The Descent of Artificial Intelligence
eBook - ePub

The Descent of Artificial Intelligence

A Deep History of an Idea Four Hundred Years in the Making

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Descent of Artificial Intelligence

A Deep History of an Idea Four Hundred Years in the Making

About this book

The idea that a new technology could challenge human intelligence is as old as the warning from Socrates and Plato that written language eroded memory. With the emergence of generative artificial intelligence programs, we find ourselves once again debating how a new technology might influence human thought and behavior. Researchers, software developers, and "visionary" tech writers even imagine an AI that will equal or surpass human intelligence, adding to a sense of technological determinism where humanity is inexorably shaped by powerful new machines. But among the hundreds of essays, books, and movies that approach the question of AI, few have asked how exactly scientists and philosophers have codified human thought and behavior. Rather than focusing on technical contributions in machine building, The Descent of Artificial Intelligence explores a more diverse cast of thinkers who helped to imagine the very kind of human being that might be challenged by a machine. Kevin Padraic Donnelly argues that what we often think of as the "goal" of AI has in fact been shaped by forgotten and discredited theories about people and human nature as much as it has been by scientific discoveries, mathematical advances, and novel technologies. By looking at the development of artificial intelligence through the lens of social thought, Donnelly deflates the image of artificial intelligence as a technological monolith and reminds readers that we can control the narratives about ourselves.

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Yes, you can access The Descent of Artificial Intelligence by Kevin Padraic Donnelly in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & IT Industry. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half title
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Abbreviations
  9. Introduction. Turing’s Paradox and the Failure of the Sciences of Man
  10. Part I. Ideas in France
  11. Part II. Numbers and Machines in Europe
  12. Part III. Social Science in America
  13. Conclusion. The Intelligent Artifact
  14. Notes
  15. Bibliography
  16. Index
  17. About the Author