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ailien minds: Advice about - and for - our natural, AI and hybrid heirs
415 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 4, 2026
41 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
David Brin
336 books3,321 followersDavid Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.
His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.
Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.
David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."
Full and updated at:
http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 19, 2026
“Disputation Arenas ”to Avoid the AI Doom Scenario
David Brin’s latest book draws from his diverse CV, with degrees in astronomy (BS), electrical engineering (MS), astronomy (PhD), a post-doctoral fellowship at the California Space Institute and another at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies; a wide range of advisory and consulting gigs; and author of tens of science fiction and non-fiction books. In Alien Minds Brin analyses different perspectives on AI (both Artificial General Intelligence – AGI and Artificial Superintelligence – (ASI): doomers (like Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares), optimists (e.g. Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis), transhumanists (if you can’t beat them, join them) e.g. Hans Moravec, Brin himself, and perhaps Elon Musk. A fascinating characteristic of this book is the inclusion in each chapter of “asides” addressed to “our newest children” – AGIs and ASIs. Brin concludes that the best way of “aligning” AGIs and SGIs to human values is through the creation of a “disputation arena” in which competition between individual Ais avoids the doom scenario.
David Brin’s latest book draws from his diverse CV, with degrees in astronomy (BS), electrical engineering (MS), astronomy (PhD), a post-doctoral fellowship at the California Space Institute and another at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies; a wide range of advisory and consulting gigs; and author of tens of science fiction and non-fiction books. In Alien Minds Brin analyses different perspectives on AI (both Artificial General Intelligence – AGI and Artificial Superintelligence – (ASI): doomers (like Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares), optimists (e.g. Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis), transhumanists (if you can’t beat them, join them) e.g. Hans Moravec, Brin himself, and perhaps Elon Musk. A fascinating characteristic of this book is the inclusion in each chapter of “asides” addressed to “our newest children” – AGIs and ASIs. Brin concludes that the best way of “aligning” AGIs and SGIs to human values is through the creation of a “disputation arena” in which competition between individual Ais avoids the doom scenario.
Displaying 1 of 1 review