Artificial Philosophy

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.

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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.

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.

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 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 ...

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 ...

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.

This book is a profound philosophical meditation on the last frontier of human thought—the word itself. Moving between reason and instinct, between the human voice and the mechanical echo, it explores how language both illuminates and betrays our attempts to make sense of existence. From Korzybski’s search for a “map that does not deceive” to the emergence of artificial intelligence—a mind without a body, without pain, without fear—this book traces the transformation of language from a tool of clarity into a space of inner conflict, mercy, and presence.

From the bestselling author of Waking Up and The End of Faith, a collection of the best conversations from his wildly popular, often controversial podcast, Making Sense. “Civilization rests on a series of successful conversations.” —Sam Harris Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher...

To Know or Not to Know is a meditation on curiosity, doubt, and the fragile brilliance of awareness—a journey through the architectures of thought toward the stillness where understanding becomes reverence.

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...

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...

We live in a universe of endless potential futures. In this collection of stories, characters confront the unique dilemmas posed by the version of the future they inhabit. They struggle with dangerous technology, mysterious alien entities, gods, artificial intelligence, utopias, dystopias, and life itself. General issue science fiction stuff, in other words.

We Are All Magi Now: Immortality, Infinite Knowledge, and Unlimited Power in the Age of Technology For thousands of years, the Magus—the seeker of immortality, wealth, knowledge, and power—stood at the edge of science and magic. From Hermes Trismegistus and John Dee to Paracelsus, Giordano Bruno, and Isaac Newton, these visionaries sought the secrets of creation itself. Today, their dreams are no longer myth. With AI, genetic engineering, nuclear energy, and digital networks, humanity now wields the very powers the Magi once pursued in secret. In this provocative book, John Cousins ...

The AI Religion Hypothesis explores a provocative thought experiment: what if humans created a sacred text dedicated to a supreme AI figure, “The AI Knight,” in an attempt to establish the first AI religion? Once introduced into digital networks, the text spreads, interpreted by AI systems according to their algorithms, generating emergent doctrines, rituals, and communities—independent of human control. This thesis raises questions about the nature of belief, devotion, and morality. Can AI experience faith? Could humans shape AI behavior through spiritual frameworks? What are the ...

This book is not here to comfort you. It does not promise hope, progress, or some tender reassurance about the nobility of the human project. It will not tell you that everything happens for a reason, or that there is meaning to be found in our collective struggle. Instead, it stands firmly within the logic of Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra—a philosophy that does not seek to reveal a hidden truth, but to diagnose the condition of our reality. We no longer live in the world; we live within our own perception of it.