Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-first-Century ScienceFew scientific topics since the theory of biological evolution have inspired as much controversy as artificial intelligence has. Even now, fifty years after the term first made its appearance in academic journals, many philosophers and more than a few prominent scientists and software programmers dismiss the pursuit of thinking machines as the modern-day equivalent of medieval alchemists’ hunt for the philosopher’s stone-a pursuit based more on faith than on skeptical inquiry. In Arguing A.I., journalist Sam Williams charts both the history of artificial intelligence from its scientific and philosophical roots and the history of the A.I. debate. He examines how and why the tenor of the debate has changed over the last half-decade in particular, as scientists are struggling to take into account the latest breakthroughs in computer science, information technology, and human biology. For every voice predicting machines like 2001’s HAL within the next twenty to thirty years, others have emerged with more pessimistic forecasts. From artificial intelligence’s pioneers John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, to futurist authors Ray Kurzweil and Hans Moravec, to software architects Bill Joy and Jaron Lanier, Arguing A.I. introduces readers to the people participating in the current debate, both proponents and critics of A.I. who are changing the way computers “think” and the way we think about computers. Ultimately, Arguing A.I. is as much a history of thought as it is a history of science. Williams notes that many of the questions plaguing modern scientists and software programmers are the same questions that have concerned scientists and philosophers since time immemorial: What are the fundamental limitations of science and scientific inquiry? What is the nature of intelligence? And, most important, what does it really mean to be human? |
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Page xiv
... growing suspicion , even within engineering circles , that technology has already slipped the bonds of human control . It also reflects the growing divide between those who see intelligence in anthropocentric terms and those who do not ...
... growing suspicion , even within engineering circles , that technology has already slipped the bonds of human control . It also reflects the growing divide between those who see intelligence in anthropocentric terms and those who do not ...
Page 51
... growing frustration with the so - called A.I. belief system , one that stresses machine autonomy and machine intelligence over human control . Lanier is not alone in this frustra- tion . Past " user - friendly " interface advocates ...
... growing frustration with the so - called A.I. belief system , one that stresses machine autonomy and machine intelligence over human control . Lanier is not alone in this frustra- tion . Past " user - friendly " interface advocates ...
Page 59
... grown so much that Joy was spend- ing less time pursuing his studies and more time mailing tapes and answering the phone ... growing assortment of Internet protocols . By the early 1980s , businesses were starting to catch on to the ...
... grown so much that Joy was spend- ing less time pursuing his studies and more time mailing tapes and answering the phone ... growing assortment of Internet protocols . By the early 1980s , businesses were starting to catch on to the ...
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Common terms and phrases
A.I. critics A.I. debate A.I. research community Age of Intelligent Age of Spiritual algorithms Allen Newell artificial intelligence artificial-intelligence authors become Bill Joy build century Chapter chess program community's computer chess computer program consciousness Daniel Dennett Darwin decade Deep Blue Dennett device Dreyfus dubbed ELIZA engineers essay evolution exponential fiction Future Doesn't Need Galatea 2.2 Gödel growing number HAL's Legacy heuristic Hilbert Hofstadter Hubert Dreyfus human intelligence ideas Intelligent Machines Internet Jaron Lanier John McCarthy Joy says Joy's Kurzweil says Logic Theorist machine intelligence Manifesto Marvin Minsky mathematician mathematics mechanical Mind Moore's Law Moravec movie Neumann notion offer paper perspective philosophers Polya predictions problems professor puter question Ramona Ray Kurzweil Robot says Lanier scientific scientists Searle self-replicating Simon software program Spiritual Machines Stork says term theorem theory tion today's trend Turing Turing's University users Weizenbaum Wired magazine York