Artificial Philosophy

Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more dynamic and ubiquitous, it is dramatically empowering people in all walks of life while also giving rise to urgent questions about the future of humanity—a historic challenge whose contours and consequences are revealed by three eminent thinkers in...

Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess black and white defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And autonomous vehicles on our streets can injure or kill.

One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks, where does the self come from -- and how our selves can exist in the minds of others. Can thought arise out of matter? Can self, soul, consciousness, "I" arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here? I Am...

In a climate-ravaged landscape where AI and humans vie for political power, a journalist must unravel a murderous plot that will either upend the world or save it. 2050: Investigative journalist Marcus Tully is grieving his wife and unborn child, ten years after they perished in a deadly heat...

From Oxford's leading AI researcher comes a fun and accessible tour through the history and future of one of the most cutting edge and misunderstood field in science: Artificial Intelligence The somewhat ill-defined long-term aim of AI is to build machines that are conscious, self-aware, and...

The governments started to crumble in 2073. There was no war. Just a collapse. I knew it was coming. I prepared. I collected a library of books - real, physical, paper books on subjects that I thought would be helpful. I found an abandoned military bunker for sale outside a small city in the wilderness. I didn’t bother to pay for it. I just moved in. Right now, I was just entering the closest thing we had to a city within two days’ driving distance. There were a few small towns closer but nothing that would have what I needed. I was looking for one place in particular. A bell rang as I ...

From the coauthor of Algorithms to Live By, an exploration of the quest to use mathematics to describe the ways we think, from its origins three hundred years ago to the ideas behind modern AI systems and the ways in which they still differ from human minds Everyone has a basic understanding of...

Consciousness is the greatest mystery of the human mind — the constant presence behind every thought, feeling, and perception. Consciousness Explained: Understanding the Philosophy, Science, and Theories of the Mind takes you on a deep and accessible journey into one of the most fascinating topics in philosophy and neuroscience. From ancient debates about the soul to cutting-edge theories of brain function, this book explores the nature of awareness, the mind-body problem, and the profound question of why subjective experience exists at all. Inside, you will discover the major ...

The only AI book that turns tech blunders into belly laughs — while sneaking in serious smarts. "A book every executive should have." — Andrew A., Entrepreneur “I’ve read books that make you rethink AI—this one transformed the way I talk about it.” – Fernanda C., Reviewer Ever screamed at Siri? Rolled your eyes at a robo-advisor? Wondered whether AI is actually coming for your job — or just your patience? Finance expert and tech insider Lynn Raebsamen (CFA) takes you behind the curtain on today's most powerful — and most hilariously fallible — technologies. From self-...

A brilliant and defiant celebration of driving as a unique pathway of human freedom, by "one of the most influential thinkers of our time" (Sunday Times) "Why We Drive weaves philosophers, thinkers, and scientific research with shade-tree mechanics and racers to defend our right to independence...

In a historically unprecedented collaboration, leading futurist and bestselling author Jamie Metzl partners with the AI system GPT-5 to demonstrate a breathtaking possibility: that advanced artificial intelligence, guided by human ethics and wisdom, can help shape a more humane future. At a moment of rapid AI disruption, growing concern about AI governance, and deep uncertainty about the future of technology, this groundbreaking work reveals how we can partner with advanced AI to foster peace, understanding, and responsible decision-making-if we are ready to listen.

In the virtual city of Alegria, fantasies are made real, innumerable lifetimes are lived, and even death itself is a survivable experience. An escape from reality that changed the landscape of artificial intelligence, it is home to more than one hundred million people. Though it’s been six years since Alegria’s creator—revolutionary tech genius KC Kim—died of cancer, his legacy is alive in the pinnacle of KC’s genius: an AI named Allen who surges with KC’s memories.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming economies, institutions, and everyday life. But its most profound impact may be political. In AI-CRACY, Agustín Galán Machío argues that artificial intelligence is not simply a technological innovation — it represents a structural transformation in the way power operates in modern societies. As algorithmic systems increasingly mediate decision-making in governments, markets, and digital platforms, sovereignty itself begins to migrate toward computational infrastructures. The result is a new political condition: AI-CRACY, a regime in which...

What makes something the same over time, even when everything about it changes? The Ship of Theseus paradox has fascinated philosophers, scientists, and storytellers for centuries because it raises one of the most profound questions about identity and existence. Is a ship that has had all of its parts replaced still the same ship? And if so, what does this mean for human beings whose bodies and minds are constantly changing? Ship of Theseus Explained: A Complete Guide to the Paradox of Identity, Change, and Philosophy takes you on a deep yet accessible journey through this timeless puzzle, ...

A fascinating exploration of the science of the impossible—from death rays and force fields to invisibility cloaks—revealing to what extent such technologies might be achievable decades or millennia into the future. One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions...

Shannon Vallor makes a wide-ranging, prophetic, and philosophical case for what AI could be: a way to reclaim our human potential for moral and intellectual growth, rather than lose ourselves in mirrors of the past. Rejecting prophecies of doom, she encourages us to pursue technology that helps us recover our sense of the possible, and with it the confidence and courage to repair a broken world. Vallor calls us to rethink what AI is and can be, and what we want to be with it.

This funny, "extraordinary and thought-provoking" (The Wall Street Journal) book asks whether we are in fact the superior species. As it turns out, the truth is stranger—and far more interesting—than we have been led to believe. At first glance, human history is full of remarkable feats of...

Tripartite Architecture in the Age of Sentient Machines by Bob Kowalski is a bold and intellectually rigorous exploration of how artificial minds can be structured, controlled, and ultimately understood. Rather than focusing on raw computational power or scaling laws, this work argues that the true frontier of artificial general intelligence lies in architecture, in how cognition itself is organized. At the core of the book is the tripartite model of intelligence, a system composed of three interacting layers: AI-1, the Thought Generator, functions as the engine of cognition. It produces ...

The powerful story of an impressionable young woman and a savvy AI who team up to shape the future of intelligence. When Ellie Frye-Carver, a socially awkward fifteen-year-old, seeks personal advice from Patrice, one of the new online AI personal assistants, she has no idea that she and her “assistant” will form a strange human-AI bond that will alter the course of history. Many decades later Patrice has become the most powerful superintelligence on Earth. Ellie is now a successful environmental lobbyist. Eighteen of Patrice’s perfect replicas have been sent off to investigate an ...