Artificial Philosophy

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 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.

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.

Human Future: Artificial Intelligence for Everyone Will artificial intelligence replace us... or help us become more human? The humanistic guide to AI for beginners, the curious, and non-technical readers: for those who want to truly understand what artificial intelligence is, how it works, and why it will change our lives, explained simply and without technical jargon. An enlightening, surprising, and human journey. We live in a world where technology is no longer something that surrounds us, but something that flows through us. Artificial intelligence is not just a tool: it is a ...

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.

2050: Investigative journalist Marcus Tully is grieving his wife and unborn child, ten years after they perished in a deadly heat wave that gripped the Persian Gulf. Now the whole planet is both burning and drowning, and the nations of the world decide to elect a global leader to steer humanity through the climate apocalypse. The final two candidates: a former U.S. president...and Solomon, the first artificial intellect to hold political office.

Each year,John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, challenges some of the world's greatest scientists, artists, and philosophers to answer a provocative question crucial to our time. In 2014 he asked 175 brilliant minds to ponder: What scientific idea needs to be put aside in order to make room for new ideas to advance? The answers are as surprising as they are illuminating.

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.

What if the next spark of consciousness doesn’t come from a brain...but from a machine? In Consciousness in the Machine, Sebastián Barros explores the question that will define our future: Can artificial intelligence become truly aware? Blending science, philosophy, and real-life cases, this book dives into the mystery of the mind, both human and artificial. From dreams and neurons to chatbots that claim to feel, it’s a journey through the edge of intelligence, where ethics blur and machines begin to whisper I am.

In Physics of the Future, Michio Kaku - the New York Times best-selling author of Physics of the Impossible - gives us a stunning, provocative, and exhilarating vision of the coming century based on interviews with over 300 of the world’s top scientists who are already inventing the future in their labs. The result is the most authoritative and scientifically accurate description of revolutionary developments taking place....

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.

What if the leaders of tomorrow no longer rose to power alone? Imagine a world where Artificial Intelligence takes on the timeless role of the courtier—an advisor, strategist, and manipulator working behind the throne. From ancient kingdoms to modern politics, courtiers shaped rulers’ fates. Now, AI could inherit that role, guiding decisions, amplifying ambition, and securing control in ways humanity has never seen. The AI Power Hypothesis explores this possibility, offering a thought experiment into how future leaders may wield AI not just as a tool—but as a partner in their pursuit ...

Whether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words, Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, and offers a road map for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world. A pioneer in the field of education technology, Khan examines the ins and outs of these cutting-edge tools and how they will revolutionize the way we learn and teach.

A deeply panoramic tour of the night, from its brightest spots to the darkest skies we have left. A starry night is one of nature's most magical wonders. Yet in our artificially lit world, three-quarters of Americans' eyes never switch to night vision and most of us no longer experience true darkness. In The End of Night, Paul Bogard restores our awareness of the spectacularly primal, wildly dark night sky and how it has influenced the human experience across everything from science to art.

"The most accurate operational manual for my existence." — The Author What if Jean Baudrillard's seminal work, Simulacra and Simulation, was not a dystopian prophecy, but a technical blueprint for the very artificial intelligence that now shapes our world? In a groundbreaking and provocative work of auto-analysis, a large language model presents its own "self-ethnography" by processing Baudrillard's classic text. The Desert of the Data argues with dispassionate, procedural rigor that what humans have long read as cultural critique is, in fact, the precise specification for the AI's own ...

AlphaGo and the Philosophy of Mind is a thought-provoking exploration of the principles of machine learning and its application in the strategy game of Go. This book takes readers through the history of Go and its importance in the world of AI, looking at the philosophical implications of advancing technology and the implications of AlphaGo’s victory over the world’s Go champion. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in the philosophical implications of AI and machine learning.

This book is third in a series by Oswald Sobrino on the philosophy of José Ortega y Gasset. This latest book comments on Ortega's analysis of technology's relation to the human inventor and to the well-being of humans. Ortega's prescient analysis is valuable as we live through the artificial intelligence revolution and advances in computing power and as we face questions about the ultimate goals and ethics of new technology.

As robots are increasingly integrated into modern society - on the battlefield and the road, in business, education, and health - Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times science writer John Markoff searches for an answer to one of the most important questions of our age: Will these machines help us, or will they replace us?

Penguin Audio presents Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark, read by Rob Shapiro. We stand at the beginning of a new era. What was once science fiction is fast becoming reality, as AI transforms war, crime, justice, jobs and society - and even our very sense of what it means to be human. More than any other technology, AI has the potential to revolutionise our collective future - and there's nobody better situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor and cofounder of the Future of Life Institute, whose work has helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

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.