We open to a cockroach. Unlike Kafka's, this insect is not an absurdity, but a robot learning to walk. And David H. Freedman's book Brainmakers not only tells us how this is so, he also points to what's next: machines that think.
Leaving the cockroach, Freedman directs us to the birth of artificial intelligence in the '50s. Then we cross disciplines again, just as AI has, from computer science to mathematics to physics to biology. We see neural nets grow. We watch genetic algorithms evolve. We experience animals, such as the cockroach, learning. We witness the creation of artificial life, both simulated and real. We explore the quantum mechanics of our brains.
Biology gave you the intelligence to read this review, thus AI is biology-headed, according to Freedman's logic. In fluid, nonacademic, choice prose, Brainmakers renders fuzzy ideas clear, paints vivid pictures of often "out-there" researchers, and – best of all – tells the truly engaging story of humanity's quest for the keys to recreate its most valuable possession – the mind.
"Nature has provided a blueprint for intelligence and AI is finally prepared to follow it," are the closing words of the book. Computers today crunch numbers; computers tomorrow will think.
Brainmakers, by David H. Freedman, US$22. Simon & Schuster: (800) 223 2348, +1 (201) 223 2336.
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