Dark at the Crossing follows Haris Abadi, an Arab-American ex-soldier, as he attempts to cross from Turkey into Syria to fight with the Free Syrian Army. After being robbed and encountering Syrian refugees Amir and Daphne, Haris must confront his motivations and identity. The novel explores themes of loss, second chances, and the complexities of war.
In 'The Singularity Is Near', Ray Kurzweil discusses the concept of the technological singularity, where technological change becomes so rapid and profound that it transforms human civilization. He predicts that by 2045, machine intelligence will exceed human intelligence, leading to a human-machine civilization where experiences shift from real to virtual reality. Kurzweil envisions significant advancements in fields like nanotechnology, genetics, and robotics, which will solve issues such as human aging, pollution, world hunger, and poverty. The book also considers the social and philosophical ramifications of these changes, maintaining a radically optimistic view of the future course of human development.
With AI's capabilities now beginning to conjure visions reminiscent of science fiction, it's fiction writers who are pointing the way to where these tools will take us in decades to come. 2054, the second of a trilogy of books depicting the AI-infused geopolitical landscape of decades not so far away is co-written by former marine and New York Times bestselling author and writer Elliot Ackerman, and Admiral Jim Stavridis, who spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Navy. The duo's story picks up 20 years after a catastrophic war between the US and China has brought down the old American political order. Joining Ackerman to discuss it for this episode is Carl Miller, co-founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the think tank Demos, and author of The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab.
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