A Brief History of Intelligence

Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains

By: Max Bennett

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.

In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have, for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art, identify tumors in pictures, and even steer our cars. And yet, large gaps remain in what modern AI systems can achieve—indeed, human brains still easily perform intellectual feats that we can’t replicate in AI systems. How is it possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can’t effectively load a dishwasher? As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues, finding the answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts, calamities, and clever innovations. Not only do our brains have a story to tell—the future of AI may depend on it.

Now, in A Brief History of Intelligence, Bennett bridges the gap between neuroscience and AI to tell the brain’s evolutionary story, revealing how understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI breakthroughs. Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of many top minds in neuroscience, Bennett consolidates this immense history into an approachable new framework, identifying the “Five Breakthroughs” that mark the brain’s most important evolutionary leaps forward. Each breakthrough brings new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence. Containing fascinating corollaries to developments in AI, A Brief History of Intelligence shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains, as well as where AI systems still fall short. Simply put, until AI systems successfully replicate each part of our brain’s long journey, AI systems will fail to exhibit human-like intelligence.

Endorsed and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today, Bennett’s work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story. With sweeping scope and stunning insights, A Brief History of Intelligence proves that understanding the arc of our brain’s history can unlock the tools for successfully navigating our technological future.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Max Solomon Bennett (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Impressive!

My background is in molecular biology and biochemistry but I haven't read much on neuroscience. From what I understand the author has no formal background in biology, he majored in math and economics in college and was involved in AI-related technologies later. However, I'm really impressed by his overall understanding of basic biology.

I'm only 1/5 of the way through the book but so far I've really enjoyed this listen -- and I've been learning some things along the way about early animal evolution that I have not heard before.

For example, why the evolution of bilateral symmetry may have arose: to aid locomotion -- and how this led to what the author labels the first major breakthrough in intelligence evolution. Bilateral animals evolve to go really fast only in one direction, when we want to go in another direction we turn to face it and then run (think about how slow you would run to an object 90 degrees from you if you could not turn and run toward it). But to coordinate the decision making process on which way to run required primitive bilateral organisms to process a multitude of signals (coming from many different cells) and coordinate the response. Thus we can begin to understand why complex brains arose in mobile multicellular animals and not in plants or more 'primitive' radial symmetric and less mobile creatures like sea anemones.

The author then ties in this first step in the evolution of animal intelligence to the makers of the first commercially successful robot, irobot's Roomba vaccum cleaner by 3 members of MIT's Artificial Intelligence lab.

Looking forward to the rest of the book and congratulations to the author on his research and on how well he explains things and a very interesting read (audible)!

Thorough, entertaining and insightful

While it was a lengthy foray into the subject matter, it was a very entertaining and insightful approach to examine our history where we have been in a relatively short time and where we are going in an exceedingly accelerating pace. Well done!

Really eye opening into intelligence, thinking and why animals and humans do and think the way they do

Most thought provoking and relevant

Must read for anyone in technology and psychology. Wonderful attempt at connecting the dots of what makes us uniquely human and how we can build tools to optimize humanity.

fascinating and easy ro understand

The way this was laid out and explained made it relatively easy to understand for non-scientists and those who are non-technical. it gives you have an idea of what he's talking about and how it all relates to the potential for artificial intelligence

A Must Read For All AI Scientists

I have always looked for a book just like this one - compiling cutting edge neuroscience into a form that can be viewed through the lens of current AI developments. I am inspired to bring some of the key insights here into my own work in AI systems. Much credit should be given for the depth and breadth of research shown here. It lends strong credence to the cogent model of intelligence proposed within. In my humble opinion, a must read for any AI scientist. I hope this inspires future works in the same vein, would love to read them.

An excellent primer on the building blocks of intelligence

Great read if you’re interested in the evolution and neuroscience behind intelligence. As a neurobiology professor, I was pleasantly surprised by the author’s command of the field. Bennett synthesized the current state of the field accurately, and did a nice job introducing both the advances and limitations of modern AI. Even as a specialist I felt like a got a lot out of the book.

The audiobook reader had a pleasant voice and intonation, my one gripe is that there were randomly interspersed sentences which sounded like they were recorded in a different session - a bit distracting.

The book I’ve been waiting for

Update your inner simulation of the world and how your own intelligence works with this beautifully written book.
This is one of the few pieces in my library that I can’t wait to listen to a second time.

complex story rendered understandable.

fascinating story. i am much enlightened (even as a neuroscientist!). being forced into 15 words guarantees this my last review.

From worms to AI

A fascinating, systematic look at intelligence from prehistoric life to current artificial intelligence, Max Solomon Bennett divides intelligence into five stages, which create the structure for the book. Scientific, yet highly readable for a general audience, Bennett offers a compelling look at how the past shapes the future as we debate the pros and cons of AI. The narrator for the audible.com version is superb, clear and engaging. I love the narrator's smooth, never jerky, voice and pacing of the story.