The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive

Description

"The Most Human Human" by Brian Christian is a mind-blowing piece of reportage that will appeal to readers of Jon Ronson's "The Psychopath Test", and an inspiring riposte to John Gray's classic "Straw Dogs" - a book that will change your whole understanding of what being human actually means...AI is on the brink of a new dawn. And so are we...Telling the difference between humans and computers used to be easy. But artificial intelligence is now so advanced that it is capable of behaving, and even thinking, in ways that have long been considered exclusive to humankind. The time has come to rethink what being human actually means...In "The Most Human Human" Brian Christian meets the world's leading artificial intelligences, finds out what they're capable of - and what makes us unique. The result is a funny, shocking, inspiring, deeply humane and intelligent book that reaches into every aspect of our lives. "Tremendously entertaining". ("Metro"). "Excellent ...a fascinating explanation of what it means to be human". ("Financial Times"). "Remarkable. A philosophical joyride. The day that a machine creates work of such wit and originality, we should all be very worried". ("The Times").
"An epic tour of philosophical, linguistic and scientific discovery. We stop off in places as far-flung as existential anxiety, predictive text and Gary Kasparov's defeat by Deep Blue". ("Time Out"). "Lively, thought-stirring, entertaining, invaluable ...compelling insights". (John Gray, "New Statesman"). At the age of twenty-six, Brian Christian has lectured at the LSE, Royal Academy, Bristol Festival of Ideas, Microsoft and Google, been interviewed on "The Daily Show", BBC and in the "Paris Review", profiled in the "Guardian", featured in "The New York Times", the "New Yorker" and on the front cover of "Atlantic", and has made numerous appearances at universities and in online videos speaking on his subject. He holds a dual degree from Brown University in computer science and philosophy, and an MFA in poetry.

Reviews

Tremendously entertaining **** Metro Excellent ... a fascinating explanation of what it means to be human Financial Times Remarkable. A philosophical joyride. The day that a machine creates work of such wit and originality, we should all be very worried The Times An epic tour of philosophical, linguistic and scientific discovery. We stop off in places as far-flung as existential anxiety, predictive text and Gary Kasparov's defeat by Deep Blue. A lively, personable read and an overpowering affirmation of our species **** Time Out Lively, thought-stirring, entertaining, invaluable ... compelling insights -- John Gray New Statesman Dense with ideas, terrific. One of the rare successful literary offspring of Godel, Escher, Bach, where art and science meet an engaged mind and the friction produces real fire New Yorker Fast-paced, witty, and thoroughly winning ... investigates the nature of human interactions, the meaning of language, and the essence of what sets us apart from machines ... fabulous Publishers Weekly An irreverent picaresque ... What Christian learns along the way is that if machines win the imitation game as often as they do, it's not because they're getting better at acting human; it's because we're getting worse ... An authentic son of Frost, he learns by going where he has to go, and in doing so proves that both he and his book deserve their title The New York Times Immensely ambitious and bold, intellectually provocative, while at the same time entertaining and witty - a delightful book about how to live a meaningful, thriving life -- Alan Lightman, Author Of Einstein's Dreams Such an important book ... Brian Christian takes on this very weighty task, and somehow makes it fun -- Brian Shenk, Author Of The Genius In All Of Us An eye-opening inquest into human imagination, thought, conversation, love and deception David Eagleman, author of Sum Absorbing ... Christian cleverly suggests that the Turing Test not only tells us how smart computers are but also teaches us about ourselves. ... covers a great deal of ground with admirable clarity but with a lightness of touch ... has a real knack for summing up key ideas by applying them to real-life situations -- Julian Baggini Wall Street Journal Strange, fertile and sometimes beautiful ... takes both the deep limitations and halting progress of artificial intelligence as an occasion for thinking about the most human activity -- Matthew Crawford, Author Of The Case For Working With Your Hands Entertaining and informative Economist

Author description

At 26 years old, Brian Christian is not only a universally lauded author, but has lectured at the LSE, Royal Academy, Microsoft and Google, been interviewed on The Daily Show, BBC and Paris Review, profiled in the Guardian Magazine, New York Times, the New Yorker, and on the front cover of Atlantic, and has made countless appearances at universities and in online videos, speaking on his subject. He holds a dual degree from Brown University in computer science and philosophy, and an MFA in poetry. Unsurprisingly, this is his first book, but the first of many...