We’ve heard it all before: AI will upend industries, kill jobs and remake everything from healthcare to art. But between the hype and the hand-wringing lies a simpler, more pressing question: Is AI actually useful? And if so, useful for what, and for whom?

In How to Make AI Useful, MIT researcher Dr Bryan Reimer and Swedish futurologist Magnus Lindkvist cut through the noise. Blending decades of research, trendspotting and hands-on experience, they chart AI’s journey from dazzling gimmick to disruptive force—and now to indispensable tool.

This isn’t another book about robot overlords or utopian tech dreams. Instead, it’s a rough guide to AI’s messy middle—the phase where machines meet human complexity. From automating the tedious to amplifying creativity, Reimer and Lindkvist show how to harness AI’s potential for real progress, long after today’s bubble bursts.