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The Drone Age: How Drone Technology Will Change War and PeaceIn The Drone Age, Michael J. Boyle addresses some of the biggest questions surrounding the impact of drones on our world today and the risks that we might face tomorrow. Will drones produce a safer world because they reduce risk to pilots, or will the prospect of clean, remote warfare lead governments to engage in more conflicts? Will drones begin to replace humans on the battlefield? Will they empower soldiers and peacekeepers to act more precisely
In The Drone Age, Michael J. Boyle addresses some of the biggest questions surrounding the impact of drones on our world today and the risks that we might face tomorrow. Will drones produce a safer world because they reduce risk to pilots, or will the prospect of clean, remote warfare lead governments to engage in more conflicts? Will drones begin to replace humans on the battlefield? Will they empower soldiers and peacekeepers to act more precisely and humanely in crisis zones? How will terrorist organizations turn this technology back on the governments that fight them? And how are drones enhancing surveillance capabilities, both at war and at home? As advanced drones come into the hands of new actors-foreign governments, local law enforcement, terrorist organizations, humanitarian organizations, and even UN peacekeepers-it is even more important to understand what kind of world they might produce. The Drone Age explores how the unique features of drone technology are altering the decision-making processes of governments and non-state actors alike by transforming their risk calculations and expanding their capacities both on and off the battlefield. By changing what these actors are willing and ready to do, drones are quietly transforming the dynamics of wars, humanitarian crises, and peacekeeping missions while generating new risks to security and privacy. An essential guide to a potentially disruptive force in modern world politics, The Drone Age shows how the innovative use of drone technology will become central to the ways that governments and non-state actors compete for power and influence in the future.Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 07/01/2020
ISBN: 9780190635862
Pages: 400
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.40w x 1.40d
Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2020 pg. 60
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4.2 ★★★★★
Based on 16 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Gripping and Informative, a Must-read
Format: Hardcover
As someone who struggles to finish books in their entirety, I found Our Final Invention by James Barrat highly readable, deeply informative, and utterly gripping. The book contains a powerful message: through competition, distrust, desire and curiosity, humans will inevitably create an artificial intelligence (AI) that rivals or surpasses our own. Thus, it is wise and necessary to invest now in mitigation efforts and potential safeguards -- increased research and advocacy for AI risk and, most importantly, producing friendly AI.
Barrat covers a lot of ground, but his main argument is summarized as follows: Currently, we humans regularly utilize narrow AI technology (technology capable of achieving specific, programmed goals through unassisted human computing -- Siri, Google search, IBM's Watson, etc). We are also experimenting with "black box" tools and techniques (programs where inputs and outputs are understood and measurable, but the processes in between aren't -- genetic algorithms/programming and software that writes better software) and artificial neural networking (ANN), as seen through efforts to reverse engineer the human brain. And, below the surface, there is an ongoing race between world powers (driven mainly by national security, defense, and international business interests) and guided by AI developers to develop and achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- human-level artificial intelligence. The problem is that once AGI is achieved it will be very difficult to manage, and may very well result in the manifestation of artificial super intelligence (ASI) -- greater than human-level intelligence.
ASI could theoretically become thousands of times smarter than the smartest human being alive. It won't think like us, won't want to be ruled by us, and, most crucially, it won't want to be turned off. In fact, ASI would likely regard us as potential fuel for its quest to duplicate and improve itself exponentially in order to achieve its goals.
Throughout the book, Barrat refers to interesting psychological phenomena and concepts (such as the normalcy bias), while drawing on personal experiences, historic events, and interviews with computer programmers, inventors and philosophers, to tactfully illustrate how progress in AI development is dangerously rapid. Adequate checks and balances are not in place to deal with a non-ideal intelligence explosion or hard take-off (AGI quickly leading to ASI).
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about both human beings and the advancement of machines. I suspect that the prominence of AI, as a research field and topic for discussion, will only increase in time (it already has in recent years -- drones, smart technology, Wall Street high frequency trading (HFT), financial modeling), making Our Final Invention a valuable guide or stepping stone for anyone trying to understand our world and the path of the future.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2014
★★★★★ 5
Great book
Format: Hardcover
We love the FGTEEV books!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2026
★★★★★ 5
FGTeeV:
Format: Hardcover
The 11 yr old loves it.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Perfect, hardback!!!
Format: Hardcover
Bought this book for my teens. They love it. Perfect hardback quality for the price. They have the whole series
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Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2026
★★★★★ 5
perfect book
Format: Hardcover
awesome book
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Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2026