The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence

by Amir Husain

The future is now. Acclaimed technologist and inventor Amir Husain explains how we can live amidst the coming age of sentient machines and artificial intelligence—and not only survive, but thrive.

Artificial “machine” intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in our society. We are already using cruise control in our cars, automatic checkout at the drugstore, and are unable to live without our smartphones. The discussion around AI is polarized; people think either machines will solve all problems for everyone, or they will lead us down a dark, dystopian path into total human irrelevance. Regardless of what you believe, the idea that we might bring forth intelligent creation can be intrinsically frightening. But what if our greatest role as humans so far is that of creators?

Amir Husain, a brilliant inventor and computer scientist, argues that we are on the cusp of writing our next, and greatest, creation myth. It is the dawn of a new form of intellectual diversity, one that we need to embrace in order to advance the state of the art in many critical fields, including security, resource management, finance, and energy. “In The Sentient Machine , Husain prepares us for a brighter future; not with hyperbole about right and wrong, but with serious arguments about risk and potential” (Dr. Greg Hyslop, Chief Technology Officer, The Boeing Company). He addresses broad existential questions surrounding the coming of Why are we valuable? What can we create in this world? How are we intelligent? What constitutes progress for us? And how might we fail to progress? Husain boils down complex computer science and AI concepts into clear, plainspoken language and draws from a wide variety of cultural and historical references to illustrate his points. Ultimately, Husain challenges many of our societal norms and upends assumptions we hold about “the good life.”

Genres: Artificial Intelligence, Nonfiction, Science, Technology, Audiobook, Business, Philosophy

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2017

About the author

Amir Husain is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and inventor based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder and CEO of SparkCognition, Inc., a company specializing in cognitive computing software solutions that help businesses and governments better respond to a world of ever-evolving threats, and he was a founding member of IBM's advisory board for Watson. Husain speaks at numerous SXSW, defense, cybersecurity, computer science, energy, and environmental conferences. His work, along with SparkCognition's work, has been featured in such publications as Fast Company, Wired, Forbes, and the New York Times. The Sentient Machine is his first book.

Reviews

[Emma Sea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing, and i struggled to finish it. The content was fine, and the writing was sound, but it was uninspiring and unexciting. I dont feel like i learned anything new. i dont feel i had my eyes opened to any fresh perspectives. Not recommended.

2 stars, for OK.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If a computer can ever just beat a human champion at checkers, then we’ll know they can think. No wait, better make that chess. No, no, we better make that the game of Go. Go needs intuition and only humans have intuition. Oh, never mind. Computers can never think or be self aware because that’s what most people say and the consensus just must always be right! For a mostly consensus defending awful book one can read ‘What do you think about machines that think’ available at Audible, but I really don’t recommend it.

Well this book lays out a contra road map of how it’s currently happening and speculates on why it will happen with certainty and how fool hardy it will be to deny it or try to outlaw it. The future is going to happen regardless of how one wants to control it.

The author is very good at telling stories. As he telling his stories, gems kept popping up. For example, when a doctor doesn’t know how to solve what ails you, they’ll end up doing one of three things: 1) give you a steroid to treat a possible inflammation, 2) give an antibiotic to kill an invader or 3) give a blood thinner like aspirin; another example, in the realm of war ‘amateurs talk about tactics, professionals talk about logistics’; my last example, in the realm of finance, ‘and that man was John Maynard Keynes’ (I’ll let you read the book to get the whole story, but it involves shorting pesetas).

The author questions our purpose. Why are we here? Is the universe a computer? He answers the first question by quoting Camus. I’ll refute Camus’ myth of Sisyphus by saying we have to learn and discover for ourselves. That is why I am here. Sure, one first needs to meet the daily needs and grind of existence, but after relaxation and needs are met learning is what motivates me.

AI (and ultimately AGI, artificial general intelligence) is one way we’re discovering and improving our world and discovering our meaning for being, and the author gives examples in the medical, security (computer and defense), financial, mind hacking, and other areas of life. Deep learning is real and is happening now. Computer software is teaching itself how to solve goal oriented actions.
The author has read 'Homo Deus' and knows that we create our own reality from the fictions we choose to believe in at the time and that is how AGI can ultimately develop too (our reality is a 'parler de facon').

