''Possible Minds: Twenty-five Ways of Looking at AI'', edited by John Brockman, is a 2019 collection of essays on the future impact of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

Structure

Twenty-five essayists contributed essays related to

(AI) pioneer

Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American mathematician and philosopher. He was a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher i ...

's 1950 book ''

The Human Use of Human Beings ''The Human Use of Human Beings'' is a book by Norbert Wiener, the founding thinker of cybernetics theory and an influential advocate of automation; it was first published in 1950 and revised in 1954. The text argues for the benefits of automat ...

'', in which Weiner, fearing future machines built from vacuum tubes and capable of sophisticated logic, warned that "The hour is very late, and the choice of good and evil knocks at our door. We must cease to kiss the whip that lashes us." Wiener stated that an AI "which can learn and can make decisions on the basis of its learning, will in no way be obliged to make such decisions as we should have made, or will be acceptable to us". The essayists seek to address the question: What dangers might advanced AI present to humankind? Prominent essayists include

Daniel Dennett Daniel Clement Dennett III (born March 28, 1942) is an American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relat ...

Alison Gopnik Alison Gopnik (born June 16, 1955) is an American professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. She is known for her work in the areas of cognitive and language development, specializing ...

Jaan Tallinn Jaan Tallinn (born 14 February 1972) is an Estonian billionaire computer programmer and investor known for his participation in the development of Skype and file-sharing application FastTrack/ Kazaa. Jaan Tallinn is a leading figure in the field ...

, and George Dyson. Brockman interleaves his own intros and anecdotes between the contributors' essays.

Ideas

Multiple essayists state that

artificial general intelligence Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the ability of an intelligent agent to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of some artificial intelligence research and a common topic in science fictio ...

is still two to four decades away. Most of the essayists advice proceeding with caution. Hypothetical dangers discussed include societal fragmentation, loss of human jobs, dominance of multinational corporations with powerful AI, or

existential risk A global catastrophic risk or a doomsday scenario is a hypothetical future event that could damage human well-being on a global scale, even endangering or destroying modern civilization. An event that could cause human extinction or permanen ...

superintelligent A superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that possesses intelligence far surpassing that of the brightest and most gifted human minds. "Superintelligence" may also refer to a property of problem-solving systems (e.g., superintelligent language ...

machines develop a drive for self-preservation. Computer scientist

W. Daniel Hillis William Daniel "Danny" Hillis (born September 25, 1956) is an American Invention, inventor, Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, and computer scientist, who pioneered Parallel computing, parallel computers and their use in artificial intelligence. He ...

states "Humans might be seen as minor annoyances, like ants at a picnic". Some essayists argue that AI has already become an integral part of human culture; geneticist

George M. Church George McDonald Church (born August 28, 1954) is an American geneticist, molecular engineer, chemist, and a serial entrepreneur who is widely regarded as the "Founding Father of Genomics", and a pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic bio ...

suggests that modern human are already "

transhuman Transhuman, or trans-human, is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman. In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. The ...

s" when compared with humans in the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

. Many of the essays are influenced by past failures of AI. MIT's

Neil Gershenfeld Neil Adam Gershenfeld (born December 1, 1959) is an American professor at MIT and the director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, a sister lab to the MIT Media Lab. His research studies are predominantly focused in interdisciplinary studies in ...

states "Discussions about artificial intelligence have been (manic-depressive): depending on how you count, we're now in the fifth boom-and-bust cycle." Brockman states "over the decades I rode with (the AI pioneers) on waves of enthusiasm, and into valleys of disappointment". Many essayists emphasize the limitations of past and current AI; Church notes that 2011 ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

'' champion

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

required 85,000 watts of power, compared to a human brain which uses 20 watts.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' stated readers who want to ponder the future impact of AI "will not find a better introduction than this book." ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' called the book "enlightening, entertaining, and exciting reading". ''Future Perfect'' ('' Vox'') noted the book "makes for gripping reading, (and the book) can get perspectives from the preeminent voices of AI... but (the book) cannot make those people talk to each other." ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' stated the book includes "many rich ideas" to "savor and contemplate". In ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'', technology journalist

Kenneth Cukier Kenneth Neil Cukier (born 1968) is an American journalist and author of books on technology and society. He is best known for his work at ''The Economist'' and the book ''Big Data: A Revolution that Will Transform How We Work, Live and Think'', coa ...

called the book "a fascinating map".

Explanatory notes

References

{{reflist, 30em 2019 non-fiction books Penguin Press books Artificial intelligence publications