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£9.99
Published
13 January 2026
Paperback
9781917532112
Ebook
9781917532129
Press Release
Coming soon.
By Toby Walsh:

 

‘A book that’s both educational and enjoyable. Deposit it in school libraries—and on the reading piles of politicians, journalists and, indeed, anyone who hopes to understand the revolution’ Prospect Magazine

Since Alan Turing asked ‘Can machines think?’ artificial intelligence has grown from a pipe dream into a transformative force. The Shortest History of AI traces this journey, from Ada Lovelace’s visionary work to Deep Blue’s shocking defeat of chess world champion Garry Kasparov and the recent barnstorming emergence of ChatGPT.

This expert, illuminating book distils AI into six key ideas, equipping readers to understand where we’ve been – and where we may be headed.

Old Street Publishing The Shortest History of AI

‘A book that’s both educational and enjoyable. Deposit it in school libraries—and on the reading piles of politicians, journalists and, indeed, anyone who hopes to understand the revolution’ Prospect Magazine

Since Alan Turing asked ‘Can machines think?’ artificial intelligence has grown from a pipe dream into a transformative force. The Shortest History of AI traces this journey, from Ada Lovelace’s visionary work to Deep Blue’s shocking defeat of chess world champion Garry Kasparov and the recent barnstorming emergence of ChatGPT.

This expert, illuminating book distils AI into six key ideas, equipping readers to understand where we’ve been – and where we may be headed.

 9.99
 
 

'A clear, layperson-friendly explanation of how we got to this weird and confusing place… [Walsh] is a very funny writer, which is a delightful bonus'
—Financial Times

 
 
  • 'An entertaining and thought-provoking introduction to a subject we’ll surely hear more and more about'
    —Darragh McManus, Irish Independent on Sunday
  • 'Essential reading… This history of AI in six simple ideas is so informative and easy to digest’
    —Karl Kruszelnicki
  • 'A cogent account of AI’s evolution from a once specialised technology to a ubiquitous feature of daily life’
    —The Saturday Paper
  • 'Engaging and often wry'
    —Aoife Barry, Irish Independent
  • ‘If your brain tends to seize up with fear or incomprehension at the mention of AI, this concise and entertaining history is for you’
    —Sydney Morning Herald
  • ‘One of the world’s brightest minds takes on one of the world’s biggest topics’
    —Adam Spencer
  • ‘Entertaining and concise… explains where we began and where we now find ourselves’
    —Kirkus
  • 'A fascinating whistle-stop tour of AI’s brief history'
    —Nick Rennison, Mail on Sunday
 
 
Toby Walsh

Toby Walsh is a British computer scientist and one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence. After his undergraduate degree from University of Cambridge, he completed his Ph.D in artificial intelligence at the University of Edinburgh. He is a professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales and chief scientist at its AI institute, UNSW.ai. Walsh has been profiled by The New York Times and is the author of several books about AI for general readers, including Machines Behaving Badly and Faking It: Artificial Intelligence in a Human World. His Twitter (X) account was voted in the top ten to follow to keep abreast of developments in AI.