Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Harari is an extremely lucid author who excels at distilling the complex into the simple. As in all his books, he seamlessly takes the reader from the distant past to the present to the future. In this case his subject is information and the networks we use to manage and disseminate it. As such it is, but isn’t, a book about AI. “My goal with this book is to provide a more accurate historical perspective on the AI revolution.” In many ways, it is a book about politics, although the author never names names or talks in terms of blue and red. And his canvas is global and spans history. He does, however, talk about democracy, populism, totalitarianism, and such, terms that are being bandied about a lot in the US this election year. And that, I suspect, is why the reviews of the book vary so widely. We are a polarized nation and want to inject politics into just about everything. Harari, however, is not a politician or political commentator. He is an historian who, of course, has not defined that history. His job is to spot the patterns. And in this case the pattern has a political implication. “Democracy and dictatorship are typically discussed as contrasting political and ethical systems. This chapter seeks to shift the terms of the discussion, by surveying the history of democracy and dictatorship as contrasting types of information networks.” Which ultimately, of course, brings us to AI. The author correctly notes that AI is different from all prior information networks (e.g., printing, the telegraph, the Internet, the pre-modern church, etc.) in that it is the first network capable of acting independently of humans. And, as a result, it deserves special consideration, both for its opportunity and its menace. Adding a bit of gravity and urgency to the matter, Harari notes: “The main argument of this book is that humankind gains enormous power by building large networks of cooperation, but the way these networks are built predisposes us to use that power unwisely. Our problem, therefore, is a network problem.” Harari, among many other prominent voices, as a result, argues that we must manage the future application of AI. I agree. Our tech leaders, unfortunately, have shown themselves to be as independent of oversight as AI itself. And given the enormous amounts of capital that AI will undoubtedly unleash, my personal fear is that Silicon Valley, at Wall Street’s urging, will unleash AI before there is any public consensus on its application. After all, that is what they have done at every step of the digital revolution. They routinely release powerful new products that must almost immediately be updated to fix flaws and security oversights in their design. The earliest pioneers of the internet, as but one example, now readily admit that they did not foresee the degree to which it could be abused by malevolent actors. With AI, however, we may not get the chance to address the problems in retrospect. As part of its mission, the book also offers a plethora of insights into several important underlying currents of thought and conviction important to current culture. Some of my favorite quotes: “But power isn’t wisdom…” “The naïve view [of information] thinks that disagreements about values turn out on closer inspection to be the fault of either the lack of information or deliberate disinformation.” “History isn’t the study of the past; it is the study of change.” “However, democracy doesn’t mean majority rule; rather, it means freedom and equality for all.” “It is particularly crucial to remember that elections are not a method for discovering truth. Rather, they are a method for maintaining order by adjudicating between people’s conflicting desires.” “…information isn’t truth.” In the end, I believe it is an author’s job, with few exceptions, not to tell us what to believe, but to make us think. And with this book, in addition to his many others, this author has done just that. I do believe, therefore, that this book is worth every reader’s time. You won’t agree with everything he says. I didn’t, either. And it is true that the higher you take the camera the simpler the landscape looks, to the point of causing you to make erroneous conclusions about what you see. Not all patterns have meaning. Sometimes they are just patterns.

This is a beautifully written and elegantly reasoned account of how humanity was shaped by revolutions in the way information and knowledge were recorded by and transmitted among humans. Until now, all these media were fixed and passive, in that they necessitated a human interpreter and inevitably have been used for both good and evil. Today we depend on AI to digest and interpret the continual avalanche of information flooding us. This wonderful book looks with a clear and unbiased eye at the potential of AI to be used for both good and evil and is not afraid to look into how this might occur in the future. It is impressively researched, full of illuminating examples from human history and simply a pleasure to read.

