Interview with Nello Cristianini: "The Shortcut – Why Intelligent Machines Do Not Think Like Us"

In a new book, to be published on 8 March, Nello Cristianini explains the fundamental concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it is changing culture and society. The Shortcut: Why Intelligent Machines Do Not Think Like Us is aimed at the general reader, providing an introduction to the concepts that underpin the technology and the wider implications for society. In the book, Nello provides practical advice on how we should approach AI in the future, including how to avoid the hype and the fears that tend to surround the technology today. We spoke to Nello about the "first draft of AI", the "shortcut", some of the questions he considered in the book, and important considerations we should bear in mind as the technology progresses. Building the first useful form of machine intelligence was not easy, but, as it turns out, that was not the most difficult part.