Genius Makers

The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World

By: Cade Metz

Narrated by: John Lee

"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)

Recipient of starred reviews in both Kirkus and Library Journal

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 64-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 36-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 among 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?

©2021 Cade Metz (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A ringside seat at what may turn out to be the pivotal episode in human history.... Metz has a breezy style that is easy and fun to read.... Undeniably charming." (Forbes)

"Unlike many of the books written about AI, you don’t need a science or engineering degree to learn from and enjoy this one. Anyone with an enthusiastic curiosity about science, technology and the future of human culture will find this clear-eyed, snappily written book both entertaining and valuable. You could even call it essential for any policymakers, politicians, police, lawyers, judges and decision-makers who will be contending with the social forces unleashed by artificial intelligence. Which, soon, will mean all of them." (The Los Angeles Times)

"[An] engaging new book.... [Metz’s] straightforward writing perfectly translates industry jargon for technologically un-savvy readers (like me) who might be unfamiliar with what it means for a machine to engage in “deep learning” or master tasks through its own experiences." (Christian Science Monitor)

"Carving a narrative out of a complex and ever-changing cast of characters...the book is filled with enlightening anecdotes that add texture and drama to the story. Genius Makers opens with Geoffrey Hinton, the Brit turned Canadian who is widely recognized as having played the most critical role in developing deep learning, the branch of AI that is changing the world today." (Washington Post)

Really good storytelling

As an ML student, I was always wondering what is happening behind the scenes. This book delivers that, together with suspense and great storytelling.

Comprehensive yet relatable

Enjoyed listening but likely have to reread to capture some of the new information for me

An important story that is not well known.

AI is either going to make us or break us. I’m not so sure people are ready to play God.

Very good narrative

I appreciate the stories of how technology changed and evolved. Really cool to see how AI have changed the world.

All story, no technical details

It's a well-told and entertaining history of AI, but not comprehensive or technical in any way.

If you are anything like me, you also prefer books with more meat; but this one will partially satiate that insatiable desire for such rare finds.

The narration was great.

Informative and appreciated, but not exhilarating

This book is the backstory of the tortuous journey by about 10 people who overcame decades-long resistance to neural networks.

It is helpful and thorough but somewhat dry. Even the final chapter was somewhat anticlimactic. Still, an important work by an extremely respected journalist. It should be required reading for those interested in AI as we enter this new world.

Testing Reviews

This is just a testing review submitted in order to verify that it’s working properly for all user

Excellent AI book

Outstanding and up to date book that helps to understand the jungle of news about AI in recent years

Best AI History Book

If you love the history and stories of people involving AI, then this is the best book you could read.

No More John Lee Please

This book is very interesting. Great details. Great story. However, the narrator that was chosen for this book is the biggest downside of this audiobook. This narrator narrates this book, as if it was a British BBC story. I don’t mind narrators with accent, but the problem is the way he talks, he always lowers the volume of the second or the last syllable of the ending words. I noticed that I had to increase the volume overall so that I could listen and understand, all the words mostly the ending words of every sentence. If I did not do this, I would have to replay again and again nothing personal. It’s just the narrator style. It’s almost like he has emphasis on. Every. Word. That. He. Says. I. Noticed. That. I. Have. To. Really. Closely. Listen…… it gets tiring.