Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

Whispers of the Story

This book is a sequel to Homo Sapiens: A History of Humankind which discussed the evolution of humanity and how it has grown from hunter-gatherers to a society.

It picks up where the first book left off, explaining how we live today in a world of “humanism,” where we put ourselves first, similarly to a form of religion, and “individualism.” Harari believes that humanity will continue to seek new ways to improve and extend life for our own benefit. He proposes a scenario in which we will be consumed by a form of “dataism,” a philosophy centred on data, and use technology to simplify daily tasks more and more. 

What comes next? Robots! Harari foresees a grim future, claiming that as we work to create robots that replicate us in every detail, they will develop self-consciousness and take over the world. Just as we saw animals as inferiors and took over their lives, robots will do the same to us.

Review of Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

I had a sense of déjà vu while reading this book. Many of the theories presented here were briefly discussed in the final section of the first book  Homo Sapiens. A Brief History of Humankind. Although I agree that we rely on technology more and more to make life easier, that there is a race for developing new AI and Machine Learning technologies, I do not believe the future to be so dark. I mean we all have seen Terminator, right? Yes, mistakes can be made, and some scientists may lose control and fail to recognize the immediate danger, but as history has shown, we rise from our mistakes. Or a Sarah Connor will be born.

This book is founded on his hypothesis rather than anything concrete. Even when he provides references (not exactly scientific references), I have the impression that he deliberately chose information that supported his theory, which is the biggest mistake a scientist can make (as a reminder, Harari has a PhD in history).

I think no one can say for sure what the future will look like, and if the robots will take over the world. Will robots be part of our future? I think so, because we want to make our lives easier, but robots can never replicate human emotions. But hey, today is very “cool” to talk about robots and the danger they might pose so I expect more books on this subject.

I recommend reading this book with caution in order to avoid falling into the trap of a lost future where humanity is ruled by robots. Take it as one person’s opinion of a possible future; just because it’s in a book written by a scientist doesn’t mean it’s a scientific fact that will occur. 

Of course, if you watch  movies and TV shows like Black Mirror,  you’ll feel that technology will be a big part of our lives sooner than we think. Furthermore, the concept of robots ruling the world is not new. Isaac Asimov imagined this in his Foundation series, where we create robots in the final phase of life on Earth before expanding into the universe. He also has another well-known series, I, Robot about the future use of robots to serve humanity. Let us not forget that Isaac Asimov began writing his stories in the 1940s. Perhaps now, with all of the new AI and Machine Learning technologies, it is a good time to binge these books. 

Happy reading!