Book Review: 12 Bytes - How Artificial Intelligence Will Change the Way We Live and Love by Jeanette Winterson

Hmmm... I was left a bit unconvinced by this series of essays. They feel like casually written blog posts - or hastily dashed-off Sunday Supplement articles. I was expecting a bit more rigour and investigation.

The book treads over well-worn ground - most Silicon Valley companies are trying to recreate Mommy tidying their room via AI, Uber is trying to eat the world, algorithms leave us in filter bubbles. It's interesting, but hardly new insights.

The essays have a heavy focus on love. And it reveals some of the weaknesses in her arguments. For example, after discussing the problems with fembots used for male gratification, she turns to the issue of mechanical lovers for women:

But what about women? Women could buy boybots for sex, couldn’t they? In theory, yes. In fact, women don’t seem interested. Women are sex-toy enthusiasts, but not sexbot fans. Possibly because women are not looking for a relationship substitute when they reach for the vibrator.

That's true - but ignores how romance scams prey on lonely women. And how women get drawn in to parasocial relationships with (virtual) characters. Will that be exacerbated by AI?

If this is your first exposure to some of the ethical challenges posed by AI, then this is a reasonably good starting point. It's a friendly and accessible introduction. But it rarely dips below the surface of the issues.