Every experience we ever have is of a particular instant. We as humans try to make sense of our experiences by going from the specific to the general by using our intuition about the matter of fact. Four different times in different paradigms the author brought this concept up. Firstly (according to the author), Warren Buffett makes his money by feeling the quality of the management team of the company he wants to invest in and not just analytically analyzing financial reports and trends; secondly, he'll say the world is explained by the ‘structured and unstructured’ knowledge we have about the world; thirdly, the author uses Kahneman’s S1 and S2, fast intuitive thinking and slow logical thinking. Lastly, in a story related by the author as told by his father the difference between Western thinking and Eastern thinking is analytical verse synthetic story telling. Overall, the author is defending the new age of deep learning ANI (artificial narrow intelligence) with an ability to feel (intuit) as well as logically (analytically) solve complex problems and soon the process will lead to the higher level AGI (artificial general intelligence).

Sometimes the author was out of his depth. Is Goldman Sachs profitable because of its proprietary trading as the author says or because they knew how to get ahead of the trade by a fraction of a second? Were the Russian Bots influential because a crazy racist uncle liked their articles on Facebook for their goofy conspiracy crap such as ‘climate change is a Chinese hoax’ as the author implies or was it because the reality based media printed nonsense stories about an email server almost every other day? There’s no doubt that reality based media has more influence then what the author called ‘mind hackers’ did. It turned out some of our gate keepers such as Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Mark Hallerpin all thought it was acceptable to ‘grab women inappropriately’ and they influenced public opinion and clearly saw women as mostly as objects and are thankfully no longer on my TV. Lastly, can anyone design an experiment such that S1 and S2 can be shown not to be true. If they can’t, then it’s pseudoscience. That doesn’t mean it’s not necessarily true, but it does mean that it lacks a foundation and should probably not be used as a foundation for other justified true beliefs.

Overall, the book is enjoyable. It doesn’t really break new ground or anything, but the author is a good story teller and this book is better than most AI books.

[Mehrsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not at all what it claims to be, which is a thoughtful contemplation of AI--it's the same old book about how blockchain and self-driving cars will change everything. What I think gets smuggled in as a bold view of the future is actually really unimaginative. AI will do the exact thing it is already doing, but way better. If history illustrates anything, it is that the future is very hard to predict--especially the future of tech (don't make me quote Keynes on the future of work).

[Albert Norton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hoped to gain from this book more understanding of how artificial intelligence works, and what writers like Mr. Husain mean by "intelligence," "sentience," "learning," and so on, in comparison to what those kinds of words mean to human beings. I don't mean to give a low rating just because the book was about something other than what I'd hoped for, however. I rate it as I do because even for what it is, I think the book is weak. He provides a lot of yawn-worthy background to basic concepts and pretty much skips over the current capacity of AI. I'm still wondering about it, so I'll resume my search elsewhere. And as for future AI, the author is just staging a pep rally. A long, don't-be-scared finger-wag. I've now read the book, parts of it twice, in fact, thinking I might have missed something, and I still know very little about "the coming age of artificial intelligence." Disappointing.

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've all probably seen the movies -- post-apocalyptic nightmares where advanced Artificial Intelligence has taken over the world. Enslaved us, killed us, thrown us into human zoos. With such notable figures as Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking warning us about the dangers that the coming AI can pose for humanity, should we just try to put a stop to its research? Should we take measures to stop people from creating further AI?

In The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence, Amir Husain argues against that approach. Certainly there is real danger posed if future technology gets into the wrong hands, or if we don't take precautions to program our AI against harming humanity. However, as Mr. Husain points out, we cannot stop the progress of technology. If we do not continue to research and develop and make advancements in this realm, we will find ourselves at the mercy of less scrupulous people who may use advanced technology to harm us. Thus, he makes the case for continued development and research. If we are to protect ourselves, we must continue research, we must not be blinded by fear of the unknown (what will a truly sentient AI be like?), fear of advancement, fear of humans becoming obsolete. We also must reconsider what it means to be human, what gives us purpose, where do we find meaning if/once we no longer have jobs?

The book is rather introductory and I didn't learn much, thus my rating it 4 stars instead of 5. It's not very in-depth, only briefly touching on many of the concepts I'm most interested in (future AI use in the medical field for one). However, I think it would make a great introduction for those without much knowledge of what exactly AI is, in what fields it exceeds human capability, and how it can be used to better our lives. I'd have liked it to be much more substantial, but can't give it a poor rating just because it wasn't "meaty" enough for me (I need a new word here --- as a vegan, "meaty" just doesn't work the way I want it to!) I'd have also liked for him to have delved more into the ethics of it all, but there are other books dealing with that topic. It was still quite interesting, even if I'd have liked it to be more "veggie". (OK, so "veggie" doesn't really work so well either! :-D But you get the point.... or if you don't, maybe some future AI reading this 200 years in the future will, and can recommend a better word for me.

