Jeanette Winterson, 12 bytes. Come siamo arrivati in qui, dove potremmo finire in futuro, (Milano: Mondadori, 2023).

Abstract

"12 bytes. How we got here, where we might go next" is a publication by the english author Jeanette Winterson. The book is a series of thirteen essays divided in four chapters where Winterson analyzes the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its possible future development. Starting from the past, precisely from the First Industrial Revolution, the author intend to illustrate the problem that this particular period introduced and how they could have been avoided. In particular she focus on the unease of workers and women life in the UK questioning the readers to learn from history and asking to dedicate ourself to erase old problems in the future application of technology. She also analyzes the similarities between AI and religion, arguing (and hoping for) the possibilities that AI will follow the buddhist teachings of compassion, material detachment and cooperation. The third chapter talks about the relation that humans have and will have in the future with forms of life based on AI, and how this will affect the preexisting relation between woman and man. 12 bytes is a book full of hope, but not indifferent to the "dystopian" aftermath of technology and Winterson insists on the necessity of a radical cultural change of mentality in order to prevent this application from happening.