In his latest book 'Nexus', published in 2024, historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari explores the impact of artificial intelligence on society, adopting a unique historical perspective.
Harari's central thesis is that human societies can be interpreted as “information networks” and that AIs represent the first tool created by man capable of manipulating and generating information autonomously, with an unprecedented speed and scale.
The author guides us through a journey through the history of information networks, showing how they have shaped human societies since the Stone Age, passing through Greek city-states, Roman and Chinese empires, great religions, industrial economies, up to the democracies, autocracies and totalitarianisms of the 20th century.
In this fascinating journey, Harari invites readers to reflect on the relationship between information and reality, distinguishing between objective and intersubjective realities, and deepening the links between bureaucracy, mythology and technology. The heart of the essay is precisely the analysis of the relationship between “information and technologies”: every great technological revolution — from writing to printing, from telegraph to radio, from traditional media to the Internet — has expanded both the possibilities of accessing information and the ability to control it.
These technological innovations made possible both mass democracies and totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. Harari then questions the potential historical and social consequences of the current revolution led by artificial intelligence.
Without giving in to easy prophecies, Harari approaches the issue with the prudence of a historian, warning against the risks of a naive approach to AI. Nexus proves to be a stimulating and rigorous invitation to a profound reflection on the ethical, social and political implications of this new technological era: recommended!
