Your audiobook is waiting…
The Age of Em
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Elephant in the Brain
- Hidden Motives in Everyday Life
- By: Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
Human beings are primates, and primates are political animals. Our brains, therefore, are designed not just to hunt and gather but also to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. But while we may be self-interested schemers, we benefit by pretending otherwise. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus, we don't like to talk, or even think, about the extent of our selfishness. This is "the elephant in the brain".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Signalling and self-deception explained
- By Burger Flipper on 10-02-18
-
The Fabric of Reality
- The Science of Parallel Universes - and Its Implications
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Author of the New York Times best seller The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch, explores the four most fundamental strands of human knowledge: quantum physics, and the theories of knowledge, computation, and evolution - and their unexpected connections. Taken together, these four strands reveal a deeply integrated, rational, and optimistic worldview. It describes a unified fabric of reality that is objective and comprehensible, in which human action and thought are central.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Such a disappointment
- By Philip Cziao on 01-27-19
-
Rationality: From AI to Zombies
- By: Eliezer Yudkowsky
- Narrated by: George Thomas, Robert DeRoeck, Aaron Silverbook
- Length: 49 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
What does it actually mean to be rational? Not Hollywood-style "rational", where you forsake all human feeling to embrace Cold Hard Logic, but where you make good decisions, even when it's hard; where you reason well, even in the face of massive uncertainty; where you recognize and make full use of your fuzzy intuitions and emotions, rather than trying to discard them. In Rationality: From AI to Zombies, Eliezer Yudkowsky explains the science underlying human irrationality with a mix of fables, argumentative essays, and personal vignettes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great content. Some chapters should be re-recorded.
- By Geordie on 03-13-18
-
Stubborn Attachments
- A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
In this new audiobook, Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals, Cowen argues that our reason and common sense can help free us of the faulty ideas that hold us back as people and as a society. Stubborn Attachments, at its heart, makes the contemporary moral case for economic growth and delivers a great dose of inspiration and optimism about our future possibilities.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Causal vs casual
- By Amazon Customer on 11-24-18
-
Life 3.0
- Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,523
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,136
How will artificial intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society, and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology - and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Odd book with some good info
- By Michael on 12-02-17
-
AI Superpowers
- China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
- By: Kai-Fu Lee
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 944
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 806
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 805
In his provocative new book, Dr. Kai-Fu Lee - one of the world’s most respected experts on artificial intelligence - reveals that China has suddenly caught up to the US, the leader in AI, at an astonishingly rapid pace. Building upon his longstanding US-Sino technology career (working at Apple, Microsoft, and Google) and his much-heralded New York Times Op-Ed from June 2017, Dr. Lee predicts that Chinese and American AI will have a stunning impact on not just traditional blue-collar industries but will also have a devastating effect on white-collar professions.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Compelled to listen at 2x speed
- By Eugene on 09-26-18
-
The Elephant in the Brain
- Hidden Motives in Everyday Life
- By: Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
Human beings are primates, and primates are political animals. Our brains, therefore, are designed not just to hunt and gather but also to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. But while we may be self-interested schemers, we benefit by pretending otherwise. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus, we don't like to talk, or even think, about the extent of our selfishness. This is "the elephant in the brain".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Signalling and self-deception explained
- By Burger Flipper on 10-02-18
-
The Fabric of Reality
- The Science of Parallel Universes - and Its Implications
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Author of the New York Times best seller The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch, explores the four most fundamental strands of human knowledge: quantum physics, and the theories of knowledge, computation, and evolution - and their unexpected connections. Taken together, these four strands reveal a deeply integrated, rational, and optimistic worldview. It describes a unified fabric of reality that is objective and comprehensible, in which human action and thought are central.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Such a disappointment
- By Philip Cziao on 01-27-19
-
Rationality: From AI to Zombies
- By: Eliezer Yudkowsky
- Narrated by: George Thomas, Robert DeRoeck, Aaron Silverbook
- Length: 49 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
What does it actually mean to be rational? Not Hollywood-style "rational", where you forsake all human feeling to embrace Cold Hard Logic, but where you make good decisions, even when it's hard; where you reason well, even in the face of massive uncertainty; where you recognize and make full use of your fuzzy intuitions and emotions, rather than trying to discard them. In Rationality: From AI to Zombies, Eliezer Yudkowsky explains the science underlying human irrationality with a mix of fables, argumentative essays, and personal vignettes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great content. Some chapters should be re-recorded.
