Thinking With Machines: The Brave New World of AI

by Vasant Dhar, Scott Galloway (Foreword)

We are entering a brave new world, thanks to AI. We must shape this future to the advantage of everyone, and not just a select few.

Thinking with The Brave New World of AI tells the story of AI from its very beginnings through the eyes of Vasant Dhar, currently Robert A Miller Professor at the Stern School of Business, and Professor of Data Science at New York University. Professor Dhar lived through the invention of AI algorithms and their various permutations until today. He brought AI to Wall Street in the 90s and was the first to teach AI at NYU Stern. Through his story and the lessons that it reveals, we learn about AI’s progress and reversals, its promises and dangers, and what we need to address before the machine gets away from us. Thinking with Machines is essential reading for AI enthusiasts and learners at all levels seeking knowledge on the greatest technological advancement of our time.

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 27, 2025

Reviews

[Yossarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple book on the basics of what the latest hype of Artificial Intelligence and its use in everyday life is going to be. The book introduces us to early behavioural psychology from the likes of Simon Herbert and Daniel Kahneman.

The author takes us on his journey of discovery of AI and Data science with snippets of his life choices that led him to this book. The book is mostly an optimistic take on the adoption of new technologies.
The invention of Reason and planning models, followed by Prediction models of AI, has something that was new to me and was covered poignantly.

PATTERN EMERGES BEFORE REASON BECOMES APPARENT

The use of Information Ratio, Parallel Computing, Neural Network and Tangled Hierarchy are some of the concepts covered succinctly. One of the examples that caught my attention was that of Roger Federer and the relationship between matches won and points won ratio, truly mesmerising.



The author explored three main fields, and AI is affecting the performance. Namely, Trading in the Stock Market, Medical Diagnosis and self-driving. All three fields were covered extensively and with sufficient real-world examples.

The crucial question posed by the author is LESS INTELLIGENT BEING CONTROLLING A HIGH INTELLIGENT BEING! is the centre of it all..

The author explains the psychology of the reliable prediction ability of the AI and trust in the AI. This is another example of expect the unexpected because the most reliable AIs were the least trusted! The rationale given in COST OF ERROR. E.g. trading AI is not highly reliable and is trusted because losses are tolerable, and self-driving cars are not because cost is life, ie everything!

The conclusion of some of the deep questions that are relevant to everyone, like everyone is using and is affected by AI, who will dictate the rules of engagement for using an AI? Government? Corporation?

What about the self-preservation tactics used by AI...

I think this is a good book for everyone who has a life. AI is here to stay, and we must actively take part in understanding and modifying how society adapts to the new ubiquitous tech. My only nag with this book is that it does not address the dark sides that already exist and how they are planning and plotting to use AI (The drug industry, surveillance industry, etc.)

[Suzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great, I love AI and how quickly it's advancing and how much it will be essential to human evolution. I never know enough to argue for ai and it's advancement so this book was a good start on understanding a little of eh background and thinking critically about the next stages, so yeah, this helps a bit.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Thinking with Machines” is like a guided tour through the evolution of artificial intelligence, told by someone who has actually lived through and shaped that history. This makes the story feel so coherent, comprehensive and engaging. The book moves smoothly from early machine learning ideas to deep learning and on toward questions of general intelligence, without losing clarity or dumbing anything down. I especially liked how it kept looping back to what it all means for real-world domains like finance, autonomous vehicles, medicine, sport and even law, which I’d never really connected to AI before.

What really hooked me was the way Vasant Dhar weaves in conceptual tools for thinking better about predictions and uncertainty: ideas like having an “edge” and how it compounds, why grounding questions properly matter, how base rates can quietly make or break a forecast and what separates superforecasters from the rest of us. Alongside the examples of AI applications, important emerging ethical and governance issues are explored and these are explored more thoroughly discussed in the final chapters. Dhar’s acknowledgement that many of these problems remain unresolved made me just that little bit more nervous about the next chapters of AI in our current world...

The narration by Jonathan Todd Ross works really well for this kind of material: clear, well-paced and expressive enough to keep dense ideas interesting instead of exhausting. The audio format made it easy to keep listening through some fairly complex sections without feeling overloaded. The downside of the audiobook version, though, was missing out on the graphics, tables and links that get referenced but not always fully described.

Thinking with Machines is a fabulous, stimulating read that offers plenty of food for thought. The book balances accessibility with rich insight, making it an ideal primer in today’s AI-saturated world while encouraging deeper reflection and questions.

Thank you to RB Media, NetGalley and Vasant Dhar for an advance listening copy of this book.

[Anjon Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book by Vasant Dhar that I can't recommend enough! What makes it especially compelling for me is that it was completely accessible for a general or lay audience, but also helpful to those deep in the field because it enables you to step back and look at the forest as a whole. Along these same lines, his thoughts on the importance of "framing" and asking open questions from the perspective of somebody who knows nothing about a subject is a very powerful approach when interacting with AI. Indeed, he takes the same approach to the subject matter of this book! As a true "Polyglot" or "Pracademic" this book is one of those rare pieces of writing that is valuable at multiple levels and keeps you thinking even after you put it down. My guess is that it will be worth re-reading several times over well into the future, as it becomes valuable in different ways as my own learning and knowledge matures.