Nexus

Harari outlines the historical context of some of the most important types of information technology breakthroughs, along with their unintended bright sides and dark sides. The printing press led to witch-hunts. Radio led to the Great Terror. Newspapers led to Dutch democracy. The book is masterful in its broad survey of information networks and how critical they are to political regimes, which, in the era of AI, stand to breed utter mayhem.

It's an absolute must-read for politicians, tech founders, computer and AI engineers, and laypeople as well.

I appreciate his realistic approach. Blind optimism to this technology and errant false equivalencies with past technological revolutions are dangerously myopic. This technology is more transformative than the agricultural revolution and the printing press - which Harari drills home.

He isn't a pessimist though. The whole point of the book is to urge regulators, policy-makers, media, tech founders, engineers, heads of competing states to cooperate so we can avoid chaos and collapse of human civilization - if not its entire extinction.

The only constant of life is change is my take from Harari’s take on history. He believes in the possibility of positive changes while giving dangerous results of inherited world view. His focus on information as a driving force of history. Things that many believe are natural and eternal are human made and we Can create a better world by paying attention to history.

Entertaining and refreshingly even sided coverage of the history, present and anticipated future uses and abuses of information as a means to power, progress, or destruction Harari besides thoughtfully brilliant and credible in its predictions/extrapolations for the future of information is courageous enough to be honest about the past and present of information control, albeit diplomatic with the status quo, of course, since he has ambitions to influence it. Harari doesn't shy away from a comprehensive review about who has been controlling information and who wants to controls Information versus those in favor of open information flows. So when we first start reading "Nexus" we roll our eyes about he seemingly pointing only to the usual contemporary suspects on the right with the usual simplified rethoric about them, only to be regained to a balanced conversation when he admits that controlling information as a means to power is much older and comes from the left and marxism. Hence, Instead of a fairy tale for children of good left guys and galls always accurate and trustful and bad ones always lying that simpler less sophisticated minds in mainstream try to persuade us of, with Harari we get an adult centrist view and reflection about the nuances and both positive as well as negative view information on all sides We leave the book much more educated and aware of all that surrounds us in terms of information networks and their potential for good and bad. The same is true for Harari's view on Artificial Intelligence intertwined with information. Never childly, neither too optimistic nor too fearful he presents a realistic and credible view of how AI is going to occupy its space and mingle with us. Great reading.

Nexus is a typical Harrari thought provoking book outlining the pros and dangers of networks. It is an antidote for those who are on the extreme ends of the pessimism or optimism spectrum. Humans coordinate vast projects (good and bad) via network effects. Excellent presentation. I have no idea how someone raised speaking Hebrew learned such superb English. Oh, on the audio -- very disappointing. You will need to go to audible.com to get the human version.

I recently purchased the audiobook for NEXUS by Yuval Noah Harari and was extremely disappointed by the narration. Initially, I was convinced that it was AI-narrated because the voice felt robotic, lacked emotion, and didn’t capture the right tone in many places. Frustrated by this, I left a comment believing the narration was AI.

However, upon further investigation, I discovered that it is actually narrated by a human—Vidish Athavale. Even with this new knowledge, my disappointment remains. The narration still feels artificial, and it’s hard to shake the impression that it was enhanced or manipulated by some form of AI, perhaps a hybrid approach where the human voice is modified. This hybrid style, combined with a narrator who delivers in such a mechanical way, makes the audiobook feel as if it were produced by a machine, which ruins the listening experience for me.

One of the reasons I buy audiobooks is to hear a genuine human voice—something that can’t be replaced by AI or a robotic-sounding narration. While technology has its place, this audiobook misses the mark entirely when it comes to conveying the depth and emotion that human narration should bring. The result feels unnatural, making it incredibly hard to enjoy the content of the book itself.

I stand by my earlier comments: even if AI could theoretically read perfectly, I would still want a human because I am human, and I seek that connection. This hybrid approach and the lifeless narration simply do not deliver on that, and it’s a major letdown, especially given that the audiobook is priced the same as those with engaging, human narrators.

I hope you will consider improving future audiobooks by either selecting more fitting narrators or avoiding the use of AI-enhanced technologies that strip away the very qualities that make audiobooks enjoyable.

Prologue: Treats AI and algorithms as the same thing. Says that AI could be an immortal despot. This treats AI as if it has motivations, wants or needs of its own. Chapter 1. "Its always tricky to define fundamental concepts". Cites examples, "biologists find it hard to define life" and "Physicists have a hard time defining mass and energy". What? Fundamental concepts are usually fairly simple. His historical references are spot on but ideas he's trying to sell are very ill defined. Couldn't make it past chapter 1.