- By Geordie on 03-13-18
-
Stubborn Attachments
- A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
In this new audiobook, Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals, Cowen argues that our reason and common sense can help free us of the faulty ideas that hold us back as people and as a society. Stubborn Attachments, at its heart, makes the contemporary moral case for economic growth and delivers a great dose of inspiration and optimism about our future possibilities.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Causal vs casual
- By Amazon Customer on 11-24-18
-
Life 3.0
- Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,523
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,136
How will artificial intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society, and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology - and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Odd book with some good info
- By Michael on 12-02-17
-
AI Superpowers
- China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
- By: Kai-Fu Lee
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 944
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 806
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 805
In his provocative new book, Dr. Kai-Fu Lee - one of the world’s most respected experts on artificial intelligence - reveals that China has suddenly caught up to the US, the leader in AI, at an astonishingly rapid pace. Building upon his longstanding US-Sino technology career (working at Apple, Microsoft, and Google) and his much-heralded New York Times Op-Ed from June 2017, Dr. Lee predicts that Chinese and American AI will have a stunning impact on not just traditional blue-collar industries but will also have a devastating effect on white-collar professions.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Compelled to listen at 2x speed
- By Eugene on 09-26-18
-
Superintelligence
- Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- By: Nick Bostrom
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,935
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,594
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,568
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Colossus: The Forbin Project is coming
- By Gary on 09-12-14
-
The Case Against Education
- Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money
- By: Bryan Caplan
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 244
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 222
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 219
Despite being immensely popular - and immensely lucrative - education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity - in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Finally, someone says what needs to be said about education
- By Brandon B. on 05-17-18
-
The Book of Why
- The New Science of Cause and Effect
- By: Judea Pearl, Dana Mackenzie
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 302
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 259
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 258
"Correlation does not imply causation". This mantra has been invoked by scientists for decades and has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. But today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, sparked by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and placed causality - the study of cause and effect - on a firm scientific basis.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book! Not a great audiobook.
- By rrwright on 05-30-18
-
The Sentient Machine
- The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence
- By: Amir Husain
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 135
The future is now. Artificial "machine" intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in our society. We are already using cruise control in our cars and automatic checkout at the drugstore and are unable to live without our smartphones. The discussion around AI is largely polarized; people think either machines will solve all problems for everyone or they will lead us down a dark, dystopian path into total human irrelevance. Regardless of what you believe, the idea that we might bring forth intelligent creation can be intrinsically frightening.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting take on Artificial Intelligence
- By Philomath on 11-21-17
-
Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,983
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,538
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,494
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We live in the best of all times
- By Neuron on 02-25-18
-
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,525
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,996
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,966
Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today's most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good stuff, but mostly repeats
- By Amazon Customer on 09-13-18
-
Sapiens
- A Brief History of Humankind
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18,249
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 16,098
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16,009
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Take the Negative Reviews w/ a Grain of Salt
- By Gabriel on 08-29-18
-
Scale
- The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life, in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies
- By: Geoffrey West
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 725
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 640
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 635
Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent systems and networks. The term complexity can be misleading, however, because what makes West's discoveries so beautiful is that he has found an underlying simplicity that unites the seemingly complex and diverse phenomena of living systems, including our bodies, our cities, and our businesses.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and clear enough for a lib arts major
- By kwdayboise (Kim Day) on 05-29-17
-
Machine, Platform, Crowd
- Harnessing Our Digital Future
- By: Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 850
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 721
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 714
We live in strange times. A machine plays the strategy game Go better than any human; upstarts like Apple and Google destroy industry stalwarts such as Nokia; ideas from the crowd are repeatedly more innovative than corporate research labs. MIT's Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson know what it takes to master this digital-powered shift: we must rethink the integration of minds and machines, of products and platforms, and of the core and the crowd.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Both How AND Why for Techies
- By Dan Collins on 08-11-17
-
The War on Normal People
- By: Andrew Yang
- Narrated by: Andrew Yang
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 370
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 325
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 325
The shift toward automation is about to create a tsunami of unemployment. Not in the distant future - now. One recent estimate predicts 13 million American workers will lose their jobs within the next seven years - jobs that won't be replaced. In a future marked by restlessness and chronic unemployment, what will happen to American society? In The War on Normal People, Andrew Yang paints a dire portrait of the American economy. Rapidly advancing technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation software are making millions of Americans' livelihoods irrelevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is an important topic, increasingly relevant.
- By Eivind Hagen on 07-04-18
-
Fooled by Randomness
- The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
- By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,349
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,473
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,460
This audiobook is about luck, or more precisely, how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. It is already a landmark work, and its title has entered our vocabulary. In its second edition, Fooled by Randomness is now a cornerstone for anyone interested in random outcomes.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great information but...
- By Ken Premo on 03-26-14
-
The Strange Order of Things
- Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures
- By: Antonio Damasio
- Narrated by: Steve West, Antonio Damasio
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 161
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 141
The Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition that regulates human physiology within the range that makes possible not only the survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically, and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular life and other primitive life-forms.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Homeostasis and Metabolism give self awareness
- By Gary on 03-22-18
Publisher's Summary
Robots may one day rule the world, but what is a robot-ruled Earth like?
Many think the first truly smart robots will be brain emulations, or ems. Scan a human brain, then run a model with the same connections on a fast computer, and you have a robot brain, but recognizably human.
Train an em to do some job and copy it a million times; an army of workers is at your disposal. When they can be made cheaply, within perhaps a century, ems will displace humans in most jobs. In this new economic era, the world economy may double in size every few weeks.
Some say we can't know the future, especially following such a disruptive new technology, but Professor Robin Hanson sets out to prove them wrong. Applying decades of expertise in physics, computer science, and economics, he uses standard theories to paint a detailed picture of a world dominated by ems.
While human lives don't change greatly in the em era, em lives are as different from ours as our lives are from those of our farmer and forager ancestors. Ems make us question common assumptions of moral progress, because they reject many of the values we hold dear.
Read about em mind speeds, body sizes, job training and career paths, energy use and cooling infrastructure, virtual reality, aging and retirement, death and immortality, security, wealth inequality, religion, teleportation, identity, cities, politics, law, war, status, friendship, and love.
This book shows you just how strange your descendants may be, though ems are no stranger than we would appear to our ancestors. To most ems, it seems good to be an em.
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars28
-
4 Stars16
-
3 Stars19
-
2 Stars10
-
1 Stars6
Performance
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars24
-
4 Stars16
-
3 Stars12
-
2 Stars8
-
1 Stars5
Story
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars21
-
4 Stars13
-
3 Stars13
-
2 Stars12
-
1 Stars7
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Ageel Alassif
- KSA
- 03-30-17
An analytical book suited as a reference book
Struggled to finish it , reads more like a reference book than a straight read.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sumguynobuddynoes
- Sioux Falls, SD, United States
- 05-20-17
interesting but way too thorough
Great number if assumptions draws upon authors perception of Emulation robot society and behaviours.
Interesting concept, but too intricate in detail to be credible. Got boring in the details of Em societal workings.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- David
- 11-26-16
30% of time me spent describing itself
The author spends almost as much time describing the structure of the book and structure of his research as he does talking about the ACTUAL content. I prefer books that tell me directly what they have to say, versus telling me ad nauseam HOW they are going to tell me about it. LOTS of wasted time.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-12-18
Beginning is engaging and worth the time.
Interesting thought experiment and I appreciated the author's careful consideration to justify the scenario he presented. I found the content slightly repetitive, or too "in-the-weeds," at times which lead to a longer duration that caused me to lose interest during the latter two-thirds of the book.
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Dusty
- 07-02-17
Couldn't finish it
I couldn't finish it. It felt like it was never going to get to the point. That means a lot coming from me as I'll sit through just about anything.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- KA
- 01-11-17
Just plain awful, some thing that could be said within 1 hour, unnecessarily and painfully prolonged.
within 1 hour, unnecessarily and painfully prolonged. The author assumes throwing big words around makes him sound interacting. The worst book on AI I had listened to so far.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Francis Murphy
- 06-01-18
Tedious !!!!!!!!
A dull idea that was obviously laboured over for considerable time that could be distilled down to a "bit of an idea". I couldn't get beyond half way, and I'm someone who rarely gives up on a book !! I wished I could my awareness at hyperspeed to get through it in the nanosecond it deserves.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful