JaronLanier
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Watch leading thinkers debate the risks and rewards of AI
The advent of artificial intelligence is as dreaded as it is lauded. Proponents believe it's a technological advancement that will augment humans in unprecedented ways -- think immortality and super-intelligence. But the critics often point out the dangerous repercussions of this revolution -- autonomous weapon systems and self aware bots. Should we brace ourselves for a robotic apocalypse? Is that idea based on science fiction or reality? Does the fear of AI slow down the progress of a technology that could amplify human existence? Tune in for a riveting debate -- "Don't trust the promise of artificial intelligence."
Book Review: You Are Not a Gadget
You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier (January, 2010) Alfred A. Knopf, 209 pages, $24.95 I'm often accused of being a Luddite -- mostly based on my fervent and affectionate clinging to several physical objects that are quickly becoming cultural artifacts: the ink pen, the paper book, and the vinyl record -- but those items haven't been the only 'evidence' my accusers have historically cited. In addition to that physical evidence, there has always been my suspicion that some of the things I valued in life -- listening to a whole album, reading an entire novel in one sitting before grabbing another off the shelf -- were also going the way of Betamax, and being replaced by short attention-spanned, sound-bited fragments of conversation that didn't convey knowledge or ideas in nearly the same way. This suspicion, this "feeling" if you will -- obviously doesn't originate with me, and it's often diluted (by the internet) into some version of "the internet is making us dumber" argument. Of course, that's not really the argument at all, but who needs to be bogged down with details these days? Enter You Are Not a Gadget, which I review below.
