The Technological Singularity

269 Pages·2015·1.7 MB·English

by  Murray Shanahan

the technological
singularity
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The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
Understanding Beliefs, Nils J. Nilsson
Computing: A Concise History, Paul E. Ceruzzi
The Conscious Mind, Zoltan L. Torey
Crowdsourcing, Daren C. Brabham
Free Will, Mark Balaguer
Information and the Modern Corporation, James W. Cortada
Intellectual Property Strategy, John Palfrey
The Internet of Things, Samuel Greengard
Memes in Digital Culture, Limor Shifman
MOOCs, Jonathan Haber
Open Access, Peter Suber
Paradox, Margaret Cuonzo
Waves, Frederic Raichlen
The Technological Singularity, Murray Shanahan
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the technological
singularity
Murray shanahan
The MIT Press | Cambridge, Massachusetts | London, England
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© 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by
any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording,
or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from
the publisher.
MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts
for business or sales promotional use. For information, please email
[email protected]
This book was set in Chaparral by the MIT Press. Printed and bound in the
United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shanahan, Murray.
The technological singularity / Murray Shanahan.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-52780-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Artificial intelligence—Forecasting. 2. Artificial intelligence—
Psychological aspects. 3. Technology—Social aspects. 4. Conscious
automata. 5. Brain—Computer simulation. I. Title.
Q335.S4626 2015
006.3—dc23
2015000997
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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These remarks might appear fanciful to some readers,
but to the writer they seem very real and urgent, and
worthy of emphasis outside of science fiction.
I. J.Good, Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine (1965)
Real motive problem, with an AI. Not human, see?
William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)
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contents
Series Foreword ix
Preface xi
Introduction xv
1 Routes to Artificial Intelligence 1
2 Whole Brain Emulation 15
3 Engineering AI 51
4 Superintelligence 85
5 AI and Consciousness 117
6 The Impact of AI 151
7 Heaven or Hell 179
Glossary 227
Further Reading 239
Index 241
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series Foreword
The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers acces-
sible, concise, beautifully produced pocket-size books on
topics of current interest. Written by leading thinkers, the
books in this series deliver expert overviews of subjects
that range from the cultural and the historical to the sci-
entific and the technical.
In today’s era of instant information gratification, we
have ready access to opinions, rationalizations, and super-
ficial descriptions. Much harder to come by is the founda-
tional knowledge that informs a principled understanding
of the world. Essential Knowledge books fill that need.
Synthesizing specialized subject matter for nonspecialists
and engaging critical topics through fundamentals, each
of these compact volumes offers readers a point of access
to complex ideas.
Bruce Tidor
Professor of Biological Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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