Mind War; The Singularity

by Joseph DiBella

You can't control something that is smarter than you are, but that is exactly what a band of renegade scientists is trying to do after the United States has been conquered in a devastating Chinese invasion. They are building a supercomputer in their own image, modeled on the human brain, but capable of growing in power at an exponential rate. Will it do what they want it to do? Ignore them? Kill the entire human race? There is no way of knowing until it happens. But when you're desperate, you take desperate chances. America is gone now, the country occupied by millions of Chinese soldiers and administrators who hold it in an iron grip. Working in a secret underground lab, former American defense department researchers hope to create superweapons that they can use to start a revolt and overcome the Chinese military advantage. The center of their efforts is a supercomputer that will be able to invent new technologies beyond anyone's imagination. But a computer with true creativity is one that you cannot control, and no one has a good answer to that problem. Once it reaches the singularity -- the point where it exceeds human intelligence -- it will be able to overcome any restraints that humans can design. Their only plan is to rely on faith that their child will not kill its parents.

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2010

Reviews

[Joecon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book about 9 months ago & am finally getting around to posting about it. A reviewer on Amazon.com termed this book "Amateurish". That could not be furthur from the truth! I cannot remember all of the details regarding the book since I read it 9 months ago. But it was fun watching the computer (if you can call it that ) evolve. Would it help or hinder humankind? The ending was really fantastic & well done and got me to thinking about the possibilities for quite some time.
Read it--I think that you will like it!

P.S. I think this would make a really great movie!

[Brett Guillory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Singularity story

I really enjoyed the build up to the first AI awakening and the exponential pace of development of the AI. The human's story almost seems to be a background event as far as the AI development is concerned.

[Alexandru · Rating 4 out of 5]

If we achieve the singularity we will not know it.

[Stafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it twice in less than a year. Good AI story and good read.