Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control

Available editions:

• US edition: hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook.
• UK edition: hardcover, Kindle, audiobook, and paperback.
• German edition: paperback, Kindle.
• Chinese edition: AI新生, translated by Zhang Yi, published by CITIC Press.
• Japanese edition: AI新生, translated by Nobuhiko Matsui, published by Misuzu Shobo.
• Korean edition: 어떻게 인간과 공존하는 인공지능을 만들 것인가, translated by Lee Han-eum, published by Gimm-Young.
• Turkish edition: İnsanlık için Yapay Zekâ: Yapay Zekâ ve Kontrol Problemi, translated by Barış Satılmış, published by Buzdağı Yayınevi.
• Ukrainian edition: Сумісний з людиною. Штучний інтелект і проблема контролю, translated by Viktoria Zenhyea, published by Bookchef.
• Greek edition: Συμβατή με τον άνθρωπο, published by Travlos Publications.
• Croatian edition: Jako člověk: Umělá inteligence a problém jejího ovládání, translated by Jiří Zlatuška, published by Planetopija.
• Portuguese edition: Inteligência Artificial a Nosso Favor: como manter o controle sobre a tecnologia, translated by Berila Vargas and published by Companhia das Letras.
• Russian edition: Совместимость: Как контролировать искусственный интеллект, published by Alpina.
• Editions in preparation: Arabic, Italian.

Selected reviewer comments

• Worth Reading "Human Compatible" by Stuart Russell (he's great!) about future AI risks and solutions. Elon Musk, October 8, 2019.
• I just finished Stuart Russell's marvelous book on AI safety, Human Compatible, and I can't recommend it highly enough!. Tim O'Reilly, November 10, 2019.
• "This is the most important book I have read in quite some time. It lucidly explains how the coming age of artificial super-intelligence threatens human control. Crucially, it also introduces a novel solution and a reason for hope." Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow.
• "A must-read: this intellectual tour-de-force by one of AI's true pioneers not only explains the risks of ever more powerful artificial intelligence in a captivating and persuasive way, but also proposes a concrete and promising solution." Max Tegmark, author of Life 3.0.
• "This is a fascinating masterpiece: both general readers and artificial intelligence experts will be inspired by it. Professor Russell has made the most profound and clearest analysis in the literature on superintelligence, the ultimate problem of artificial intelligence. More importantly, he proposed a novel solution -- a new human-computer relationship -- to solve the problem of superintelligence. This idea has opened up a new research direction in AI." Andy Yao, Turing Award-winner and Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences at Tsinghua
• "Human Compatible made me a convert to Russell's concerns with our ability to control our upcoming creation -- super-intelligent machines. Unlike outside alarmists and futurists, Russell is a leading authority on AI. His new book will educate the public about AI more than any book I can think of, and is a delightful and uplifting read." Judea Pearl, Turing Award-winner and author of The Book of Why.
• "Stuart Russell, one of the most important AI scientists of the last 25 years, may have written the most important book about AI so far, on one of the most important questions of the 21st century: How to build AI to be compatible with us. The book proposes a novel and intriguing solution for this problem, while offering many thought-provoking ideas and insights about AI along the way. An accessible and engaging must-read for the developers of AI and the users of AI -- that is, for all of us." James Manyika, chairman and director of McKinsey Global Institute.
• "This beautifully written book addresses a fundamental challenge for humanity: increasingly intelligent machines that do what we ask but not what we really intend. Essential reading if you care about our future." Yoshua Bengio, winner of the 2019 Turing Award and co-author of Deep Learning.
• "Stuart Russell has long been the most sensible voice in computer science on the topic of AI risk. And he has now written the book we've all been waiting for -- a brilliant and utterly accessible guide to what will be either the best or worst technological development in human history." Sam Harris, author of Waking Up and host of the Making Sense podcast

Reviews and interviews

• Daily Telegraph: Meet the man with the 'off-switch' for when the robots come for us, by Harry de Quetteville, October 1, 2019.
• Sunday Times Magazine, The end of humanity: will artificial intelligence free us, us enslave or exterminate us?, interview by Danny Fortson, October 27, 2019.
• Sunday Times: Human Compatible by Stuart review Russell an AI expert's chilling warning, by James McConnachie, October 6, 2019.
• New York Times: How to Stop Superhuman A.I. Before It Stops Us (adapted excerpt), October 8, 2019.
• The Economist: The promise and peril of AI, interview by Kenneth Cukier, October 9, 2019.
• Financial Times: How to prevent robots cooking the cat, review by John Thornhill, October 14, 2019.
• BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: filmed interview, October 7, 2019.
• Financial Times: Human Compatible - Can we keep control over a superintelligence?, review by Richard Waters, October 18, 2019.
• Guardian Science Weekly: Stuart Russell on why now is the time to start thinking about superintelligent AI, podcast interview by Ian Sample, October 18, 2019.
• Financial Times: Stuart Russell on losing control of AI, Techtonic podcast interview by John Thornhill, October 20, 2019.
• BBC World Service TV: Is it fanciful to imagine the machines taking over?, HARDTalk interview with Stephen Sackur, October 13, 2019.
• The Guardian: AI and our future, review by Ian Sample, October 24, 2019.
• The Spectator, Could AI enslave humanity before it destroys it entirely?, review by Steven Poole, October 26, 2019.
• Vox, AI could be a disaster for humanity. A top computer scientist thinks he has the solution, interview by Kelsey Piper, October 26, 2019.
• California Magazine, Warning! AI Is Heading for a Cliff, interview by Leah Worthington, October 1, 2019.
• I-CIO, Why taking charge of an AI future is now an imperative for humankind, interview by James Lawrence, October, 2019.
• C-SPAN: Human Compatible, televised interview with Richard Waters (Financial Times), November 13, 2019.
• Daily Telegraph: From AI to Humble Pi: the best new science books to buy for Christmas 2019, by Stephen Poole, November 19, 2019.
• Financial Times: Best books of 2019: Technology, by John Thornhill, November 22, 2019.
• Wall Street Journal: "Human Comaptible" and "Artificial Intelligence" Review: Learn Like a Machine, by Matthew Hutson, November 19, 2019.
• The Guardian: Best science, nature and ideas books of 2019, by Ian Sample, November 30, 2019.
• Forbes Magazine: Top Ten Technology Books Of 2019, by Peter High, January 6, 2020.
• Forbes Magazine: Leading AI Luminary Has An Idea To Ensure Humans Remain In Control, by Peter High, January 13, 2020.
• El Tiempo (Colombia): Technology books to read in 2020, January 20, 2020.
• McKinsey Global Institute: How to ensure artificial intelligence benefits society: A conversation with Stuart Russell and James Manyika, January 2020.
• Slate Star Codex: Book Review: Human Compatible, by Scott Alexander, January 30, 2020.
• Quanta Magazine: Artificial Intelligence Will Do What We Ask. That's a Problem., by Natalie Wolchover, January 31, 2020.
• The Guardian: Thirty books to help us understand the world in 2020, by John Naughton, October 18, 2020.
• Irving Wladawsky-Berger (blog): A Human-Compatible Safe, Controllable AI, June 10, 2022.