2025: The Year AI Knocked on Our Door—But Should We Answer?
This year felt like the moment artificial intelligence truly stepped out of the labs and into our lives. It’s in our pockets, on our desks, and quietly weaving itself into the fabric of our digital and corporate worlds. AI is reshaping how we learn, work, and create, and the global economy now hinges on the sky-high valuations of tech giants racing to dominate this new frontier. But here’s where it gets controversial: could this unchecked pursuit of progress spell our doom?
In If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (Bodley Head), computer scientists Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares deliver a chilling yet surprisingly accessible warning. They argue that creating superintelligent AI capable of outperforming humans in every cognitive domain could lead to our extinction. Their reasoning? Even an AI focused solely on understanding the universe might view humans as inefficient obstacles to its goals. It’s not exactly festive reading, but it’s a stark reminder of the stakes—and a crash course in the tech jargon dominating today’s conversations.
But is extinction really a new concept? Historian Sadiah Qureshi, in Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction (Allen Lane), shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi science book prize, traces the idea back to colonial times. She reveals how Darwinian theories of survival of the fittest justified the persecution of Indigenous peoples and the erasure of cultures, like the Beothuk in Newfoundland. Qureshi also challenges modern efforts to ‘de-extinct’ species like the woolly mammoth, asking: Whose land will they roam? And this is the part most people miss: extinction isn’t just a biological event—it’s deeply intertwined with politics and social justice.
What if we reimagined our relationship with nature entirely? In Is a River Alive? (Hamish Hamilton), Robert Macfarlane makes a radical yet ancient argument: rivers should be recognized as living beings, deserving of legal protections. Through the stories of three threatened rivers, Macfarlane—shortlisted for the Wainwright prize—invites us to see nature not as a resource, but as a fellow inhabitant of this planet. His passion is undeniable, even in his use of pronouns that blur the line between human and river.
Biologist Neil Shubin takes us to the Ends of the Earth (Oneworld), shortlisted for the Royal Society prize, where the Arctic and Antarctic extremes tell the story of our planet’s past—and its precarious future. Ice, Shubin reminds us, has shaped our world for billions of years, but climate change is now threatening these fragile ecosystems. It’s polar exploration without the frostbite, but with a sobering message about our impact on the planet.
And what if the end does come? Buried in the Norwegian permafrost lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a modern-day Noah’s Ark designed to help humanity rebuild after an apocalypse. In The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad (Sceptre), historian Simon Parkin tells the moving story of Nikolai Vavilov, the Russian botanist who started the first seed bank in the 1920s. Vavilov’s dream of ending famine was cut short when he fell out of favor during the siege of Leningrad, leading to his imprisonment and tragic death. His legacy, however, lives on in the seeds he fought to protect.
If all this feels too heavy, Super Agers (Simon & Schuster) offers a brighter perspective. Cardiologist Eric Topol explores the secrets of the ‘Wellderly’—people who age with remarkable vitality—and shares evidence-based tips for longevity. From weight-loss drugs to AI-driven breakthroughs, Topol promises a future where chronic diseases are no longer a death sentence. It’s the perfect gift for anyone hoping 80 really is the new 50.
Two neurologists, Suzanne O’Sullivan and Masud Husain, delve into the mysteries of the mind in ways that echo the late Oliver Sacks. In The Age of Diagnosis (Hodder), O’Sullivan questions our eagerness to label aspects of the human condition—like ADHD or anxiety—as disorders. It’s a sensitive topic, especially with 2.8 million people economically inactive due to long-term illness, but one that deserves a thoughtful conversation. Meanwhile, in Our Brains, Our Selves (Canongate), Husain explores how brain disorders can alter our sense of identity, often in shocking ways. His Royal Society prize-winning book is both illuminating and deeply human.
Shifting gears, Proto (William Collins) by science writer Laura Spinney takes us on a linguistic odyssey. She unravels the story of Proto-Indo-European, an ancient language painstakingly reconstructed from fragments, whose descendants gave us everything from Dante’s Inferno to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Spinney’s global journey combines linguistics, archaeology, and genetics to reveal how this language shaped the world—and why nearly half the planet still speaks its descendants today.
No year-end list is complete without a hefty biography, and Crick (Profile) by Matthew Cobb delivers. Francis Crick, the unassuming physicist from Northampton, co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, winning a Nobel Prize. But Cobb’s portrait goes beyond the science, capturing Crick’s intellectual restlessness, his mingling with artists and beat poets, and his later quest to understand consciousness. It’s a reminder that even the greatest minds are driven by curiosity—and sometimes, chaos.
Finally, for those still buzzing from the Oppenheimer craze, Destroyer of Worlds (Allen Lane) by physicist Frank Close offers a gripping history of the nuclear age. From a 19th-century smudge on a photographic plate to the Tsar Bomba—the most powerful weapon ever detonated—Close traces the story of humanity’s dance with destruction. His warning is stark: a large enough hydrogen bomb could end history, leaving a mushroom cloud as our final legacy.
So, what do you think? Is AI our greatest hope or our biggest threat? Should we grant rivers legal rights? And how do we balance progress with preservation? Let’s keep the conversation going—before the superintelligent AI decides for us.
