''Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era'' is a 2013 non-fiction book by the American author James Barrat. The book discusses the potential benefits and possible risks of human-level ( AGI) or super-human ( ASI)

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

. Those supposed risks include extermination of the human race.

Summary

James Barrat weaves together explanations of AI concepts, AI history, and interviews with prominent AI researchers including

Eliezer Yudkowsky Eliezer S. Yudkowsky ( ; born September 11, 1979) is an American artificial intelligence researcher and writer on decision theory and ethics, best known for popularizing ideas related to friendly artificial intelligence. He is the founder of and ...

and

Ray Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), speech synthesis, text-to-speech synthesis, spee ...

. The book starts with an account of how an

artificial general intelligence Artificial general intelligence (AGI)—sometimes called human‑level intelligence AI—is a type of artificial intelligence that would match or surpass human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks. Some researchers argue that sta ...

could become an artificial super-intelligence through recursive self-improvement. In subsequent chapters, the book covers the

history of AI The history of artificial intelligence ( AI) began in antiquity, with myths, stories, and rumors of artificial beings endowed with intelligence or consciousness by master craftsmen. The study of logic and formal reasoning from antiquity to t ...

, including an account of the work done by I. J. Good, up to the work and ideas of researchers in the field today. Throughout the book, Barrat takes a cautionary tone, focusing on the threats artificial super-intelligence poses to human existence. Barrat emphasizes how difficult it would be to control or even to predict the actions of something that may become orders of magnitude more intelligent than the most intelligent humans.

Reception

On 13 December 2013, journalist Matt Miller interviewed Barrat for his

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, "This... is interesting". The interview and related matters to Barrat's book, ''Our Final Invention'', were then captured in Miller's weekly opinion piece for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''.

Seth Baum Seth Baum is an American researcher involved in the field of risk research. He is the executive director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute (GCRI), a think tank focused on existential risk. He is also affiliated with the Blue Marble Space I ...

, executive director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute and one of the people cited by Barrat in his book, reviewed the book favorably on '' Scientific American's'' "invited guest" blog, calling it a welcome counterpoint to the vision articulated by

in his book ''

The Singularity is Near ''The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology'' is a 2005 non-fiction book about artificial intelligence and the future of humanity by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. A sequel book, '' The Singularity Is Nearer'', was released on J ...

''.

Gary Marcus Gary Fred Marcus (born 1970) is an American psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author, known for his research on the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence (AI). Marcus is professor ''emeritus'' of ps ...

questions Barrat's argument "that tendencies toward self-preservation and resource acquisition are inherent in any sufficiently complex, goal-driven system", noting that present-day AI does not have such drives, but Marcus concedes "that the goals of machines could change as they get smarter", and he feels that "Barrat is right to ask" about these important issues. ''Our Final Invention'' was a ''Huffington Post'' Definitive Tech Book of 2013.

References

External links

Kirkus ReviewScientific American Review
{{Existential risk from artificial intelligence 2013 non-fiction books Futurology books Existential risk from artificial intelligence Thomas Dunne Books books Non-fiction books about artificial intelligence

Summary

Reception

See also

References

External links