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Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will
Will machines someday replace attorneys, physicians, computer programmers, and world leaders? What about composers, painters, and novelists? Will tomorrow’s supercomputers duplicate and exceed humans? Are we just wetware, natural computers doomed to obsolescence by tomorrow’s ultra-powerful artificial intelligence? In Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will, Robert J. Marks II answers these and other fascinating questions with his trademark blend of whimsy and expertise. Catch a glimpse of the geniuses behind today’s AI—their foibles, follies, and friendships—as told by someone on the inside. Under the author’s steady and winsome guidance, learn about the exciting possibilities for artificial intelligence, but also hear how many of the heady claims for AI are provably overblown. Marks shows why there are some powers AI will never possess, no matter what. These powers belong to another—to non-computable you.
485 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 21, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 8, 2023
A good overview of AI, the history, the hype, and the limitations. He adds some humor, personal anecdotes, and explains highly technical concepts in a low-tech manner. I would love to sit through some of his lectures at Baylor!
May 27, 2024
This book claims that human intelligence is uncomputable. Since the human brain is made of atoms and quantum physics is known to be computable, this is equivalent to a claim that quantum physics is wrong. That is of course *possible*; any theory can be wrong. But this is an extremely bold claim, one that would be rejected by nearly every fundamental physicist in the world. Strong claims require strong evidence, but Robert J. Marks provides practically no evidence whatsoever, nor any alternative explanation of how the universe actually works on his proposed uncomputable physical laws.
This book is pseudoscientific nonsense, akin to one claiming that perpetual motion machines are possible.
This book is pseudoscientific nonsense, akin to one claiming that perpetual motion machines are possible.
June 5, 2024
The only parts of this book I liked were the AI history and math sections, which honestly were the fluff he could have left out since they had next to nothing to do with his main point. His main point being "Humans are special because God says so, so you can't have AI. The End. (PS atheists are bad)."
November 22, 2022
The author succeeds in fulfilling the promise of the title. This a good overview of what artificial intelligence is, it’s history and what it can do. The dangers of AI are also discussed. I highly recommend this book to individuals seeking to gain a basic understanding of AI.
April 25, 2023
All In the AI Algorithms’ Inadequacies
In “Non-Computable You” Baylor University Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute (among other impressive credentials), Robert J. Marks II offers a (mostly) readable explanation of what artificial intelligence (AI) really is and does. It’s mostly reassuring, nearly always interesting, sometimes a bit obscure, and certainly unlike most of what you will find in sensationalistic media accounts of AI and its inroads into our lives. Bottom line, AI has significant limitations and likely always will. At the same time, however, human beings always have found and always will find ways to abuse technology, even when beneficial purposes are the impetus behind technological progress.
Marks makes a very simple point: AI is at its core algorithmic and we demonstrably are not. That establishes insurmountable limitations to what AI ever can do. It means that AI is constrained at either accidentally or deliberately becoming sentient in a human sense by the inadequacies of anything algorithmic. It ultimately can do only what it is programmed to do. This isn’t a matter of the emergent stage of the technology, but rather an underlying postulate of information theory. In the most difficult chapters of this excellent book, Marks takes us through the reasoning.
Still, the virtual certainty of abuse by human developers is a concern, and Marks addresses that in his closing chapters. Human ingenuity always will be used by benefactors and malefactors alike, for contrary purposes, and that’s what must be guarded against. Understanding what AI is and can and cannot do must be the foundation of AI safeguards. The book isn’t comprehensive on this subject, and indeed we have much to learn (unfortunately from future experience), but Marks does a fine job at defining the issues as well as the important limitations of this emerging technology.
The vast majority of “Non-Computable You” is highly readable and even entertaining. Marks brings a widely misunderstood and seemingly difficult topic within grasp. In doing so he prepares the reader to understand what AI really is all about, a subject that will get increasing attention in the media and our lives.
