuit of scientific knowledge， and the very human concerns about privacy， security， bias， and prejudice。 Like a great Victorian novel， this world of eccentric， brilliant， often unimaginably yet suddenly wealthy characters draws you into the most profound moral questions we can ask。 And like a great mystery， it presents the story and facts that lead to a core， vital question:
How far will we let it go？
Reviews
Kieran Donnelly
，
Starts well and loses its way a little。 Also highly non-technical， though not necessarily an issue。
VJ
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Good background on AI 1。 Who are the players？2。 Role they play to shape AI3。 History of folks having impact on AI
Daniel M20 Blackburn
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Great insight into the people and stories behind the various technologies that make up AI。 Great read。
pugs
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edit: i kept thinking of this simpsons quote while reading。 -- Mr。 Burns: I'll keep it short and sweet。 Family， religion， friendship。 These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business。 -- exemplified by musk and the like。 carry on。 a lot of history here， i knew almost none of it， looking back。 i heard the names tossed around over the years， but this overview goes to show just how competitive the tech field is， and how so much of it is bullshit。 there's a lot of white su edit: i kept thinking of this simpsons quote while reading。 -- Mr。 Burns: I'll keep it short and sweet。 Family， religion， friendship。 These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business。 -- exemplified by musk and the like。 carry on。 a lot of history here， i knew almost none of it， looking back。 i heard the names tossed around over the years， but this overview goes to show just how competitive the tech field is， and how so much of it is bullshit。 there's a lot of white supremacist， patriarchal machismo getting in the way of actually expanding ai， i。e。， capitalism getting in the way of itself。 especially when limiting immigration。 so many strange people in this field。 ego， oddity， and capital will continue to clash， and china will come out on top。 that's probably for the better。 the book completely neglects the fact nothing is truly revolutionary unless - everyone - has access to it， not just the select few。 'genius makers' is a puff piece for the ai industry， but seeing as there's no other book of its type， detailing the field's history （from a western perspective）， it gets an extra star。 did i mention how weird these people are？ 。。。more
CeCe
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Thoroughly entertaining & exciting romp through the recent history of AI。 All the legends like Geoff Hinton， Yann LeCun， and the founders of DeepMind and OpenAI came to life！
Jiachen Guo
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Very engaging book about the development of AI and the people/labs/companies behind it since the 1950s。 The author has done a great job making the book both informative and readable。
Andrei Khrapavitski
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Finished listening to an audio version of “Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google， Facebook， and the World，” an inspiring book about the people behind the rise of AI from early research back in 1950’s up until the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic。 Many of the stories in this book have been told and retold again and again。 And yet this book is more people-focused。 From Frank Rosenblatt to Marvin Minsky， from Andrew Ng to Demis Hassabis， from hype to anti-hype， from the birth of neura Finished listening to an audio version of “Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google， Facebook， and the World，” an inspiring book about the people behind the rise of AI from early research back in 1950’s up until the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic。 Many of the stories in this book have been told and retold again and again。 And yet this book is more people-focused。 From Frank Rosenblatt to Marvin Minsky， from Andrew Ng to Demis Hassabis， from hype to anti-hype， from the birth of neural networks to LSTMs， from OpenAI to DeepMind， this book covers a lot of ground and a lot of now famous personalities in the industry。 But I would say the real star of the book is Geoff Hinton。 The book starts with a story of him and two of his graduate students auctioning off their newly created AI-focused company。 The book ends with Hinton， Yann LeCun， and Yoshua Bengio receiving the Turing Award。 And rightly so。 Their research over all the years and despite the skepticism and disbelief was seminal。 Actually it is interesting how much in this field has stemmed from university labs in Canada。 A grain of salt for me while listening was that for some reason Rich Sutton was not mentioned in the book。 Sutton is another Canadian who has made a tremendous impact on the field of reinforcement learning， even though RL was covered quite extensively。 Anyway， this is a great book to escape the reality where political leaders like Putin are still living out their XIX century complexes。 This book shows in great detail how international scientific community is。 Much of research in the field is open-sourced and shared for the good of all。 The book does not avoid the topic of security concerns given how powerful and transformative these technologies are。 Looking at the world now， one can’t help thinking about the consequences of the war in Ukraine。 What happens next？ Will we see more secrecy and less sharing of knowledge in the field？ Will we end up in the world where AI research is increasingly militarized？ I want to be an optimist when I think about the future of humanity。 Alas， reality often bites。 。。。more
