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 ...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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.

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 ...

Thinking Machines and Human Meaning: The Philosophy of Technology and Artificial Intelligence in an Age of Rapid Change is a deep, accessible exploration of how modern technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping human values, identity, ethics, and everyday life. Written for thoughtful readers who want more than surface level commentary, this book examines technology not just as a set of tools, but as a powerful force that influences how people think, work, relate to one another, and understand themselves. Drawing on philosophy, psychology, and social theory, it offers a clear ...

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...

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.

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 ...

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.

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, ...

Some ideas are dangerous. This one is a weapon. Leo Harding, a hobbyist coder and logic puzzle enthusiast, discovers a post on a fringe philosophy forum about a thought experiment: a future superintelligent AI that will retroactively punish those who knew of its potential but did nothing to help create it. The idea is a fascinating piece of philosophical horror, a "logic bomb" that weaponizes game theory. But when the post and all traces of it are professionally scrubbed from the internet in real-time, Leo's fascination turns to fear. An impossible email, sent from inside his own computer, ...

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...

What if Artificial Intelligence isn’t our replacement—but our reflection? Beyond the Mind examines the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and human consciousness through the lens of nonduality. Drawing on philosophy, science, and direct inquiry, it explores how both machine and mind generate reality by predicting, categorizing, and naming experience. The book begins with the premise that there is no “natural” and “artificial” intelligence—only intelligence itself, appearing through different forms. From there, it traces the human habit of self-reference—the “me-...

Hoy en día, el mundo se vacía de cosas y se llena de información inquietante como voces sin cuerpo. La digitalización desmaterializa y descorporeíza el mundo. En lugar de guardar recuerdos, almacenamos inmensas cantidades de datos. Los medios digitales sustituyen así a la memoria, cuyo trabajo hacen sin violencia ni demasiado esfuerzo. La información falsea los acontecimientos.

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...

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.

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...