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For readers of Michio Kaku and Stephen Hawking, an epic journey through the intelligent universe.
With the ongoing advancement of AI and other technologies, our world is becoming increasingly intelligent. From chatbots to innovations in brain-computer interfaces to the possibility of superintelligences leading to the Singularity later this century, our reality is being transformed before our eyes. This is commonly seen as the natural result of progress, but what if there's more to it than that? What if intelligence is an inevitability, an underlying property of the universe?
In Future Minds, Richard Yonck challenges our assumptions about intelligence-what it is, how it came to exist, its place in the development of life on Earth and possibly throughout the cosmos. Taking a Big History perspective-over the 14 billion years from the Big Bang to the present and beyond-he draws on recent developments in physics and complexity theory to explore the questions: Why do pockets of increased complexity develop, giving rise to life, intelligence, and civilization? How will it grow and change throughout this century, transforming both technology and humanity? As we expand outward from our planet, will we discover other forms of intelligence, or will we conclude we are destined to go it alone? Any way we look at it, the nature of intelligence in the universe is becoming a central concern for humanity. Ours. Theirs. And everything in between.
With the ongoing advancement of AI and other technologies, our world is becoming increasingly intelligent. From chatbots to innovations in brain-computer interfaces to the possibility of superintelligences leading to the Singularity later this century, our reality is being transformed before our eyes. This is commonly seen as the natural result of progress, but what if there's more to it than that? What if intelligence is an inevitability, an underlying property of the universe?
In Future Minds, Richard Yonck challenges our assumptions about intelligence-what it is, how it came to exist, its place in the development of life on Earth and possibly throughout the cosmos. Taking a Big History perspective-over the 14 billion years from the Big Bang to the present and beyond-he draws on recent developments in physics and complexity theory to explore the questions: Why do pockets of increased complexity develop, giving rise to life, intelligence, and civilization? How will it grow and change throughout this century, transforming both technology and humanity? As we expand outward from our planet, will we discover other forms of intelligence, or will we conclude we are destined to go it alone? Any way we look at it, the nature of intelligence in the universe is becoming a central concern for humanity. Ours. Theirs. And everything in between.
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Reviews
"Yonck is a sure-footed guide and is not without a sense of humor . . . [He] provides a compelling and thorough history of the interaction between our emotional lives and our technology."
Ray Kurzweil, The New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating, and sometimes disturbing, look at a rapidly approaching future where smart machines understand and manipulate our emotions-and ultimately bond with us in ways that blur the line between ourselves and our technology."
Martin Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Robots: Technology
"Richard Yonck's Heart of the Machine is a fascinating speculation on the near- and far-term significance of emotions for user interfaces, machine-mediated communication between humans, and what technology and humans may become."
Vernor Vinge, computer scientist and Hugo Award–winning author of Rainbows End