[Carine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep learning, machine learning, neural networks, and of course, artificial intelligence or AI... these words appear more often each day in news articles. If you’re interested in artificial intelligence and in having a better understanding about these words, The Sentient Machine is the right book.

The author does a great job introducing the reader to artificial intelligence, the current state of innovation in the area, what’s next, what’s to be expected, and most importantly, he addresses the concerns that usually accompany AI news in the media.

The book is easy to read - you don’t need to be a data scientist to understand the author, despite him being an expert in the area - without being over simplified. The author gives very concrete examples of how AI could be used in the near or more long-term future to increase our well-being, whether it is by being used for cybersecurity, in health care, or warfare. While addressing very human concerns, he also makes the point that answering fears with bans will not stop AI. Quite the opposite, as other nations will continue to develop it while we could fall behind.

This book made me eager to learn more about AI and to understand it better. Husain’s book was a very good way to first approach the subject.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. 2.5 stars, closed out as DNF, lost interest. OK book but I wasn't learning much.

My notes: why would you want a sentient machine, really? What we (and the market) want are, machines that can do a given task, Faster Cheaper Better than the previous way. End of story, really. Except that the *concept* makes for fun SF, and has since the days of Asimov & Clarke. And Helen O'Loy! https://my.fit.edu/~rosiene/delrey.pdf Not to miss! Unlike this book.

Oh, and the foolish chatter of the left-wing commentariat re the robots will take our jobs! Well, maybe YOUR job, boyo. But you are useless, if not actively obstructive. This last para is pure editorializing by Your Reviewer, worth at least what you paid for it.... ;-}

[Overbooked ✎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an introduction to the topic of the current and future use of AI, this book is informative, although not as complete as I would have liked (many interesting areas were ignored, such as the ethics of AI or minimized like the necessary adjustments to our society as results of wide-spread AI adoption, for example).
This is a thought-provoking book, which is great, but it also one where the author intentionally seeks controversy (e.g. with his choice of “mind hacking” examples taken from the USA politics and international relations or the “universe as a computer” theory of the last chapters).
I found the book biased and unnecessarily alarmist, too (the author’s answer to a justifiable uneasiness to AI use is “if we are not using it, someone else will” or, “AI is here to stay, get over it”, which can be true, but unhelpful in quieting down the fears from the general public and AI critics).

Fav. Quotes:

Sentience, I would argue, is the ability to identify the concept of “me” as separate from everything else and to ascribe goals to that proof of existence—to give a “self” purpose.
[…] intent is the context of the goal. Today, the most sophisticated goal-setting is done by humans; in the future, the greatest intent and goal-setting might well be done by computers.

Regardless of your position on the optimism/pessimism spectrum with regard to AI, it is worth remembering that the genie of technology cannot be put back into the bottle. Humanity is, among other things, innately curious. Across all of human history we have always demonstrated our unrelenting drive to invent. Is invention inevitable? I believe it is.

In the next hundred years, we will have achieved something that our universe took 13.82 billion years to achieve: the creation of another form of self-directed intelligence.

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book both confusing and incredibly one-sided. The author is definitely convinced of the wonderfulness of artificial intelligence. I'm not sure what I expected to get from this book, but I know I didn't get it. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[นรินทร์ โอฬารกิจอนันต์ · Rating 3 out of 5]

แทบไม่รู้อะไรใหม่จะเล่มนี้เลย เบื่อเวลาเล่าประวัติศาสตร์ยืดยาวด้วย ไม่ได้อยากรู้ในส่วนเหล่านี้

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

informative, but only at a high level. the philosophical and theoretical discussion at the end was interesting to read.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review should be taken with a grain of salt as it was on the uncorrected proofs edition which I received via a giveaway.

I think the author has an immense amount of knowledge in his field and I wish that he had focused/expanded on more interesting areas of this text.

I found the last few chapters to be the most interesting, but what was frustrating about this text is that the author usually stopped short of actually exploring some of (to me) the more interesting aspects of what he was writing about.

