The atomic human

Fears of AI not only concern how it invades our digital lives, but also the implied threat of an intelligence that displaces us from our position at the centre of the world. Neil D. Lawrence's book shows why these fears may be misplaced. Atomism, proposed by Democritus, suggested it was impossible to continue dividing matter down into ever smaller components: eventually we reach a point where a cut cannot be made (the Greek for uncuttable is 'atom'). In the same way, by slicing away at the facets of human intelligence that can be replaced by machines, AI uncovers what is left: an indivisible core that is the essence of humanity. By contrasting our own (evolved, locked-in, embodied) intelligence with the capabilities of machine intelligence through history, the book reveals the technical origins, capabilities and limitations of AI systems, and how they should be wielded.

Read by

Neil Lawrence, Neil D. Lawrence

Genres

Science

Language

English

Publisher

Penguin Random House Audiobooks

ISBN

9781529951752