A fascinating, accessible and expertly written introduction to the most important invention in human history: the internet.

A new addition to the popular Bite-sized Chunks series, this expert-led book will explore the science and technology behind AI.

'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives.' – The Daily Telegraph Artificial intelligence will shake up our lives as thoroughly as the arrival of the internet. This popular, up-to-date book charts AI’s rise from its Cold War origins to its explosive growth in the 2020s. Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker (TikTok Boom and YouTubers) goes into the laboratories of the Silicon Valley innovators making rapid advances in ‘large language models’ of machine learning. He meets the insiders at Google and OpenAI who built Gemini and ChatGPT and reveals the extraordinary plans they have for them. Along the way, he explores AI’s dark side by talking to workers who have lost their jobs to bots and engages with futurologists worried that a man-made super-intelligence could threaten humankind. He answers critical questions about the AI revolution, such as what humanity might be jeopardising and the professions that will win and lose – and whether the existential threat technologists Elon Musk and Sam Altman are warning about is realistic – or a smokescreen to divert attention away from their growing power. How AI Ate the World is a ‘start here’ guide for anyone who wants to know more about the world we have just entered. Reviews 'An excellent starter for those who want to gain an insight into how AI works and why it's likely to shape our lives.' The Daily Telegraph 'How AI Ate the World prodigiously captures the key issues and concerns around artificial intelligence.' Azeem Azhar, Exponential View 'From ancient China to Victorian England, How AI Ate The World is the story of the characters, moments, technologies, and relationships that populate the rich history of artificial intelligence... How AI Ate The World grapples with what the age of automation means for the people living through it.' Harry Law, University of Cambridge 'A witty, engaging book that takes us through AI's bumpy past to help us understand its present, and future, impacts. I highly recommend it to anyone who is impacted by AI tech – which is to say, everyone on the planet.' Sasha Luccioni, Hugging Face 'Easily the most comprehensive book on AI I have read so far, covering all the key issues' Peter Hunt, Business & Tech Correspondent, Evening Standard 'A comprehensive and compelling look at the technology that's transforming our world. It's an essential guide, full of surprises, to the technology you need to know.' Matt Navarra, social media expert 'Whether you are new to AI or have been following the AI hype for years, Chris Stokel-Walker offers an entertaining balance of history, context and insight that has something for everyone. The story of AI’s evolution is a complex one, but Stokel-Walker tackles it in a clear, direct way that will bring you up to speed while helping you grapple with what it all means — for individuals, the workplace, society and the planet.' Sharon Goldman, VentureBeat 'This book is a wild, brilliant ride through centuries of thinking about and decades of developing machines that can learn. As a crash course in how we got to this current point of thrilling chaos, it will take some beating. Whether or not you agree with Stokel-Walker’s solutions or not, How AI Ate The World is essential reading to understand where we are and how we got here' Ciaran Martin, former CEO, UK National Cyber Security Centre Buy the book to discover your future

A chronology of telecommunications from Babbage's earliest theories of a "Difference Engine" to the impact of the Internet in 1998 to future trends.

A Library Journal Best Book of the Year Tech-guru Brian McCullough delivers a rollicking history of the internet, why it exploded, and how it changed everything. The internet was never intended for you, opines Brian McCullough in this lively narrative of an era that utterly transformed everything we thought we knew about technology. In How the Internet Happened, he chronicles the whole fascinating story for the first time, beginning in a dusty Illinois basement in 1993, when a group of college kids set off a once-in-an-epoch revolution with what would become the first “dotcom.” Depicting the lives of now-famous innovators like Netscape’s Marc Andreessen and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, McCullough also reveals surprising quirks and unknown tales as he tracks both the technology and the culture around the internet’s rise. Cinematic in detail and unprecedented in scope, the result both enlightens and informs as it draws back the curtain on the new rhythm of disruption and innovation the internet fostered, and helps to redefine an era that changed every part of our lives.

Liminality: the state of being 'betwixt and between' is one of anthropology's most influential concepts. This volume reconsiders Victor Turner's innovative extension of Arnold Van Gennep's concept of liminality from within the Manchester tradition of Social Anthropology established by Max Gluckman. Turner's work was grounded in ethnography and engaged with philosophical perspectives in varied socio-historical contexts, extending well-beyond the confines of the anthropology that initially inspired much of his work. Liminality has therefore become a concept with broad interdisciplinary reach. Engaging with topical issues across the globe - from neuroscience to open access publishing and refugee experiences in Europe - this volume launches Turner's fundamental work into the future.

Surveys some of the equipment and techniques that can be used to create a movie on digital media. Topics include compression schemes, choosing a camera, actor lingo, scripts, lenses, camera placement, artificial light, editing, and data transfer. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR