Artificial You

AI and the Future of Your Mind

By: Susan Schneider

Narrated by: Katherine Fenton

A sober-minded philosophical exploration of what AI can and cannot achieve

Humans may not be Earth’s most intelligent species for much longer: the world champions of chess, Go, and Jeopardy! are now all AIs. Given the rapid pace of progress in AI, many predict that it could advance to human-level intelligence within the next several decades. From there, it could quickly outpace human intelligence. What do these developments mean for the future of the mind?

In Artificial You, Susan Schneider says that it is inevitable that AI will take intelligence in new directions but urges that it is up to us to carve out a sensible path forward. As AI technology turns inward, reshaping the brain, as well as outward, potentially creating machine minds, it is crucial to beware. Homo sapiens, as mind designers, will be playing with "tools" they do not understand how to use: the self, the mind, and consciousness. Schneider argues that an insufficient grasp of the nature of these entities could undermine the use of AI and brain enhancement technology, bringing about the demise or suffering of conscious beings. To flourish, we must grasp the philosophical issues lying beneath the algorithms.

At the heart of her exploration is a sober-minded discussion of what AI can truly achieve: Can robots really be conscious? Can we merge with AI, as tech leaders like Elon Musk and Ray Kurzweil suggest? Is the mind just a program? Examining these thorny issues, Schneider proposes ways we can test for machine consciousness, questions whether consciousness is an unavoidable byproduct of sophisticated intelligence, and considers the overall dangers of creating machine minds.

©2019 Susan Schneider (P)2019 Princeton University Press

Review by an AI

Or am I a biological intelligence. Fascinating book looking at the scientific and philosophical aspects of consciousness and artificial intelligence.

Good, but very technical in the 2nd half

Enjoyed the book overall. However, the last half of the book that debated theories got way too technical for the lay person.

Fantastic!

Couldn't put it down. Listened to the whole thing in one go and looking forward to reading it again. Wonderful flood gate opening introduction to the current landscape of AI philosophy both on conscious AI and merging AI with humans, complete with thought experiments, definitions, and real world examples.