In many ways, the author is courting controversy. But rather than actually engaging it head on, it felt like the author would just raise points about tensions between technology and ethics, and then somewhat dismissively say “Well we cannot stop the progress of technology and we must embrace it.” He makes the reader hungry for a more thorny discussion of just exactly how to do that ethically, safely, morally. But I don’t feel he actually gets there.

The book feels like it tried to tackle AI a bit too generally for me, and in doing so doesn’t afford the author the chance to showcase his own expertise fully or to even explore his own thesis fully. I think almost all of what is really interesting in the book lies in the last chapter on The Future, but even here the writing style is to raise more questions than anything (which is fine, but this section to me felt like the one that would have been useful to expand upon with more research).

As far as a critique of the thesis : I feel it was only in the section on Mind Hacking that the author gives at least some balance to the notion that yes, AI can be scary too and we don’t necessarily have a good response to it right now. Otherwise, he bewilderingly leaves out discussions of the many ways in which algorithms are in fact encoding our own biases because they are relying on data (such as crime and health record data) that is problematic to begin with. Again, it felt like he side stepped a difficult discussion and basically said “AI is inevitable, get used to it.” But I don’t believe *most* intelligent people who are concerned about AI really think we can “stuff the genie back in the bottle”, as he says. I think most people want to have that discussion of, “how do we go into this with eyes wide open?”

The text was also dismissive with the respect to how increasing our dependence on AI May disrupt existing social and military operations. The argument here again was that this is a type of evolution we need to get on board with. But, what about the human cost here? There are going to be many people and even entire societies who are not going to be wealthy and advanced enough to be on the “right side” of this evolution. The argument that we just need to get on board is far far far too simplistic. It simply ignores a lot of the human losses here. Both socially (what will become of unskilled laborers, when we fail as a country to invest in their education?) and militarily (in the entire discussion of AI in the military, I don’t believe there was a single actual mention of who or what the actual “target” of AI war machines would actually be...often these targets today are in fact people and civilians in countries that simply don’t have the technology to fight back on the same level. Drones anyone?)

I found the writing style bothered me as well, but I am guessing that was somewhat improved in the final print. This text has a lot of potential but for me, it stayed too much on the surface to add as much to the conversation as I had hoped it would.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amir Husain rehashes the same arguments as every AI romantic:
1. We must not anthropomorphise AI (it won't be like the Terminator xD)
2. Technology is not inherently good nor bad
3. We won't have to work so much
4. Can't stop it from happening
Etc etc.

While these are in a simple sense true, he doesn't understand the position of those who regard it as an existential threat. He seems to believe that the likes of Musk, Bostrom, Hawking, Kurzweil and Gates aren't able to see how AI is going to improve our lives. However, as those 5 are deeply entrenched in the industry, it's wiser to assume that they are fully aware of the arguments above.

Husain fails to properly conceptualize what it means to extrapolate an exponential trend, and the necessarily radical uncertainty that's inherent in such a development. There is no need to describe it in normative terms, the extreme differences between what life would be like with superintelligent AGI compared to now fails to even be grasped in our imagination. Any value judgement ascribed to the way in which that unfolds seems meaningless. Technological change has so far been quantitative, this is likely to be qualitative - that is where the existential treat derives from.

Impicitly it does seems like Husain is aware, but explicitly hes not willing to acknowledge just what the potential of AI is. His position seems confused, maybe even contradictory. He writes: "In the next hundred years, we will have achieved something that our universe took 13.82 years to achieve: the creation of another form of self directed intelligence." One would think that facing such a prospect would demand a certain degree of humility, of fear and trembling? There's many analogous archetypical stories from our culture that comes to mind, of the dangers that lingers when man thinks he's about to become like God.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5 stars. There are a lot of facts about technology but the content is presented in a dull manner. This book is good for someone interested in the field and want to understand the nuances between the different terms (like machine learning versus deep learning). As computer technology advances, terminology changes and distinctions are made. For example, artificial narrow intelligence (ANI) is limited to specific tasks (like a GPS app that can estimate travel time based on day/time of the planned trip). Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a machine performing a task similar to a human being (like Siri answering a question).

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence' by Amir Husain is a thoughtful and reasoned look at the continuing advent of intelligent machines and what it might mean for us humans.

The book is divided in to 3 sections: What is AI; Today and Tomorrow; and The Future. The author makes a case for his love of technology and his lifelong study of computing. A discussion of what is artificial intelligence (AI) and what is not is given. Fears are brought to light, including those of some famous opponents. The author discusses how these anti-AI sentiments may hamper the development of technology that we may really need. Discussion is made about the internet of things, healthcare, warfare, financial markets among other things.

I like books about a hopeful future, and this book is one. It's also not blindly optimistic. It is reasoned and logical in it's approach, and does point out ways that AI could fail us. I appreciated this approach to this subject.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Scribner and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

[Leonardo Longo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amir Husain raises the discussion around AI saying it is polarized; people think either machines will solve all problems for everyone, or they will lead us down a dark, dystopian path into total human irrelevance.
The author argues it is the dawn of a new form of intellectual diversity, one that we need to embrace in order to advance the state of the art in many critical fields, including security, resource management, finance, and energy. He explains complex computer science and AI concepts into clear, plainspoken language and draws from a wide variety of cultural and historical references to illustrate his points.

[Jaka Tomc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I gained some knowledge about AI, I expected a bit more. I lost interest several times while reading this book but I wanted to give it a chance and finish it. Author is too biased on some issues, like advantages of military use of AI. I just see the world differently than him. AI is a big threat to humanity and we can't just say "Let there be AI." We're probably already past the point of no return. We'll just have to see what the future holds.

[P.S. Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for AI-obsessed readers.

Fantastic for anyone who needs a basic introduction to the Futurology (and a bit of history) of AI. Touches on many important philosophical questions that I think many other AI-futurology books aren't asking ... yet.

I loved how he tried to take a more hopeful, optimistic stance on AI and the future of Humanity, while still warning of dangers.

Not sure why this is below a 4, this book was compact, well written, and brings up plenty of good points.

[Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The interconnection of Thinking Fast and Slow, Evolution Journey and how we have augmented our lives from biblical times. We are certainly going to make our lives easier and a better way would be to embrace AI. Human beings are adaptable as we have experienced all the revolutions while on Mother Earth 🌍. Nothing is grandiose, it has to be gradual!

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was boring and didn't really learn anything new.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate how accessible Husain makes this complex topic. If you’re already knowledgeable in the topic of machine learning and AI, you may not learn much from this. But as an outsider, I found this book interesting and engaging.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artificial intelligence researchers draw a clear distinction between Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) or Weak AI, and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) or Strong AI. Weak AI is the stuff of today's Siri, self-driving cars, those annoying systems that answer you when you phone just about any company nowadays, or other familiar devices that focus on a single task and possess no self-awareness. By contrast, as of today, Strong AI is essentially the stuff of science fiction. It's sentient intelligence that equals or surpasses human intellectual abilities, setting goals and planning independently of prior programming. This sharp dividing line is at the core of the arguments advanced by Amir Husain in his fascinating new book, The Sentient Machine.

Husain's argument is straightforward: Artificial Narrow Intelligence has already had great impact on our lives in multiple ways—and that's mostly a good thing. Yes, he agrees, AI will increasingly take on jobs that human beings have always previously done—and some we've never done. There are jobs, Husain argues, that humans are simply incapable of doing in our increasingly complex society—in cyber security, for example. Husain cites a report from the international software security group Kaspersky Lab that "its products identified around 323,000 new malware files each day as opposed to 70,000 files per day in 2011." Against this merciless onslaught of malware, it is simply impossible for human programmers to update and revise computer security systems quickly enough—if in fact that were ever possible. We need AI. "We will soon find," Husain writes, "that it is only AI that can protect us from AI."

However, there is a much broader question in play here. He notes that "we are not human because we know how to load boxes onto a truck or because we can drive a car down a freeway. AI will likely be doing these and many other things for us in the near future. When it does, we will still have purpose because we will be creators in the universe." In effect, todays artificial intelligence is barely hinting at its potential to free us up to create.

But what are we humans going to do when the machines have taken away practically all our jobs (or at least the repetitive ones)? What's left? Husain argues that what's left is what's most important: the pursuit of knowledge. To my mind, this cavalier response glosses over the harsh realities of human existence. For one thing, many of us (if not most) have neither the inclination nor the skills to "pursue knowledge." How will people who might be better suited to manual occupations find ways to feel useful? Through arts and crafts? Perhaps, but I suspect that's wishful thinking, too. And it would be foolish in the extreme to ignore the fact that the human race has a bottomless capacity to cause problems for itself. Conflict of all sorts will not go away simply because machines have taken the drudgery out of our lives and are solving our most complex technological problems. Is it realistic to expect, for example, that machines will be able to prevent murder—or suicide?