Nexus is the latest book by Yuval Noah Harari in which he explores some of the existential questions that concern technology and humanity and their interaction. Starting from a perspective of information and its role in increasing participation or strengthening control the work weaves together a lot of topics to try to give a perspective on how technology is impacting society in some positive but many detrimental ways. He then pursues the topic of AI which he alters the acronym to Alien intelligence to highlight the intrinsic difference in computational schemes that goes into machine technologies and highlights a multitude of scenarios that seem plausible but highly concerning about the embedding of more technology into our social structure. It is a thought provoking book that highlights rational concerns on our future in a technology fueled world but it offers no real policy vision on what to do about it. It does serve as a strong reminder that there are severe consequences to some of our technology roadmaps and they are already impacting us but again what to do about it is the real question not what are imaginable scenarios. The book is split into three parts starting with human networks. The author in his usual style implicitly pokes fun at humanity's social structure and history of gravitating to mythology and shows how much of history has been about using information and story to create order. Human stories create networks of common purpose far beyond the family unit and thus has been the basis of creating networks that allow for coordination on a scale that no other species can replicate. This is a powerful concept introduced and is also then discussed in the context of democracy and autocracy. The author highlights that the information structure of a democracy is that of greater participation in the information network and in autocracy it is a centralized one. These different style focus on truth and order with different priorities. The author brings up how in autocratic, mimicking religious frameworks the systems are built on the timelessness of the regime for providing solutions and thus infallibility is a pillar of the governance structures. Democracy being an evolving system by construction is more fluid with the potential to get carried in different directions at different times. The author makes it a strong point to highlight that democracy is not majoritarianism but is about the rights of citizens for themselves not the rights of citizens over others. The author moves onto computers and their influence. He highlights the distributed nature of them as well as their permanence in the infrastructure we depend on. The author starts to highlight how the control of this network has changed interaction structures as well as changed the likelihood of survival of autocratic regimes relative to the past. In particular the information gathering networks of today can be processed in real time unlike in the past when piles of papers would be the product of surveillance that the state didn't have the capacity to process. The author also highlights that networks can perpetuate bias and be error prone. From here the author moves on to the influence of technology on politics and its clear deterioration in recent times. He gives a multitude of scenarios in which platforms with no editorial review that promote user engagement are mere platforms to perpetuate hate and sensationalism. These examples all highlight how the "objective function" that many algorithms are trained to maximize have a negative relationship with human welfare. There is also little consequence of this given the weak regulatory oversight. Despite this problem the author is able to highlight that oversight itself solves little because we don't know the consequences of changing goals given the complexity of mapping the dynamics of the underlying ecosystem to their conclusions. The author uses some examples where AI evades boundaries to achieve goals highlighting the increasing difficulty in constraining AI in practice. Overall the book highlights the concerns many people have about the direction of technology and the speed at which technology has been disruptive. Unfortunately despite such concerns resonating they do not offer sufficient concern to stop progress nor a blueprint for a dependable oversight structure, which is probably impossible to achieve anyway. This leaves us unfortunately unsettled and without clear solutions. Nexus was a stronger work than Homo Deus and up there with Sapiens. As usual he will likely have an audience which dislikes his style and willingness to poke fun at some of humanities mythologies but the content is deep and the argument construction is well thought out. I definitely think this is a worthwhile read but be prepared to come out of it with no further wisdom on what to do about it.

Great book. Well written and engaging book.

