Reviews of Digital
Soul
"Digital Soul is an
enjoyable read, accessible, thought-provoking, and jammed with
information and recognizable pop-culture reference points, all guided by
Georges' own clear-eyed rationalism...if it's futuristic food for
thought you're after, this book is quite
a smorgasbord."
- Clay
Evans
"...an outstanding
introduction to a wide collection of challenging and seemingly
politically incorrect topics, some of which have barely touched the
popular zeitgeist. Digital Soul should be read by anyone who
seeks a comprehensible book on the ethical, moral and social
implications of artificial intelligence."
-George Dvorsky
Complete Review
> Betterhumans.com
"...Georges is a very skilled writer; he takes a well balanced persepective, looking at both the pros and the cons of the subject matter throughout the book.
"
Complete Review
> Generation5
"An accomplished
physicist and science writer, Georges invites nonspecialists to join him
in pondering a host of urgent questions. A book certain to spark sharp
debate."
- Booklist
"This is a delightful, and at the same time thought-provoking, book on the loosely defined zone between "intelligent machines and human values," as Georges puts it. He examines the fundamental basis and core values of what it is to be a human: intelligence, consciousness, emotion, and morality. He then skillfully presents the extensions of these crucial concepts and argues for their applicability to machine intelligence while examining and reexamining the varied definition and meaning of the less physical concepts and their applicability to higher or indigenous life forms as well to artificial ones. The book is a pleasure to read and easy to understand. Without confining his remarks to today's limitations of practical robotics, the author freely extrapolates machine intelligence beyond the realm of plausibility, freely drawing parallels in the development of the human culture and the evolutionary development of all things on this planet with the potential development of artificial ones. As artificial machines are ever increasing in speed and complexity, it is never too late to think outside the box and consider the technological impact on the development of the human society, the human culture, the human soul. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates; professionals. "
- J. Y. Cheung, University of Oklahoma, for CHOICE Magazine, Sept. 2003
"This look at the ethical issues inherent in artificial intelligence is written for a general audience. The author, a physicist and science writer, explores What is consciousness? Can computers be conscious? Should thinking and feeling machines be entitled to human rights? Will we evolve into biomechanical race? And Should we worry about being taken over by machines?
"
- PBS Teacher Source
"As an ethics
teacher, I see our world faced with increasingly complex moral issues
brought about by increased technological capabilities. The new
millennium is a time of rapid change and challenge; Georges' book could
not be more timely. Digital Soul asks questions, such as "Will
machines take over?" and "Can computers have emotions?"
Those questions were the stuff of good sci-fi movies thirty years ago,
but today those questions may no longer be just a fiction. Highly
recommended."
- Janet L. Evans, CPA, Affiliate Faculty, Regis
University
"A wide-ranging,
balanced, and very accessible introduction to the questions surrounding
the prospect of machine intelligence."
- Dr. Nick Bostrom, Research Fellow, Oxford
University, and Founder, World Transhumanist Association
"Digital Soul
stands out among the writings on future artificial intelligence by
taking seriously the reader's concern about the surrounding moral and
societal issues. Georges places these concerns in a proper perspective
relative to both the current state of the art and a future that we all
know is coming."
- Dr. Jay Palmer physicist, NOAA (retired)
"An important
work that raises many questions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
its relationship to a future where rapid advances in technology could
outstrip our ability to remain in control of it…Written with clarity
and deep insight, this title is highly recommended."
- Midwest Book Review
"...the book's
strength lies in its blend of comprehensive coverage with
straightforward prose."
- Publishers Weekly
"Neurotic
computers may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but intelligent,
autonomous machines will be able to design and retool their programs in
response to changing environments and situations. In his book,
"Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and Human Values," Thomas
M. Georges writes that such a development could lead to unpredictable
and undesirable computer behavior if internal directives come into
conflict with external instructions, or if external instructions from
different sources are inconsistent and confusing. The solution is to
design monitoring programs that can identify and clear up conflicts.
Such programs would serve the same function as cognitive therapy in
humans, which is used to correct deeply embedded attitudes dictated by
historical or genetic pressures that cause phobias and other mental
disorders characterized by behavior that is not consistent with certain
situations. There is a growing fear that self-replicating nanobots
running amok will trigger a doomsday scenario in which humanity cannot
hope to stop them from reproducing to overwhelming numbers. Such
machines could be unleashed accidentally or be reprogrammed by
malevolent parties. Countering such fears will depend on a clear effort
to address control issues in nanotech development. Solutions include
built-in programs that detect and correct deviant behavior, while
nanobot populations could be maintained at safe levels through the use
of "sterilization" programs."
- ACM Tech News
"Throughout the book,
the author shows keen insight into the real goals behind research and
development in A.I."
-Lee Carlson
Complete Review
> Amazon.com
"Digital Soul is
about the nature of our world when machines become as intelligent as humans
and beyond. It is also about the nature of those machines. It is clear that
Georges has thought long and hard about the subject, has read widely and has
compared notes with other futurists. His expression is reasoned and
reasonable. There are no muddy sentences or mystical ambiguities. He has
worked hard to make sure that his ideas are accessible to a wide range of
people including those with no expertise in the field of Artificial
Intelligence."
-Dennis Littrell
Complete Review >
Amazon.com