Jeremy Rifkin had a more thoughtful answer to this problem. In his 2011 book, The Third Industrial Revolution, Rifkin argued that the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence will result in "freeing up much of the human race to create social capital in the not-for-profit civil society, making it the dominant sector in the second half of the century." This assertion derives from an earlier book Rifkin wrote, The End of Work. (My review of The Third Industrial Revolution is at Afraid the end of the world is nigh? Here's a hopeful message.)

Despite his too-quick dismissal of the massive unemployment machines will inevitably create, Husain makes a major contribution to the ongoing debate about artificial intelligence by explaining, in detail, "how anti-AI movements could be a threat to developing much-needed technology to solve this century's most complex problems." No matter how smart they might become, machines won't think like humans. They think in ways that are different. What we call "out-of-the-box" thinking is second nature to an intelligent machine, which can simply sift through all possible solutions to a problem and find an approach that any human observer would think unlikely. In other words, what todays artificial intelligence can do for us is already transformative, but in the long run AI will eliminate the need for us to "earn a living" by meeting our material needs and allowing us to pursue our dreams. However, Husain doesn't tell us how to cope when we're dying of boredom.

Based in Austin, Texas, Amir Husain has built a worldwide reputation as an inventor and serial entrepreneur. He is widely recognized as a leading authority on artificial intelligence.

[books.bintulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 2021: The Sentient Machine

The reason I picked up this book is to learn the potentials of AI. I looked for book that is not thick and explain briefly since this topic, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quite heavy for me.

The author wrote about the protests on robots and how AI scares us: 1) making human useless, 2) kill us. But as I read this book, I can see that the author subtly convince reader that AI is here to stay:

🤖“We cannot stop the march of technology; we can only hope to direct it toward better purposes.” Pg48
🤖“The choice is really no choice at all; we must fight AI with AI” pg67
🤖“I assert, once again that, the AI genie of innovation is out of the bottle; it cannot be stuffed back inside.” Pg107

Let me share with you few keypoints on the AI application in the Today and Tomorrow chapter:
🔌 Internet of Things: First wave (measuring and tracking), 2nd wave (modeling and predicting), 3rd wave (fully autonomous devices)
🔌Healthcare: mechanistic models of the microbiome, HealthTell (diagnostic tools for lupus)
🔌Security of cyber age: kill switch for virus
🔌Warfare: hyperwar, “…we are still navigating this transition but threats are increasing” pg104
🔌Financial markets: “…traders are actually mathematicians and computer scientist in disguise” pg 111
🔌Cognitive spaces: smart homes, smart building, AR application to your interior designs
🔌Mind hacking (this is interesting): targeted ads, invisible manipulation in political sphere, targeted ads, clickbaits. “But in the future, AI will not just read reality, it will write reality” pg 155

And this is what I understand from the final chapter, The Future. We are all living in the age of capitalism which vast majority of humans are mere mechanisms. Till we forget the purpose of living: to seek knowledge. This is where the author calls for us to separate between work and the purpose of living. “Anything that helps us in our search of knowledge is inherently of value”. “…then we can welcome AI as the next stage in our human story. AI is simply one more stepping-stone in the pursuit of knowledge.” Pg175

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reminds me of Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead, published in 1997 when VHS was king, everyone went to Blockbuster, and the Sony Discman finally had skip protection. Gates’ described a future of Netflixesque streaming, Google-like searches, and Apple Pay-like transactions; all things that are common place today. Amir takes a similar approach and the future he paints has artificial intelligence taking center stage.

Author interview: https://fromthegreennotebook.com/2017...

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at AI, ANI, and AGI now (today - [as of 2017]) and future. Though not really in the sense that *WE* perceive AI to be. (Not robots, not terminator, not in this aspect.) More along the lines of integrated houses, technology in your FitBit's, and other such things. "The Internet of Things". While this wasn't exactly what I was anticipating when picking out the book, it still makes for an interesting and educational read.

Though most of it comes off as "scary what-if's" and what can be done TODAY and FUTURE with things that would have AI, Amir Husain spends the book spouting terror scenarios over and over - but going back to the standby line of "But don't let this stop us from doing it." Here's Scenario X that can go horribly wrong for us.... "but don't let this stop us from researching and innovating here".