I had hundreds of people that found this to be helpful. So here’s the re upload Yuval Harari highlights the naive misconception about information often touted by the tech industry and mainstream society: the belief that more information inherently leads to innovation, progress, and that the truth will always prevail. The printing press is frequently cited as a transformative invention, but what’s often overlooked is that one of its most popular outputs was the Malleus Maleficarum, a witch-hunting manual that contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people across Europe. Ironically, during the same period, Copernicus’ groundbreaking book—which shifted the paradigm from the geocentric theory (Earth at the center of the universe) to the heliocentric model (the Sun at the center)—was largely ignored by the public. Why? Because truth is often dull, while conspiracy theories are exciting. This dynamic should sound familiar. Decades ago, many feared that governments and mainstream media were brainwashing the public with negativity, a perception amplified by humanity’s natural negativity bias. Today, with the democratization of media through the internet, negativity and conspiracy theories have only proliferated. Echo chambers, clickbait, and sensationalist content dominate the digital space, amplifying modern conspiracies like the Area 51 raid, Hollywood and oligarchic sex rings, alien shape-shifting elites, flat Earth theories, and satanic baby-eating worshippers. Harari draws a parallel between this phenomenon and the impact of the printing press. Before its advent, witches were not universally viewed as evil, even by the church. But with the spread of printed conspiracies, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes thrived on the chaos these narratives created—just as they do today. Harari reminds us that truth is inherently chaotic, unexciting, and often overshadowed by more captivating fictions. The history of Judaism and Christianity, particularly the formation of the Torah and the Bible, was so fascinating—it opened up so much that I didn’t know. It was stimulating, to say the least. Shifting gears, I want to dive into counterarguments about AI, which I believe is a natural part of human evolution. Suggesting we slow down AI’s development feels as unrealistic as expecting humanity to abolish nuclear weapons or replace capitalism outright—these things, unfortunately, aren’t happening. While AI can present information in persuasive ways, individuals still have the agency to question and verify sources. The democratization of education and increased digital literacy can act as strong defenses against manipulation. Even Harari, who warns of AI propaganda, emphasizes the power of education. By prioritizing media literacy, we can effectively counteract many of AI’s potential risks. Manipulation is nothing new; it’s been around for centuries, from biased news to propaganda. AI might scale and speed up this issue, but societies have historically adapted through safeguards like fact-checking platforms, transparency initiatives, and ethical AI frameworks. The concern about inequality is valid, but AI also has the potential to level the playing field. Open-source technologies, community-driven projects, and global collaboration can help ensure AI’s benefits are more evenly distributed. Affordable AI systems are already improving healthcare, education, and infrastructure in underdeveloped regions. Throughout history, fears about new technologies have been met with proactive solutions. For example, the Industrial Revolution initially led to significant inequality, but measures like antitrust laws, unions, and public funding eventually balanced the scales. Similarly, policies such as AI taxation, universal basic income, and global governance initiatives could prevent power and resources from becoming overly concentrated. On the issue of trust, advances in AI detection tools are progressing rapidly. Algorithms to spot deepfakes, verify content authenticity, and ensure traceability through technologies like blockchain are already underway. Humans have always found ways to adapt to new challenges in distinguishing truth from falsehood. The invention of photography and video sparked similar fears of manipulation, yet we developed forensic analysis and journalistic standards to maintain trust. The same will likely happen with AI-generated content. As with past technological revolutions, while some jobs may be lost, entirely new industries and roles will emerge. The rise of the internet, for example, gave us careers in web development, digital marketing, and e-commerce—none of which existed before. Similarly, AI will create demand in fields like ethical oversight, system maintenance, and human-AI collaboration. Rather than clinging to outdated economic views of work, societies could shift focus to more meaningful, creative, and community-driven pursuits. Shorter workweeks, universal basic income, and subsidized retraining programs could smooth the transition, making AI a tool for enhancing human purpose rather than threatening it. While authoritarian regimes could misuse AI for oppression, the same tools can also empower democratic movements. AI can help activists organize, expose corruption, and spread counter-narratives effectively. Decentralized AI technologies could ensure that no single regime monopolizes these tools. Additionally, international treaties and regulations—similar to those for nuclear weapons or climate change—could establish ethical norms for AI use. Democratic nations and organizations have the opportunity to lead the charge in enforcing these standards. Harari’s warnings about AI illuminate genuine dangers, but his arguments sometimes feel overly deterministic and dystopian, underestimating humanity’s adaptability and resilience. Yes, the challenges posed by AI are real, but they are far from insurmountable. With the right education, regulation, and global collaboration, AI can be harnessed as a force for progress rather than something to fear. Harari’s critiques are invaluable for sparking dialogue, but they should be balanced with optimism and proactive solutions.

In Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus, human civilization in the age of AI is examined from a uniquely historical perspective. In his characteristic style, Harari uses well-researched anecdotes from medieval to modern times – from Judaism to Christianity, from Caesar to Stalin to Trump – to show how societies and governments have been shaped by information networks. He argues that it is naïve to think that information technology has evolved in strict search of the truth, since it has also been applied to establish social order and reinforce myths that sometimes run contrary to the truth (such as in interpretations of scriptures and the witch trials of medieval Europe). Midway into the book, Harari shifts from medieval tales of primitive information technologies – storytelling, books, property deeds, and the printing press – to the emergence of computers and AI. He thankfully presumes that we have a general understanding of AI and spares us from a lengthy recounting of its development. I admire his willingness to embrace the appropriate but somewhat dated terms “information networks” and “computers” rather than gratuitously use more trendy AI terms. But he does makes it clear just how different, disruptive and dangerous AI advancements are becoming. Importantly, he emphasizes that AI is the first new technology that may well begin to advance itself without human control. Harari lays out a subtle political context which is often alarming, given current events. He observes that democracies encourage information flows across many independent channels with self-correcting mechanisms and institutions while totalitarian systems channel all information to a central hub with constant cross surveillance mechanisms. While democracies were initially enabled by the emergence of information technologies, they may actually now be hindered by AI advancements. He states: “The rise of machine learning algorithms may be exactly what the Stalins of the world have been waiting for (since) … AI seems to favor the concentration of information and decision making in one place.” Nexus concludes with Harari posing the ultimate question as to whether humans will have the capability or desire to control AI or to simply surrender their future to it. On a slightly critical note, as rich as Nexus is in content, the book does not always flow easily. Passages are sometimes so deep and provocative that you have to stop and re-read them to grasp their significance. Other times they seem simple and self evident. Nevertheless, Nexus delivers a remarkable collection of insights into how humanity has historically used information technology for societal governance and how the ultimate technology of AI might be poised to control our future. Dr James L. Vann

Very interesting read. Gives you a hint of the world coming in the next decade. There were parts of the book that literally felt like I was reading some propaganda material, writer could have done a better job being objective in his writing.

Artificial Intelligence gets a lot of talk these days. Most feel like it’s a ticket to a better life for most everyone, but there are certainly drawbacks to AI and this book, Nexus, explores some of these potential pitfalls while also explaining how our communication, from the ancient past to the present, led us to where we are today. Nexus starts out by taking us back a couple millennia and further, explaining how bureaucracies and storytelling shaped society in the past and how these things still shape us in the present, but in different ways, especially in the way that communication is delivered. The first part of the book focuses on the distant past, while the second and third parts center on what lies ahead. The best parts of the book are the last two sections, as they talk about the present and future and some of the potential downsides to artificial intelligence in our increasingly digital world. This book is somewhat unsettling and many of its warnings present a stark picture of what could happen if artificial intelligence is abused. Most of us, for example, are already aware of the problems caused by social media algorithms and how they can be used to create fake stories which are then sent to people who are most likely to digest them and believe them. We have already seen this happen on a tragic level in Myanmar where Facebook was relied on as a valued news source, even though it was spreading false information that led to violence. But this is potentially only the beginning. The book mentions many other potential causes of trouble, like the use of social credit scores to try to improve human behavior. China has already latched on to social credit scores and there is no reason to think that other nations will not follow suit. Nexus does get you thinking about artificial intelligence, technology, and how these things could negatively impact our lives. The book raises many moral questions that are not always easy to answer. If artificial intelligence really catches on, what could happen to certain jobs? Will government step in and retrain people who need to find a new job because artificial intelligence has eliminated their position? Or what about responsibility? If something bad happens due to artificial intelligence, who should be held accountable? The computer program or the person who wrote it and distributed it? These are not easy questions to answer, and I like that Nexus produces so many talking points and encourages debate. The one issue I have with Nexus is that it tends to be tentative and hesitant in its predictions. It doesn’t make its projections with strong conviction. Rather, it often uses tentative words like could, might, and may. This makes you wonder if any of these predictions are all that likely to become reality and that maybe we have nothing to worry about after all. I think the book chose this path because, well, the future is always uncertain and there is no way to really know what will happen. There is bound to be some negative consequences of artificial intelligence, but I remain hopeful that the net benefits to society will be positive and that governments will step in to regulate it sufficiently, to eliminate most of the negative results. Artificial intelligence is on the rise. Information networks have always existed, but they are quite different from how they were in the past and they will continue to evolve as technology progresses. Nexus is a very good book about AI and its potential for both good and bad impact on society. The book can be a little frightening, but it’s the type of wake up call we all need, and it encourages everyone to take whatever action they can with AI to minimize the bad and encourage the good.