1
of
1
The Big Nine
How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 1,969 ratings, 276 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3499
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
The Big Nine
$3499
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
A call-to-arms about the broken nature of artificial intelligence, and the powerful corporations that are turning the human-machine relationship on its head.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
We like to think that we are in control of the future of artificial intelligence. The reality, though, is that we—the everyday people whose data powers AI—aren't actually in control of anything. When, for example, we speak with Alexa, we contribute that data to a system we can't see and have no input into—one largely free from regulation or oversight.
The big nine corporations—Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM and Apple—are the new gods of AI and are short-changing our futures to reap immediate financial gain.
In The Big Nine, Amy Webb reveals the pervasive, invisible ways in which the foundations of AI—the people working on the system, their motivations, the technology itself—are broken. Within our lifetimes, AI will, by design, begin to behave unpredictably, thinking and acting in ways which defy human logic. The big nine corporations may be inadvertently building and enabling vast arrays of intelligent systems that don't share our motivations, desires, or hopes for the future of humanity.
Much more than a passionate, human-centred call-to-arms, this book delivers a strategy for changing course and provides a path for liberating us from algorithmic decision-makers and powerful corporations.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The book The Big Nine by Amy Webb receives praise for its insightful exploration of AI's future impact, blending historical context with bold yet plausible predictions. Critics commend Webb's deep knowledge of AI technology and the socio-political dynamics involving major tech giants like the US and China. Her ability to present complex ideas in a readable and engaging manner, while outlining both optimistic and cautionary scenarios, makes the work both thought-provoking and accessible.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781541724419
Publisher: PublicAffairs,U.S.
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 28 March 2019
Country: United States
Imprint: PublicAffairs,U.S.
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 28.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 360g
Pages: 336
About the Author
Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist whose research focus is on artificial intelligence and how emerging technologies will transform the way we live, work, and govern. She is the author of The Signals Are Talking: Why Today's Fringe Is Tomorrow's Mainstream, a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business, and the founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading future forecasting firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures. Now in its second decade, FTI advises Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies, government agencies, large nonprofits, universities and startups around the world. Amy also publishes the annual FTI Emerging Tech Trends Report, which has now garnered more than 6.2 million cumulative views worldwide.
Also by Amy Webb
View all-
The Year in Tech, 2025
A year of HBR's essential thinking on tech—all in one place. Generative AI, biometrics, spatial computing, and electric vehicles—new technologies like these are reshaping organisations at the hybrid office, on factory floors, and in the C-suite. What should you and your company be doing now to take advantage of the new opportunities these technologies are creating and avoid falling victim...Paperback$4499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Genesis Machine
Synthetic biology is the technique that enables us not just to read and edit but also write DNA to program living biological structures as though they were tiny computers. Unlike cloning Dolly the sheep—which cut and copied existing genetic material—the future of synthetic biology might be something like an app store, where you could download and add new capabilities into...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Year in Tech, 2026
A year of HBR's essential thinking on tech all in one place. From gen AI to EVs to advanced digital collaboration tools, new tech innovations are reshaping organisations from the factory floor to the C-suite. What should you and your company be doing right now to take advantage of the opportunities these technologies are creating and to avoid falling victim...Paperback$4499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
More from Computing & Technology
View all-
Digital Minimalism
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport presents a revolutionary strategy for optimising your interaction with digital technology in a way that fosters productivity, focus, happiness, and creativity. Most of us recognise that our reliance on texting, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter is not due to sheer lack of intelligence or depth, but because these platforms truly offer significant value in the form...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseEmpire of AI
An eye-opening account of the tech arms race shaping our planet, from an award-winning journalist and AI insider to the world of Sam Altman and OpenAI. When longtime AI expert and journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined as its core mission, it was...Paperback$2899Elsewhere:$3700Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Careless People
Shocking and darkly funny, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to the decisions that are shaping our world and the people who make them. Welcome to Facebook. Sarah Wynn-Williams, a young diplomat from New Zealand, pitched for her dream job. She saw Facebook's potential and knew it could change the world for the better. But, when she got there...Paperback$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Open to Work
‘Open To Work helps you stop fearing the future and start shaping it with purpose.’ Jay Shetty‘An instantly useful guide to futureproofing your career.’ Adam Grant‘Open to Work lays out a smart and clear path to the future of work’ Brené Brown In a world where AI is transforming work at a rapid pace, Open to Work is your essential...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies
The founder of the field of AI risk explains why superintelligent AI is a global suicide bomb and we must halt development immediately. AI is the greatest threat to our existence that we have ever faced. The technology may be complex but the facts are simple. We are currently on a path to build superintelligent AI. When we do, it...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Amazing Generation
A children's version of the global bestseller The Anxious Generation How can we live a happy and exciting life without a smartphone? The Anxious Generation started a world-changing conversation about the effects of smartphones and social media on young people. Now bestselling authors Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price have teamed up to talk directly to those young people about how...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Infinity Machine
A revelatory portrait of the visionary behind Google DeepMind, the race to control the future - and what it means to win. Even in a tech world crowded with visionary leaders, Demis Hassabis is recognised as a special case. Born to working-class, immigrant parents in North London, a chess prodigy by five and wizard coder in his teens, he turned...Paperback$3499Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Co-Intelligence
From Wharton professor and author of the One Useful Thing Substack, comes an urgent and definitive playbook for working, learning and living in the new age of AI. For fans of Kevin Kelly, Ray Kurzweil, Cal Newport, and Martin Ford. A New York Times Bestseller Co-Intelligence is the very best book I know about the ins, outs, and ethics of...Paperback$3400Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Bullet Journal Method
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll is an indispensable guide to gaining control over your chaotic life using the power of a simple pen and notebook. Whether you're a seasoned planner or a beginner, this book lays out a revolutionary system that provides structure, clarity, and purpose to your everyday activities. It's not just a method of organising your...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Careless People
Shocking and darkly funny, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to the decisions that are shaping our world and the people who make them. Welcome to Facebook. Sarah Wynn-Williams, a young diplomat from New Zealand, pitched for her dream job. She saw Facebook's potential and knew it could change the world for the better. But, when she got there...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Little Book of Data
Data is not about number crunching. It’s about ideas. And when used properly (read: ethically), it is the problem solver of our time. Yet many savvy people seem to be in data denial: they don’t think they need to understand data, or it’s too complicated, or worse, using it is somehow unethical. As data and AI (just an accelerated way...Paperback$3400Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today
An electrifying, thought-provoking exploration of how the digital era is reshaping our world, by bestselling, Women's Prize-winning writer Naomi Alderman. What's the most useful thing you could know about your own life? In this era-defining book, developed from her groundbreaking Radio 4 essay series, Naomi Alderman turns her boundless curiosity and incisive thinking to a question that affects us all—how...Hardback$3500Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