Luigi Benetton
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A great read， though the ending feels a little flat。 Also， until AI can truly master translation i。e。， advanced language comprehension， its applications will continue to be severely limited
Ece
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Maybe 3。5？ Rating nonfiction is tough。。。 But an interesting book for someone unfamiliar with the topic。
David Alvarez
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Recent history of Artificial Intelligence， especially from 2012 breakthrough about neural networks to 2020。 It describes principal actors and accomplishments as well as current limitations of this technology。 It is based on several interviews; the author made an exceptional work。 Historia reciente de la Inteligencia Artificial， especialmente desde el avance de 2012 sobre redes neuronales hasta 2020。 Describe los principales actores y logros， así como las limitaciones actuales de esta tecnología。 Recent history of Artificial Intelligence， especially from 2012 breakthrough about neural networks to 2020。 It describes principal actors and accomplishments as well as current limitations of this technology。 It is based on several interviews; the author made an exceptional work。 Historia reciente de la Inteligencia Artificial， especialmente desde el avance de 2012 sobre redes neuronales hasta 2020。 Describe los principales actores y logros， así como las limitaciones actuales de esta tecnología。Está basado en varias entrevistas， el autor realizó un trabajo excepcional。 。。。more
John Tipper
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Cade Metz， a technology reporter for the NY Times， has written an engrossing book on Artificial Intelligence。 It begins in the late 1950s， when researchers theorize on computers and neural networks。 Metz works his way deftly through the 60s and 70s。 Apple， Microsoft and Atari are discussed。 Computer games were an early component of AI。 A driverless car， somewhat crude by today's standards， was developed at Carnegie Mellon， in Pittsburgh。 Big thinkers in the field， like Hinton， Hassibiss， Elon Mu Cade Metz， a technology reporter for the NY Times， has written an engrossing book on Artificial Intelligence。 It begins in the late 1950s， when researchers theorize on computers and neural networks。 Metz works his way deftly through the 60s and 70s。 Apple， Microsoft and Atari are discussed。 Computer games were an early component of AI。 A driverless car， somewhat crude by today's standards， was developed at Carnegie Mellon， in Pittsburgh。 Big thinkers in the field， like Hinton， Hassibiss， Elon Musk， Le Cunn， and others are described。 The people behind AI are fascinating figures。 Musk was in particular critical of AI， fearing a super brain or robot could be quite troublesome。 Indeed， the ethics of the field are discussed and debated。 Not only has AI contributed to technology， but also health care， drug research， space exploration， transportation， etc。 This is Metz's first book， and he should have a good future。 It's well organized， suspenseful and cogent。 。。。more
Bilal
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If what’s been happening in the world of artificial intelligence over the past decade and a half or so， more specifically in the sub-field referred to as deep neural networks， interests you， then this is an informative work that introduces the background， the key characters—past and present， and the impact on the technologies and business of companies like Google， Facebook， and Baidu。 While the author talks about the ethical or societal issues related to AI， he does not explore that angle in any If what’s been happening in the world of artificial intelligence over the past decade and a half or so， more specifically in the sub-field referred to as deep neural networks， interests you， then this is an informative work that introduces the background， the key characters—past and present， and the impact on the technologies and business of companies like Google， Facebook， and Baidu。 While the author talks about the ethical or societal issues related to AI， he does not explore that angle in any depth。 Instead， this book is a factual account of happenings in this sub-field of AI over the last 15 years or so。I knew the names of many of the main characters， nevertheless， I found it interesting to learn about how their roles had formed and evolved， and the choices they had made when presented with insane amounts of money。 As well the fact that for several decades， while the larger AI research community had all but given up on the promise of neural networks， some researchers in Toronto， Montreal， and New York had held out， and eventually managed to break through to revolutionize AI， and along the way also managed to win the Turing Award。 。。。more
Adithya Iyer
，
I think Code Metz tried to mimic a lot of Innovators by Walter Isaacson， but missed out on how Walter summarises things- identifying the inherent pattern in how technology was built， what are the commonality between the main players etc。 Good read， could be far more detailed。
Stephan Rasp
，
Super interesting。 I knew about half of the stories already but the rest was pretty crazy。 The people developing AI are not necessarily much in touch with your average joe。 Some of the apparent advances weren’t really questioned enough unfortunately。
Callum Roberts
