The Humachine

There is a lot of hype, hand-waving, and ink being spilled about artificial intelligence (AI) in business. The amount of coverage of this topic in the trade press and on shareholder calls is evidence of a large change currently underway. It is awesome and terrifying. You might think of AI as a major environmental factor that is creating an evolutionary pressure that will force enterprise to evolve or perish. For those companies that do survive the "silicon wave" sweeping through the global economy, the issue becomes how to keep their humanity amidst the tumult. What started as an inquiry into how executives can adopt AI to harness the best of human and machine capabilities turned into a much more profound rumination on the future of humanity and enterprise. This is a wake-up call for business leaders across all sectors of the economy. Not only should you implement AI regardless of your industry, but once you do, you should fight to stay true to your purpose, your ethical convictions, indeed your humanity, even as our organizations continue to evolve. While not holding any punches about the dangers posed by overpowered AI, this book uniquely surveys where technology is limited, and gives reason for cautious optimism about the true opportunities that lie amidst all the disruptive change currently underway. As such, it is distinctively more optimistic than many of the competing titles on Big Technology. This compelling book weaves together business strategy and philosophy of mind, behavioral psychology and the limits of technology, leadership and law. The authors set out to identify where humans and machines can best complement one another to create an enterprise greater than the sum total of its parts: the Humachine. Combining the global business and forecasting acumen of Professor Nada R. Sanders, PhD, with the legal and philosophical insight of John D. Wood, Esq., the authors combine their strengths to bring us this profound yet accessible book. This is a "must read" for anyone interested in AI and the future of human enterprise.

The Mental Health of Gifted Intelligent Machines explores the increasingly sophisticated behaviours of developing AI and how we can ensure it will have emotional resilience, ethical strength and an ability to think in a new and enhanced way. Its primary aim is to change how we understand the world by investigating humanity as an intelligent being, examining and contrasting human and artificial intelligence. The book considers what we can learn from the likely mental health issues that will occur with increasingly sophisticated aspects of machine intelligence and how they will reflect the human condition. It asks questions about our identity in a deeply uncertain and disruptive ever-changing world; how we will improve and enhance our psychological intelligence to meet the increasing complications and demands of the future; and what we need to do, now, to be psychologically intelligent enough to live a full meaningful life in a new world evolving around us. The book argues that changes in our understanding of mental health, psychology and our view of intelligence will challenge huge aspects of our fundamental beliefs and assumptions and that it is essential we explore new arenas to further understand both our own human psychological issues and mental health as we develop gifted intelligent machines. It is a must read for all students, researchers and professionals involved with AI, gifted education, consciousness and mental health.

The Outside can be a dangerous place. But so can the inside. It’s been years since the original cataclysm, but life has been structured, peaceful, and most of all uneventful in the Pale. The humachine citizens welcome the order provided by their ruler, the baleful Regent. However, when one of their own rescues a human boy, Hector, from ravenous ferals on the Outside, their careful systems are turned upside down. As Hector grows more and more human-strange, the citizens of the Pale grow uneasy. What will happen when the Outside tries to get in?

The evolution of the automotive transmission has changed rapidly in the last decade, partly due to the advantages of highly sophisticated electronic controls. This evolution has resulted in modern automatic transmissions that offer more control, stability, and convenience to the driver. Electronic Transmission Controls contains 68 technical papers from SAE and other international organizations written since 1995 on this rapidly growing area of automotive electronics. This book breaks down the topic into two sections. The section on Stepped Transmissions covers recent developments in regular and 4-wheel drive transmissions from major auto manufacturers including DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, and Ford. Technology covered in this section includes: smooth shift control; automatic transmission efficiency; mechatronic systems; fuel saving technologies; shift control using information from vehicle navigation systems; and fuzzy logic control. The section on Continuously Variable Transmissions presents papers that demonstrate that CVTs offer better efficiency than conventional transmissions. Technologies covered in this section include: powertrain control; fuel consumption improvement; development of a 2-way clutch system; internal combustion engines with CVTs in passenger cars; control and shift strategies; and CVT application to hybrid powertrains. The book concludes with a chapter on the future of electronic transmissions in automobiles.

Theorize the technification of later life. Critically discuss and assess the state of the art of research on the digitization of later life. Provide ground-breaking interdisciplinary scholarship in STS and Age Studies that will carry both fields forward. Highlight and demonstrate the importance of reflexive social science insights for innovation policies and design related to old age. Deliver a formative volume as reference for future studies in Socio-gerontechnology in STS and various ageing disciplines.

Nearly ten years after he wrote this humanistic exploration of The Good Enough Manager, or GEM, Aaron Nurick returns with an updated edition. What makes a GEM at the dawn of a new decade? The book’s central questions remain: How do the best managers behave? What sets them apart from their peers? What impact do they have on their subordinates and co-workers? The GEM concept stems from the psychological theory of the good enough parent who provides an environment where an infant learns to develop an autonomous and genuine self. Just as there is no such thing as a perfect parent, managing people in organizations is an inherently human and fallible endeavor, mainly because managing occurs by and through human relationships. Through the words of over 1,000 study respondents, GEMs are shown to be mentors and teachers, relationship builders, and models of integrity for their workers. Each of these themes is explored, making connections to the "right brain" thinking of artists and other creative professionals, managing with emotional intelligence, and historical ideas about management and leadership as adaptive human processes. The central humanistic theme of the book, along with its practical implications, resonates more than ever in the current divisive and turbulent environment. The second edition incorporates up-to-date trends and themes, including the impact of increased globalization; increased tribalism, cultural and political polarization, and populism; the great expansion and proliferation of technology; and the emergence of the "gig economy." Upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practicing managers, will be inspired to rethink their own approaches to management in business, government, and other organizations.

The Cyborg Experiments analyzes the challenges posed to corporeality by techology. Taking as their starting point the work of the highly influential performance artists Orlan and Stelarc, the essays in this timely and important collection raise a number of questions in relation to new conceptions of embodiment, identity and otherness in the age of new technologies: Has the body become obsolete? Does transgender challenge traditional ideas of agency? Have we always been cyborgs?In addition to highlighting the playful character of digital aesthetics, the contributors investigate ethical issues concerning the ownership of our bodies and the experiments we perform on them. In this way the book explores how humanism, and ideas of "the human", have been placed under increasing scrutiny as a result of new developments in science, media and communications.Contributors:John Appleby, Rachel Armstrong, Fred Botting, Julie Clarke, Gary Hall, Chris Hables Gray, Meredith Jones, Orlan, Mark Poster, Jay Prosser, E. A. Scheer, Zod Sofia, Stelarc, Scott Wilson, Joanna Zylinska

Whether social, cultural, or individual, the act of imagination always derives from a pre-existing context. For example, we can conjure an alien's scream from previously heard wildlife recordings or mentally rehearse a piece of music while waiting for a train. This process is no less true for the role of imagination in sonic events and artifacts. Many existing works on sonic imagination tend to discuss musical imagination through terms like compositional creativity or performance technique. In this two-volume Handbook, contributors shift the focus of imagination away from the visual by addressing the topic of sonic imagination and expanding the field beyond musical compositional creativity and performance technique into other aural arenas where the imagination holds similar power. Topics covered include auditory imagery and the neurology of sonic imagination; aural hallucination and illusion; use of metaphor in the recording studio; the projection of acoustic imagination in architectural design; and the design of sound artifacts for cinema and computer games.