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  • Published: 5 March 2015
  • ISBN: 9781473501430
  • Imprint: Ebury Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384
Categories:

In Our Own Image

Will artificial intelligence save or destroy us?




A compelling account of the past and potential future of Artificial Intelligence - and the implications of its fate for science and humankind

'TIMELY AND IMPORTANT' JIM AL-KHALILI

In Our Own Image by Dr George Zarkadakis explores one of humankind’s oldest love–hate relationships – our ties with Artificial Intelligence or AI. Zarkadakis traces AI’s origins in ancient myth, through literary classics such as Frankenstein, to today’s sci-fi blockbusters, arguing that a fascination with AI is hardwired into the human psyche. He explains AI’s history, technology and potential; its manifestations in intelligent machines; its connections to neurology and consciousness, as well as – perhaps most tellingly – what AI reveals about us as human beings.

In Our Own Image argues that we are on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution – poised to enter the age of Artificial Intelligence as science fiction becomes science fact. Ultimately, Zarkadakis observes, the fate of AI has profound implications for the future of science and humanity itself…

  • Published: 5 March 2015
  • ISBN: 9781473501430
  • Imprint: Ebury Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 384
Categories:

About the author

George Zarkadakis

George Zarkadakis is a well-connected science writer, playwright and novelist with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence. He has worked for organisations including the European Commission and the British Council, Silicon Graphicsand the European Bioinformatics Institute; appeared on the History Channel; written for publications such as Aeon digital magazine and the Washington Post; and been knighted by the French government for his services to science communication.

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Praise for In Our Own Image

Zarkadakis is an exciting and original thinker in the field of Artificial Intelligence and has written a book that is timely and important.

Jim Al-Khalili PhD OBE, author of Paradox

A fantastic journey into the cultural origins of artificial intelligence (AI), in philosophy, neuroscience and the history of computing

Le Temps

A mindful and historical look at the hope, hype and reality of artificial consciousness

Stuart Hameroff, co-author of Consciousness and the Universe

Fascinating [and] rich...interweaves sci-fi visions with explorations of the philosophy, technology and deep history of artificial super-intelligence

Steve Cave, Financial Times

fascinating...the most comprehensive history of AI for our digital age [and] highly accessible

Publisher’s Weekly

George Zarkadakis knows AI. Unlike a lot of the people writing and thinking about it, he has real cultural breadth, too.

Ed Lake, Deputy Editor, Aeon Magazine

Ingenious...A delightfully lucid combination of the history, philosophy, and science behind thinking machines.

Kirkus Reviews