The Shortest History of AI

Shortest History

by Toby Walsh

Six ideas to understand artificial intelligence today
Since Alan Turing first posed the question, ‘Can machines think?’, artificial intelligence has evolved from a speculative idea to a transformative force. The Shortest History of AI traces this evolution, from Ada Lovelace’s visionary work to IBM’s groundbreaking defeat of the chess world champion and the revolutionary emergence of ChatGPT. It also explores AI’s cultural journey, touching on classics such as Frankenstein, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 2001: A Space Odyssey.


Revealing how many ‘overnight’ successes were decades in the making, this accessible and illuminating book simplifies AI into six key ideas, equipping readers to understand where we’ve been – and where we’re headed.


‘This history of AI in six simple ideas is so informative and easy to digest. Essential reading’—Dr Karl Kruszelnicki


‘One of the world’s brightest minds takes on one of the world’s biggest topics … Delicious!’—Adam Spencer

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction, History

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 29, 2025

About the author

Toby Walsh is one of the world’s leading researchers in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and leads a research group at Data61, Australia’s Centre of Excellence for ICT Research. He has been elected a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI for his contributions to AI research, and has won the prestigious Humboldt research award. He has previously held research positions in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Sweden.

Reviews

[Toby Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six ideas to understand artificial intelligence today

Since Alan Turing first posed the question, 'Can machines think?', artificial intelligence has evolved from a speculative idea to a transformative force. The Shortest History of AI traces this evolution, from Ada Lovelace's visionary work to IBM's groundbreaking defeat of the chess world champion and the revolutionary emergence of ChatGPT. It also explores AI's cultural journey, touching on classics such as Frankenstein, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and 2001- A Space Odyssey.

Revealing how many 'overnight' successes were decades in the making, this accessible and illuminating book simplifies AI into six key ideas, equipping readers to understand where we've been - and where we're headed.

‘This history of AI in six simple ideas is so informative and easy to digest. Essential reading!’ —Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.

‘One of the world's brightest minds takes on one of the world's biggest topics … Delicious!’ —Adam Spencer.

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This is a short, comprehensive history of AI. While a lot of it was familiar to me, because I have read several books on the topic, there were still ideas and information here that felt new to me. I will definitely purchase a copy for my school library.

[Prof. Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly researched by one of the world's preeminent authorities on artificial intelligence (AI). Toby has lived and breathed, and made significant contributions to, the field of AI and reminds us that it is far from a new phenomenon, far from perfect, and far from over.

[Alex Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging, insightful and accessible read!

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little refresher as to where we are and how we got here.

[Jeremy Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t fault this book. Well-informed, readable and optimistic. A great introduction to an all-important topic.

[Caleb Deck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough one to rate.
STRONG DISCLAIMER: I read a very early copy which was noted as an advanced, uncorrected early copy, so I imagine most of my qualms may be addressed with a final round of editing which is likely in progress now.

Pros: I like the structure of the book and I think Walsh really gets to the nitty gritty of what AI is, how it functions, and how it has developed over time. He clearly knows the subject and has distilled it down to the two phases of development and 6 essential ideas that comprise AI. These are super clear and explained well.

Cons: the writing was choppy and all over the place. Sometimes a timeline of an idea would be linear, the next point may work backward in history with no explainer. Sometimes a person would be discussed for several paragraphs, then be introduced, then immediately move to a new subject. There were random asides about people that were totally irrelevant to the book and could easily have been cut from “The Shortest History of AI”. Things just seemed out of order, to the point where I wondered if my digital ARC had a file issue.

All in all, I give it a three star. It helps frame AI very well and his look to the future is super insightful. Structure is awesome but execution was in need of another edit, which I expect it will have at this early stage. I would consider reading again after publication to see how the final version turns out and could easily bump it up to a 4 or 4.5 star book.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Black Inc and The Experiment for the ARC.

[ROLLAND Florence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would probably be excellent after being reviewed by a good technical editor. In its current state, it lacks structure.

There are lots of anecdotes in there that range from useful to just entertaining. Some will really help you understand what AI is and how it came to be. The others will just waste your time, especially in a condensed book that is supposed to cut through the babble.

I would also have liked schemas, a high level view that explains how different fields relate to each other. It is a lot easier to explain complex technical things if you provide a way to visualize them.

All in all, I enjoyed it despite the structural flaws. The author seems like a very fun and witty person, with the typical academic mindset that I love. Definitely someone fascinating to have coffee with, or spend around 100 pages sitting with.

Thank you #NetGalley and The Experiment Publishing for the ARC.

[Sarah]

I was already sceptical both of the subject matter and of the dull, broski, pop-fiction-esque writing style of this book, but finally decided to DNF this when, ten pages in, the gentleman writer went to introduce Ada Lovelace, which he did not by describing her talents and achievements but by naming her father, Lord Byron, her friend, Charles Babbage, and then listing four paragraphs' worth of Babbage's accomplishments.

[Kosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read!

My favourite part of this book was how much I "learned how much I have to learn". The field of AI is huge, growing, and excitingly unpredictable. There's so much to know about it, and this book is about the best job you could do of introducing AI to any audience.

[Stuart Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent - and indeed short - history of AI, exploring key themes and introducing the waves of AI development.