Despite this being educational read, much of the book reads as a propaganda to the elites and scholars and politicians to not prevent more research and development and innovation in the field of AI. Particularly in regards to bans (banning AI research, development, banning the use of AI technology already afield, etc.)

While I agree with the 'no banning', his crux to it is the same as Prohibition, and he hammers it home ad nauseum. (Almost to the point of beating a dead horse with it.) "If you ban it, other 'darker, seedier' groups will research it. And then we'll be behind!" Which is more or less (and most likely) true, it just doesn't need to be affixed to the ending of every chapter and doesn't need to follow after every doomsday scenario given. Which is primarily what this book is. Introducing doomsday scenarios of technology/AI and then discussing how we can circumvent it, or create cybersecurity or use AI ourselves to defend ourselves..... and that's why we can't ban it!

All good points, but not exactly what I was anticipating with this book, and a bit of a hammer (sledgehammer) on the head type thing. Quick easy read though (clocking in at 185 pages pre-notes/index).

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read into the potential of artificial intelligence from the technical, and social/societal dimensions. If you want both an introduction to the topic and to learn more about the impact on society, this is a terrific book. The author provides insight into the impact on a wide range of industry, culture and highlights the debates amongst world influencers on the topic.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good read from a very pro AI expert. The author has a lot of experience with AI and its use in a lot of defense stuff. I agree with his view that impossible to put genie back in bottle and even if we put rules around our use and make international laws that many like Kim Jun Ill will not. Many bad actors will use this technology.

What is the authors advice? Use AI to protect us from AI. Only AI can save us. He also has no fear of an technology including bio/genetic research.

He does point out how this did not work in nuclear bombs. Even if US had decided not to develop bombs Germany and Russia would have and world would be quite different.

He then covers many areas where AI will make a difference in things like medicine. He even talks about his own personal struggles with health and gives a personal view to all this effort.

He then covers some of the folks who are against open not structured use of AI by folks like Elon Musk, Bill Gates.

The book goes off the rails in last chapters as he says AI is our destiny. He talks as if society and humans can adapt to a new form of purpose and that purpose is .. wait for it ... AI. We are evolving and AI is it. We don't need the social constructs of work or God to have purpose just to make AI and create just like the author did when he was a child. Our goal is according to author that we grow into abstract thought. Has he met a football player yet?

This is just pure foolishness. Please dude stop smoking that stuff.

Anyway I am glad I red it as I now can see who and what the folks are like that are very pro AI.

Good book all in all as he make some good points about the ability we have to stop evil people and politicians (am I redundant here) from using AI to do bad things.

[Nils · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to know what kind of a book this is. It’s not for technical specialists, and mostly consists of a lot of gee-whiz speculation. Its overall argument that we should be neither utopian nor apocalyptic about the prospects for AI is fine as far as it goes. But it seems to be suffused with a certain mystical belief that that line between human and machine will remain reasonably stable, when in fact the real philosophical significance of sentient machines is how it effaced the distinction between man and machine with portentous implications.

Husain seems to think that this will only happen with the advent of artificial general intelligence. This is wrongheaded for two reasons. First, because there is good reason to believe that artificial general intelligence will never arrive, because it is not a coherent intellectual construct: given that there is no agreement on what constitutes or defines human intelligence and therefore a “generalized” model of it can by definition not be built. Second, because even absent AGI, the advent of various narrower/specialized forms of AI already are having a vastly destabilizing effect on the definition and capacity of we humans.

However, I was sympathetic to the core argument that he makes about the human, which is that what defines us (including the synthetic us’s that are emerging through biotech and AI) is the quest for knowledge. The wish to know — sapere aude, as Kant enjoined — is the driving force of human improvement and mastery.

[Nicole Conser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read and very accessible. A good introduction to how AI will impact various industries, and the alarming ways in which it might evolve outside of our control. I'm new to the subject, so I wish the author would have provided more of his personal opinions and beliefs about what we should or could be doing now, today, to promote more ethical and human-centered algorithms / AI systems. He seems to suggest that there isn't much we can know, and therefore do, to ensure that these "sentient machines" have humans' best interests in mind. Hoping there will be a follow-up book to explore this deeper!

[Ryan Pennell · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author chose to keep the subject extremely broad and to use as many analogies as possible (simply too much for my taste). There is absolutely no discussion of how to actually get your hands dirty and write a program for oneself. I could only suggest this book for a child whom has an interest in AI.