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It's not technical and it's not intended to be， Metz gives insight on the personalities， politics and people in AI。 A seriously engaging summary of AI and the people that created it。 It's not technical and it's not intended to be， Metz gives insight on the personalities， politics and people in AI。 A seriously engaging summary of AI and the people that created it。 。。。more
Alejandro G。 Rangel
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It drags on and on every little detail。 It sometimes feels like gossip from a mutual friend instead of an account of the facts。
MARC DES ROSIERS
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A fantastic engaging book that reads like a novel and depicts the advances in AI that will change the future of humanity。
Hugh
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Like an ultra-modern take on Isaacson's The Innovators， this book is full of interesting characters doing very interesting things。 Full of approachable science and theory， and very readable。I found it a bit bland， as though Metz was reluctant to really engage with the controversies around AI。 He writes about Cambridge Analytica， the inherent racism in facial recognition， and militarization of the tech， but seems to not want to assign any responsibility。 Almost as if the author was afraid to lose Like an ultra-modern take on Isaacson's The Innovators， this book is full of interesting characters doing very interesting things。 Full of approachable science and theory， and very readable。I found it a bit bland， as though Metz was reluctant to really engage with the controversies around AI。 He writes about Cambridge Analytica， the inherent racism in facial recognition， and militarization of the tech， but seems to not want to assign any responsibility。 Almost as if the author was afraid to lose access to the people he's writing about A good book and a very thorough introduction to the science and history in modern AI research， and a surface-level discussion of the implications of the tech in society。 。。。more
Nancy
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The Men Behind Today’s Artificial IntelligenceToday artificial intelligence （AI） is behind much of our technology from self-driving cars to facial recognition。 How we got to this point is an interesting story and one that was not always foreordained。 The men behind the current technology had a fight on their hands before their ideas were accepted by mainstream science。 In the early days of the field there were two routes to AI one espoused by Marvin Minsky at MIT， the other neural networks worke The Men Behind Today’s Artificial IntelligenceToday artificial intelligence （AI） is behind much of our technology from self-driving cars to facial recognition。 How we got to this point is an interesting story and one that was not always foreordained。 The men behind the current technology had a fight on their hands before their ideas were accepted by mainstream science。 In the early days of the field there were two routes to AI one espoused by Marvin Minsky at MIT， the other neural networks worked on by Geoff Hinton a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist in British Columbia。 Minsky believed that neural networks were a dead end and tried to discourage that path， but Hinton persevered and today his is the paradigm behind the present explosion in technology。 Our current internet companies， Google， Facebook， Amazon and others rely heavily on AI for searches and devices like Alexa。 One of the most exciting chapters in the book tells the story of the bidding war for Hinton’s technology。 A bidding war that made him and his two students fabulously wealthy。 The book is not particularly technical。 Rather it tells the stories of the main actors in the technical developments that were often a race to see which group could produce usable technology first。 The book is based on nearly four-hundred interviews conducted by the author over an extended period when he worked for Wired and later for the New York Times。 I enjoyed the book very much。 However， it you’re looking for a technical description of today’s AI， this is not the book you’re looking for。 It’s written for a general audience and is heavy on personality and personal stories rather than deep technical details。I received this book from Dutton for this review。 。。。more
Chandraprakash Loonker
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Pretty good history of the rise of AI
Nick Frazier
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Short history of the people and the concepts that brought us to modern A。I。 The book spends time discussing two things that cut across the entire book:Money and ethics。 The few qualified talent in the world lead to a corporate arms race in buying up the talent。 In addition， many corporations realized that large sums of money would be required to jumpstart fledgling AI efforts。 Many companies know that data， talent， and applied use will drive value in the near future。From an ethical standpoint， t Short history of the people and the concepts that brought us to modern A。I。 The book spends time discussing two things that cut across the entire book:Money and ethics。 The few qualified talent in the world lead to a corporate arms race in buying up the talent。 In addition， many corporations realized that large sums of money would be required to jumpstart fledgling AI efforts。 Many companies know that data， talent， and applied use will drive value in the near future。From an ethical standpoint， there is a large debate between the future of General A。I。 （or what we think of as a computer that can think as well or better than a human）。 Some futurists are concerned about the ethics and danger of creating General A。I。 The other camp？ They don't think G。A。I。 will arrive anytime soon。 Instead， we should focus on specific A。I。 to solve nice problems。 Overall， good read to help put into context some of the major concepts of AI with the history/politics of the sub-groups。 。。。more
