The Social Machine: The Science of Human Influence, from Apes to Artificial Intelligence

One of the government’s top behavioural scientists reveals how humanity can survive and thrive in the age of influence.

We all influence one another. Yet some of us are more influential than others. Our ability to affect those around us has been key to our long-term survival and prosperity. So how do our wants and needs lead to patterns of behavioural change? How have these patterns evolved over the millennia? And what might this mean for our future?

The Social Machine is the tale of our impact on one another’s behaviour: from the development of our minds, to trust and control of information. It is a story of power, belief and ideology across revolutions - evolutionary, agricultural, industrial, technological; of the rise of kings, generals, cult leaders and priesthoods; of marketing and psychological warfare; and now, of how our ancient minds process the vast quantities of information that can be piped into them from the internet.

Influencers have always exploited our perceptions about who we are and how we think. But at the dawn of machine intelligence, our open societies and our way of life are placed under existential threat. In such an age, how can we protect what we value so we not only survive, but prosper?