“Nexus” is a continuation of Harari’s series of non-fiction books which began with “Sapiens” (a book that talks about the rise of sapiens as a being). This installment talks about the advent of technology with a particular emphasis on AI.

In “Nexus”, Harari looks at how information networks have always played a role in how nations, governments, and societies have been formed and shaped by the ‘powers that be’. The rise of tech goes hand-in-hand with the rise of the tech giants and other mega corporations, but before tech came into the picture, there was a different kind of information nexus in play. The main arguments in the book is that the information networks have always been used by humankind for one end or another, whether for good or for bad. However, such networks may become more dangerous in this age due to advanced tech, which includes AI. For example, witch hunts may have come about due to religious texts being manipulated and used to justify such practices, but the process took some time to synthesize before witch hunts came into reality. These days, however, it doesn't take much for propaganda to make its way into the public sphere thanks to social media, and it's even easier for such propaganda to be used to twist the narratives in order to fund a modern-day g*nocide.

If you’ve read Harari’s books, you know how approachable they are writing-wise, and this one is no different. I appreciate the book's conciseness, but having read plenty of other books which dealt with similar themes, I feel like this distilled most of the points which have already been raised in other avenues. However, this does give a more holistic look of this information network we have at our juncture, and it gives us hope on how society can move forward. After all, information in itself is not inherently evil -- what is more important is how we control the nexus of information in such a way that will benefit humankind.