War In The Age Of Intelligent Machines

The author aims to show how the emergence of intelligent and autonomous bombs and missiles equipped with artificial perception and decision-making capabilities represents a profound historical shift in the relation of human beings both to machines and to information.

Ray Kurzweil is the inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era, an international authority on artificial intelligence, and one of our greatest living visionaries. Now he offers a framework for envisioning the twenty-first century--an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live. Kurzweil's prophetic blueprint for the future takes us through the advances that inexorably result in computers exceeding the memory capacity and computational ability of the human brain by the year 2020 (with human-level capabilities not far behind); in relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers; and in information fed straight into our brains along direct neural pathways. Optimistic and challenging, thought-provoking and engaging, The Age of Spiritual Machines is the ultimate guide on our road into the next century.

Explores universal questions about humanity's capacity for living and thriving in the coming age of sentient machines and AI, examining debates from opposing perspectives while discussing emerging intellectual diversity and its potential role in enabling a positive life.

“Startling in scope and bravado.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world.” —Los Angeles Times “Elaborate, smart and persuasive.” —The Boston Globe “A pleasure to read.” —The Wall Street Journal One of CBS News’s Best Fall Books of 2005 • Among St Louis Post-Dispatch’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2005 • One of Amazon.com’s Best Science Books of 2005 A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from the bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Singularity is Nearer who Bill Gates calls “the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence” For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

The evolution of strategists -- Defining strategy as psychology -- Evolutionary strategy -- Strategic heuristics and biases -- Culture meets evolved strategy -- The pen and the sword in ancient Greece -- Clausewitz explores the psychology of strategy -- Nuclear weapons are not psychologically revolutionary -- AI and strategy -- Tactical artificial intelligence arrives -- Artificial general intelligence does strategy -- Conclusion: strategy evolves beyond AI

Artificial Intelligence is going to war. Intelligent weapon systems are here today, and many more are on the way tomorrow. Already, they're reshaping conflict--from the chaos of battle, with pilotless drones, robot tanks and unmanned submersibles, to the headquarters far from the action, where generals and politicians use technology to weigh up what to do. AI changes how we fight, and even how likely it is that we will. In battle, warbots will be faster, more agile and more deadly than today's crewed weapons. New tactics and concepts will emerge, with spoofing and swarming to fool and overwhelm enemies. Strategies are changing too. When will an intelligent machine escalate, and how can it be deterred? Can robots predict the future? And what happens to the 'art of war' as machines themselves become creative? Autonomous warfare makes many people uneasy. An international campaign against 'killer robots' hopes to ban AI from conflict. But the genie is out--AI weapons are too useful for states to outlaw. Still, crafting sensible rules for warbots is possible. This fascinating book shows how it might be done.

A groundbreaking narrative on the urgency of ethically designed AI and a guidebook to reimagining life in the era of intelligent technology. The Age of Intelligent Machines is upon us, and we are at a reflection point. The proliferation of fast–moving technologies, including forms of artificial intelligence akin to a new species, will cause us to confront profound questions about ourselves. The era of human intellectual superiority is ending, and we need to plan for this monumental shift. A Human Algorithm: How Artificial Intelligence Is Redefining Who We Are examines the immense impact intelligent technology will have on humanity. These machines, while challenging our personal beliefs and our socioeconomic world order, also have the potential to transform our health and well–being, alleviate poverty and suffering, and reveal the mysteries of intelligence and consciousness. International human rights attorney Flynn Coleman deftly argues that it is critical that we instill values, ethics, and morals into our robots, algorithms, and other forms of AI. Equally important, we need to develop and implement laws, policies, and oversight mechanisms to protect us from tech’s insidious threats. To realize AI’s transcendent potential, Coleman advocates for inviting a diverse group of voices to participate in designing our intelligent machines and using our moral imagination to ensure that human rights, empathy, and equity are core principles of emerging technologies. Ultimately, A Human Algorithm is a clarion call for building a more humane future and moving conscientiously into a new frontier of our own design. “[Coleman] argues that the algorithms of machine learning––if they are instilled with human ethics and values––could bring about a new era of enlightenment.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Comparing the human brain with so-called artificial intelligence, the author probes past, present, and future attempts to create machine intelligence