Katherine
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I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did - the writing is so compelling and concisely covers a very recent and transformative technological shift that is influencing nearly everything we do in engineering。 I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did - the writing is so compelling and concisely covers a very recent and transformative technological shift that is influencing nearly everything we do in engineering。 。。。more
Pali
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I thought the book will focus on a few characters （<5） and their contribution to A。I。 On a contrary the book is very rich with characters and their moves between companies and backrounds and how and when they met and cooperated together。 For me this was sometimes bit confusing （I admit I don’t like stories requiring to follow and remember many characters， this is me， not the author :） ） However！ It describes the evolution of A。I。 ， Deep Learning and race for talent among Microsoft， Google， Faceb I thought the book will focus on a few characters （<5） and their contribution to A。I。 On a contrary the book is very rich with characters and their moves between companies and backrounds and how and when they met and cooperated together。 For me this was sometimes bit confusing （I admit I don’t like stories requiring to follow and remember many characters， this is me， not the author :） ） However！ It describes the evolution of A。I。 ， Deep Learning and race for talent among Microsoft， Google， Facebook + other groups very well。 I give author a credit for grasping this “mysterious” topic well。 It´s a good book and solid 4*， not 5* from me， mostly due to my taste。 。。。more
Santosh Shetty
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Superb read。 A sea of questions for humanity ！ Hope we chose prudently
Anant
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The book is a good read into the origin of AI technology。 The focus is more on the personalities involved， the competitive nature of silicon valley and its billionaires which fueled increasing investment and hype。 It does not offer any technical insights into AI technology， nor did I expect any when I picked the book。 The book shows the complex nature of technology， its proponents， the allure of monetization （for technology or talent）。 I believe AI technologies will continue to optimize certain The book is a good read into the origin of AI technology。 The focus is more on the personalities involved， the competitive nature of silicon valley and its billionaires which fueled increasing investment and hype。 It does not offer any technical insights into AI technology， nor did I expect any when I picked the book。 The book shows the complex nature of technology， its proponents， the allure of monetization （for technology or talent）。 I believe AI technologies will continue to optimize certain problems for humans， while also create new ones。。 The book did not take a position on this aspect， and I appreciated that it left me as a reader to develop my own opinion。 。。。more
Kami Boley
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This book was an engaging way to present the baby steps as well as the leaps and bounds made by the clever pioneers in the field of deep learning networks。 It was very interesting to learn about the struggles， the quirks， and the breakthrough successes that bring forth such amazing technology。 A worthy read for those not just curious about the science， but also wanting to explore the creative minds working behind the scenes。I'd like to thank NetGalley and Dutton for an advanced copy of Genius Ma This book was an engaging way to present the baby steps as well as the leaps and bounds made by the clever pioneers in the field of deep learning networks。 It was very interesting to learn about the struggles， the quirks， and the breakthrough successes that bring forth such amazing technology。 A worthy read for those not just curious about the science， but also wanting to explore the creative minds working behind the scenes。I'd like to thank NetGalley and Dutton for an advanced copy of Genius Makers for my unbiased evaluation。 4 stars 。。。more
Roy Nallapeta
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A fantastic book and a must read for any AI enthusiasts。 It traces the history of recent developments in AI and depicts the realistic state than just exaggerate。 Some takeaways for me are; old is new， it takes a long time before ideas come to life。
Navdeep Pundhir
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Fantastic book。 This is my second book on technology and am sure it's one hell of a read。 Read it ， learn about AI as no matter what， it's going to change our lives！ Fantastic book。 This is my second book on technology and am sure it's one hell of a read。 Read it ， learn about AI as no matter what， it's going to change our lives！ 。。。more
Jungwon Kim
，
Good description of AI， especially Neural Network algorithms' breakthrough。 It touches on various important moments with negative sides of development。 It was good introduction to figure out what Ai research communities and industries have achieved for the last 10 years。 Good description of AI， especially Neural Network algorithms' breakthrough。 It touches on various important moments with negative sides of development。 It was good introduction to figure out what Ai research communities and industries have achieved for the last 10 years。 。。。more
Matt Inman
，