In “Non-Computable You” Baylor University Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute (among other impressive credentials), Robert J. Marks II offers a (mostly) readable explanation of what artificial intelligence (AI) really is and does. It’s mostly reassuring, nearly always interesting, sometimes a bit obscure, and certainly unlike most of what you will find in sensationalistic media accounts of AI and its inroads into our lives. Bottom line, AI has significant limitations and likely always will. At the same time, however, human beings always have found and always will find ways to abuse technology, even when beneficial purposes are the impetus behind technological progress.
Marks makes a very simple point: AI is at its core algorithmic and we demonstrably are not. That establishes insurmountable limitations to what AI ever can do. It means that AI is constrained at either accidentally or deliberately becoming sentient in a human sense by the inadequacies of anything algorithmic. It ultimately can do only what it is programmed to do. This isn’t a matter of the emergent stage of the technology, but rather an underlying postulate of information theory. In the most difficult chapters of this excellent book, Marks takes us through the reasoning.
Still, the virtual certainty of abuse by human developers is a concern, and Marks addresses that in his closing chapters. Human ingenuity always will be used by benefactors and malefactors alike, for contrary purposes, and that’s what must be guarded against. Understanding what AI is and can and cannot do must be the foundation of AI safeguards. The book isn’t comprehensive on this subject, and indeed we have much to learn (unfortunately from future experience), but Marks does a fine job at defining the issues as well as the important limitations of this emerging technology.
The vast majority of “Non-Computable You” is highly readable and even entertaining. Marks brings a widely misunderstood and seemingly difficult topic within grasp. In doing so he prepares the reader to understand what AI really is all about, a subject that will get increasing attention in the media and our lives.
September 7, 2024
There’s a reasonable argument that artificial intelligence (AI) will never fully replicate human intelligence. I approached this book expecting a nuanced, scientific discussion of how the brain functions, how AI works, and the challenges we face in ever bridging the gap between the two.
Instead, this book rests on the assumption that the human mind is divinely created and, therefore, beyond the reach of machines. The author sets up and dismantles straw-man arguments without ever grappling with the deeper questions about the nature of human thought and consciousness.
For example, the claim that AI cannot create without a prompt—true, but can humans? Aren’t we also driven by external stimuli? Similarly, the argument that AI lacks the spark of human creativity because it relies on its training data misses a key point: isn’t human creativity also shaped by a lifetime of accumulated experiences and knowledge? How does that differ from AI’s training? There are problems unsolvable by computers. Fine—but can humans solve them either?
I don’t claim to have the answers to these questions, but I believe there’s a way to scientifically distinguish AI from human intelligence. Unfortunately, this book brings me no closer to those answers, as the author sidesteps these discussions in favor of vague appeals to the divine. Instead of exploring these complexities, the book seems intent on reinforcing a predetermined conclusion.
There is some interesting material on the history of AI in the middle of the book, but it’s presented in a way that can be found elsewhere, with better writing.
If you’re looking for reassurance that AI poses no threat to god’s divine creation of man, this book might be for you. Otherwise, I’d suggest saving your time and seeking out other books to better understand the past, present, and future of AI.
Instead, this book rests on the assumption that the human mind is divinely created and, therefore, beyond the reach of machines. The author sets up and dismantles straw-man arguments without ever grappling with the deeper questions about the nature of human thought and consciousness.
For example, the claim that AI cannot create without a prompt—true, but can humans? Aren’t we also driven by external stimuli? Similarly, the argument that AI lacks the spark of human creativity because it relies on its training data misses a key point: isn’t human creativity also shaped by a lifetime of accumulated experiences and knowledge? How does that differ from AI’s training? There are problems unsolvable by computers. Fine—but can humans solve them either?
I don’t claim to have the answers to these questions, but I believe there’s a way to scientifically distinguish AI from human intelligence. Unfortunately, this book brings me no closer to those answers, as the author sidesteps these discussions in favor of vague appeals to the divine. Instead of exploring these complexities, the book seems intent on reinforcing a predetermined conclusion.
