New Books in Science, Technology, and Society Gary Rivlin, "AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence" (Harper Collins, 2025)
Aug 20, 2025
Gary Rivlin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "AI Valley," dives into the competitive landscape of AI development. He shares insights from tech giants like Microsoft and Google, examining the emergence of transformative tools like ChatGPT. Rivlin also explores the interplay between regulation and innovation, highlighting differing beliefs on AI oversight. He profiles key figures, including LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, and discusses the rapid evolution of AI technology and its potential societal impact, comparing it to the internet boom of the 1990s.
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AI Moment Sparked By ChatGPT
- Gary Rivlin frames AI as a moment sparked by ChatGPT and Reid Hoffman’s move back into startups.
- He pursued a general-interest account to translate complex tech into everyday terms.
AI Is Already Embedded In Daily Tools
- Rivlin defines AI broadly as systems performing tasks that normally require human intelligence.
- He emphasizes that many everyday services (autocomplete, spam filters) are forms of AI we've long used.
Generative Models: Knowledge Without Common Sense
- Generative AI produces original content by learning from massive text and media corpora.
- Rivlin stresses it can be superpowered in knowledge but lacks common sense and genuine understanding.
