John C. Lennox’s '2084 and the AI Revolution'
A fantastic introduction to the current state of AI is scientist and philosopher John C. Lennox’s 2084 and the AI Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future. Beginning with an overview of technological developments, the book proceeds to define Artificial Intelligence and its philosophical underpinnings before considering the future and what it means to be human.
The book is recommended for this network as it aligns with many of the issues we will be exploring together: for instance, what is the relationship of the mind to the brain? Will we be able to construct artificial consciousness and life? Will we eventually make superintelligences? In his preface, Lennox reiterates the significance and impact of AI at various levels, again reinforcing the value of such a network and its members' contributions – comprising the philosophical, political, practical, sociological, cultural, economic and ethical.
And, in another nod to the need for such a network, Lennox continues: ‘The practitioners of the coming years will need much more than technological expertise; they’ll have to understand philosophy, and ethics, and even law’ (2024, p.xiii).
I thoroughly recommend this book for both the curious and experienced, those who wish to better understand AI through an interdisciplinary lens while learning the basics of its technological dimensions.