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Superintelligence
- Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
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Summary
Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so would the fate of humankind depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.
But we have one advantage: We get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?
This profoundly ambitious and original book breaks down a vast track of difficult intellectual terrain. After an utterly engrossing journey that takes us to the frontiers of thinking about the human condition and the future of intelligent life, we find in Nick Bostrom's work nothing less than a reconceptualization of the essential task of our time.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about Superintelligence
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- AFS
- 07-06-18
Have your mind blown
If you've been busy worrying about climate change or flu pandemics, here is something far more terrifying and glamorous to worry about.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Larry Reacher
- 06-01-19
Not a bad book.
In hindsight I think the author does a fantastic job, problem is no one really has much of an idea when A.I will arrive.
Also New A.I will redefine itself, meaning our guesses are just that. Trying to predict how a A.I superintelligence
capable of upgrading itself at super fast rates means once its here, we will have as much in common as we humans do to a flea...
Odds are we are the next dinosaurs on planet earth.. lol...
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- ultan
- 16-07-24
Ahead of its time but maybe too sci-fi
It’s a great book but it’s a decade old now and it’s very speculative about AI and the stuff about genetic engineering human super intelligence is a bit eugenicsy
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- Neil S
- 16-08-17
Timely topic, ponderous style and robot narrator
What made the experience of listening to Superintelligence the most enjoyable?
It's a timely topic that is covered in great detail, perhaps stating the obvious a bit too frequently. It is extremely thorough in the approach, delving into a variety of areas that support the central topic of AI and the potential threats it harbours
Who was your favorite character and why?
N/A
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
The narrator is a text to speech synthesiser rather than a real person, and whilst it is better than most, giving a fair degree of intonation, it fails badly at times (eg abbreviations said in a way no human would say) and because the tone is so repetitive any initial advantages in clarity are soon swamped by the monotony.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No, and this is partly the topic, partly the style and partly the synthetic narrator.
Any additional comments?
It's remarkable that no reviews appear to identify that the narrator is synthetic (one person stated that it was spoken like one). It isn't clear from the sample if you are not prepared but it is obvious once you start to listen, as most words at the same point in a sentence have identical sound, lacking the subtle variation that human narrators provide. It is surprisingly clear but in the long run it becomes extremely tedious to listen to. This also brings the question of whether the book is good value, and given that the narrator being synthetic is not made clear to the purchasers I feel that it is not. Others may disagree and it's a matter of taste but you should be aware before you purchase
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70 people found this helpful
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- Mr. R. Beare
- 02-03-21
An interesting and insightful view into AI
A genuinely interesting premise, the concepts and theories discussed with the book are thought provoking and provide a great insight into the prospect of reaching super intelligence.
However I think the hard copy might be more suitable, the narrator is very flat and by the end of the book I couldn't wait to be finished. Not to mention there's many references to figures/diagrams which cannot be properly conveyed through the medium.
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- Mr Jeremy J Osborn
- 04-08-18
what a narrator!
I got a bit lost sometimes with the terminology and the narration sensationalized it's tone
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- Mr. R. Miller
- 09-02-18
Very accomplished
This book will benefit from a revised version in years to come to help make it easier to comprehend. Would recommend this book to policy makers across the globe.
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- Prosserc
- 05-08-15
Great book with thoughtful considerations
I loved the first few chapters, this gave a great outline of where we are up to with the relevant technologies and what the obstacles are for progression. I would recommend buying the book for this even if it consisted of only the first 4-5 chapters.
My only criticism would be that the author fixated a little on the idea of a superintelligence with a very simple goal system e.g. making as many paperclips as possible. My own view is that in the process of recursive self improvement the AI's goal system would develop in line with the rest of it's intellect and it would end up with more sophisticated, not more simplistic goals than humans. This could of course bring it's own risks and is inherently unpredictable, but doesn't necessarily equate to the default of existential catastrophe asserted in the book.
It is of course expected that there will be different views on this and that my own may be wrong.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Stephen
- 18-07-18
duff narrator, but gothic victorian accent mellows
couldn't make it past first chapter due to gothic horror narrator and broom cupboard sound
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7 people found this helpful
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- Samir
- 15-01-20
Best on AI
Eye opening book to multiple areas for AI potential. Learned a lot about human behavior throughout this book.
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