There is some interesting material on the history of AI in the middle of the book, but it’s presented in a way that can be found elsewhere, with better writing.
If you’re looking for reassurance that AI poses no threat to god’s divine creation of man, this book might be for you. Otherwise, I’d suggest saving your time and seeking out other books to better understand the past, present, and future of AI.
November 19, 2023
An interesting counter-point to the overall fears of the rise of the robots. Marks takes a mathematical and logical proof approach to why silicon based algorithmic computer models will never have human intelligence.
During the book, however, Marks also takes a strong swipe at materialists, philosophers and several well known voices in the field.
The walk through the various AI winters was well written, with Marks drawing on his own role and output in the second AI spring of the 1990s.
The walk through the Mathematical problems and models that he uses to demonstrate why humans are not algorithmic and therefore can’t be reliably replaced by computers was too dense.
Although I do have some similar views to Marks, he is quite black and white. He also needs to refresh some of his ideas. As an example he quickly dismisses the city state of Singapore in a single experience he had with an academic many years ago. It was a worn and thin attack on some aspects of Singapore’s success story, which left a sour taste.
I think I would enjoy sitting in a pub for a couple of hours with Marks and talking about AI and life in general, however the book could have been better and probably needed tighter editing.
During the book, however, Marks also takes a strong swipe at materialists, philosophers and several well known voices in the field.
The walk through the various AI winters was well written, with Marks drawing on his own role and output in the second AI spring of the 1990s.
The walk through the Mathematical problems and models that he uses to demonstrate why humans are not algorithmic and therefore can’t be reliably replaced by computers was too dense.
Although I do have some similar views to Marks, he is quite black and white. He also needs to refresh some of his ideas. As an example he quickly dismisses the city state of Singapore in a single experience he had with an academic many years ago. It was a worn and thin attack on some aspects of Singapore’s success story, which left a sour taste.
I think I would enjoy sitting in a pub for a couple of hours with Marks and talking about AI and life in general, however the book could have been better and probably needed tighter editing.
April 6, 2025
The author, Dr. Marks, was the first president of the IEEE Neural Networks Council (now the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society) and clearly knows what he is talking about. I appreciated the author’s combination of technical and philosophical expertise, something that can be hard to find.
The relationship of compatibility to Rice’s Theorem and Chaitin's constant was fascinating. I never thought this book got overly technical despite the technical nature of the subject matter. It is well written and has a good bit of humor in it. Anyone interested in the relationship between AI and sentience should pick up this book.
The relationship of compatibility to Rice’s Theorem and Chaitin's constant was fascinating. I never thought this book got overly technical despite the technical nature of the subject matter. It is well written and has a good bit of humor in it. Anyone interested in the relationship between AI and sentience should pick up this book.
Want to Read
October 11, 2022Recommended by TWEII written by Baylor professor
September 9, 2023
Uma parte do livro, 30% iniciais ou um pouco mais, é muito boa. Baseado em limitações teóricas da computação, incluindo Máquinas de Turing e Redes Neurais, o autor mostra claramente os limites da inteligência artificial. E desmistifica o tema, trazendo o assunto para a realidade, pés no chão. Tem muita exploração indevida sobre o assunto, incluindo a questão de as máquinas se tornarem inteligentes autônomas, com capacidade de sentimento, etc. No momento, com as arquiteturas atuais, tudo é programado, as máquinas precisam dos algoritmos para poderem atuar. E algoritmos descrevem processos conhecidos, com resultados esperados, em número finito de iterações. Ou seja, o passo-a-passo para o que a máquina (ou programa) decida o que vai fazer seguindo o algoritmo. Receita de bolo, em análise mais simplista. Na maior parte do livro, o autor explora o tema mostrando exemplos e contra-exemplos da realidade. Sem dúvida um bom livro,
November 12, 2022
The author makes his case fairly strongly and convincingly about the case made for his sub-title. I think his arguments will hold up, especially since it appears that Turing has acknowledged as much at one point.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews