The book is written in Norwegian, so most people probably won’t benefit from reading it.

The book discusses artificial intelligence, one of the most mythologized technologies out there. According to some predictions, we’ll soon be replaced by robots at work and wiped out by out-of-control autonomous weapons. However, much of this is fiction. Today, AI can predict what you’ll buy before you’ve even made up your mind, help you find a partner, discover new antibiotics, and even work as a psychologist. Nonetheless, algorithms are far from perfect. In court, they tend to sentence African Americans more harshly than other people, while other intelligent robots engage in conversations that glorify Nazism. Self-driving cars also misclassify humans as plastic bags, with potentially tragic consequences.

The book titled “AI. Myten om maskinene” (AI: The Myth of the Machines) provides an informative and humorous explanation of what artificial intelligence is, how it emerged, what we use it for today, and what it may become capable of in the future. It also debunks some common myths, such as the idea that AI can possess consciousness, show signs of being alive, or have a simple moral compass.

As for Morten Goodwin, he was introduced to machine learning and AI during his master’s degree, and has since become an expert in the field. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Aalborg University, Denmark, and is now an associate professor at the University of Agder, Norway. His research interests include data-mining, optimization, machine learning, swarm intelligence, deep learning, and adaptive learning. He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications and supervised more than 60 master’s and PhD projects.