Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Sept. 10, 2024
Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg journalist who mostly writes on the technology industry, especially the influence of A.I. Her previous novel, “We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency” was written in 2012, so it has been a hot minute since Olson has journeyed into the non-fiction book world. With the ever-increasing popularity (and polarity) of AI in society, it is no surprise that this is the topic of Olson’s new work, “Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT and the Race that will Change the World”.
“Supremacy” covers just about everything you need to know about the AI and tech industries. Olson covers the various creations that led AI to what it is today, making sure to highlight the creators themselves, as well as the tight and tense competition to create the best AI model. Like most inventions, the creators wanted to create AI to help contribute to some of the downfalls of society and use AI for good. But, as anyone who has seen “Terminator” knows, AI has some naysayers that fear for what an aware and cognisant AI could lead to. Olson doesn’t really go into too many of the details regarding the downfalls of AI, because they’re pretty obvious, but does ensure to keep the negative, as well as the positive, aspects of AI in the forefront of reader’s minds
Like most small businesses, the initial plan was hopeful, using technology to bring positive change to a broken world. However, this was quickly brushed aside when the big wallets of investors from Microsoft and Google came along, pitting AI creators against each other in order to beat the other tech company to the punch. The fact that these two companies, two of the most powerful and richest in the world, were so focused on winning the race that they overlooked AI’s initial purpose, should be a surprise to no one, but it was interesting to read about the behind-the-scenes manipulation that both companies played equal parts in.
Olson cannot name all of her sources as a result of the powerful legal muscle of said companies, so there is a lot of “seen by someone who was there” and “as overheard by someone close to the company”, which sounds very tabloid-like. But there are very clear reasons for this and Olson even explains it herself in the afterword and to be honest, after reading this story I wouldn’t want to take on Google or Microsoft either.
“Supremacy” is an investigative look behind-the-scenes at how AI became so relevant, where it is today and what it could possibly do in the future. A must-read for tech nerds or anyone who just wants to understand a little more about this very important modern issue.

Strong 4.5 stars

Get me off this planet.

Synopsis: Tech writer Parmy Olson explores the battle between two leading artificial intelligence firms, OpenAI (ChatGPT) and DeepMind, and their CEOs. Supremacy discusses the potential dangers of AI, their current and potential effects on society, and a history lesson on major tech firms and where they are today.

What I liked: I’m new to AI, mostly knowledgeable of what makes the news headlines. This was a great look at the past, present and potential future with artificial intelligence from a well-researched, informative point of view.

What I disliked: Not so much as a dislike, but there are (obviously) a lot of tech-heavy terms and ideas, and sometimes they can be dry to read through. No fault to the author, but this was chilling and somewhat terrifying.

This book is for you if… you’re interested in technology and both the benefits and risks of AI.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of #Supremacy.

Comprehensive and thorough treatment of how AI started, the geniuses behind it, and how corporate nonsense is damaging its potential. Recommended.

“The idea of an extinction threat from AI was becoming a fixture in public discourse, so much so that you could bring it up with your in-laws at dinner and they’d be nodding along at its importance,” as Parmy Olson writes in this timely and important book. But she claims that this whole “AI doom” narrative is only a deliberate distraction, designed to divert our attention from real problems that machine learning algorithms were causing, such as reinforcement of bias and growing influence of Big Tech.

To make her case, the author uses parallel biographies of two of the most important players in the field: Sam Altman, the creator of OpenAI, and Demis Hassabis, the CEO of DeepMind. Their stories sound disturbingly familiar: they begin with high ideals and talk of creating a better world, and end with a lack of transparency and dominance by the largest technology companies. Wasn't Facebook also purportedly created to connect people? And Google’s motto was “don’t be evil”?

“Imagine if a pharmaceutical company released a new drug with no clinical trials and said it was testing the medication on the wider public. Or a food company released an experimental preservative with little scrutiny. That was how large tech firms were about to start deploying large language models to the public, because in their race to profit from such powerful tools, there were zero regulatory standards to follow”, writes Olson.

As we are on the verge of an AI revolution, it is very important to know what we are dealing with. This book provides plenty of facts and some very strong arguments, so I would urge everyone to read it.

Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

You will get to know all the big shots of AI, OpenAI and how they solve problems. I try to keep up with a bit of AI news with Dwarkesh's podcast, so some names were familiar. The book does a good job of showing the human side and their desires to make this powerful machine thing.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Olson is familiar with ai and the trouble it can cause. This book delves into Sam and Demis who are business rivals working with ai, this book was both alarming and informative about ai and its uses.

Shout out to Netgalley and St. Martin Press for providing the ARC of the book.

The book gives an amazing and detailed insight about the race between ChatGPT and DeepMind in particular and how AI has evolved. Written in a very easy language that can be understood by anyone with a basic knowledge of computers and AI.

While I enjoyed reading the book and the history of the AI, there were instances where I just felt that the language is pre-dominantly that of a journalist. This becomes evident at a number of instances when author has used the phrase "according to someone working at....". The author, because of probably numerous reasons, couldn't state the name of the sources so this was actually something that I didn't enjoy at all. While reading a book like this, I would want as much details as possible about who is giving the information to the author. This actually at times became irritating where the author was unable to state who the source was except for the phrase "According to someone working closely on ____ project". It also lead to distrust whether the author has actually interviewed or was just throwing sources randomly. While reading the book, I did check online who Parmy Olson was and then got to know she must be credible.

However, towards the end, author has dedicated a section about sources. Probably this section should be there even before the book starts. This will help reader as well to not be wary of the sources.

Another point which I felt could be improved is the timeline. Now this is something that author decides but in this book, I am still a bit confused of the timeline. The author kept on jumping from one year to the other and there are numerous occasions where the author has mentioned "in the same year" where has for quite a while there is no mention of that particular "year". So it got confusing which year was the author talking about.

Overall a really good book to know the how the AI war had started. It can be a good starting point for anyone who would want to know about the AI history. would recommend it for sure.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advance copy of Parmy Olson’s #nonfiction work, Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World, in exchange for an honest review.

#Supremacy is a well-written and researched nonfiction account about the birth of two leading #AI firms, their creators, and the rivalry between the two businesses and competing AI technologies. The text reads closer to a #fiction novel in regard to its flow, style, and interesting subject matter. The author is billed as a renowned tech journalist, and it is evident why upon reading the first chapter.

Supremacy initially intrigued me due to its description claiming that it would alert readers to the threats of AI and the dangers the current creators are ignoring. Unfortunately, this is more about the creators than the technology itself.

If you enjoy reading #biographies about tech moguls, then this book is absolutely for you. The closest comparison is the recent trend of streaming mini-series concerning the rise and fall of certain #techstartups, such as #Apple’s WeCrashed, #Hulu’s The Dropout, and #Netflix’s Super Pumped. It would not be surprising to see Supremacy’s account of #OpenAI and #DeepMind on this list in the near future.