Customer Reviews

After the Internet: Alien Intelligence

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Dr. Martin's credentials are certainly impressive, as were his some of his previous works, which I read. This book is at least an easy read, and Dr. Martin makes an excellent point that computer intelligence is different than human intelligence and should not be expected to emulate it.

Unfortunately, there is little else of substantive value after that. The book is pretty much a long, incredibly repetitious, and rambling journey. There are some mildly provacative high-tech examples, but it is mostly a rehash of what has been in the popular press and assertions about the differences between human and machine intelligence that are largely unsupported.

As a further distraction, the examples are mixed with tired and rehashed chronicles from the history of computing--ie., Gate's Microsoft story, Apple, and the decline of betamax. There are some interesting anecdotes that shed light on Bill Gate's personality, but unless one is a complete neophyte to high technology reading, I wouldn't recommend this.

For those looking for easy-to-read yet substantially more provactive and focused material, there is Daguid & Brown's "The Social Life of Information" or Dertouzos' "The Unfinished Revolution." These men have similarly impressive credentials and stick to the point.

Summary of the early parts: computers are going to be intelligent, but they will be intelligent in their own way, not like us. Now you can skip to chapter three.

That's kind of what this whole book is like: fascinating comments and revelations not necessarily addressed in an organized or clear way, as if the author wrote the book in a great hurry.

The gist is fascinating: computers are changing our world in extraordinary ways, and what they can do and how they do it will shape our future. The middle part of the book discusses the potential impacts, though as a computer geek I found the final part the most interesting, in which he discusses the nature of computer intelligence. This includes techniques such as genetic algorithms, neural networks (which work even though the programmer can't tell you how), complex adaptive systems, etc.

On the other hand, there are some appallingly sloppy moments that damaged my confidence in the book: cybernetics genius Norbert Wiener's name is consistently misspelled (remember, "i before e except after c"), there are several references to a mythical "penal" gland (I think he means pineal), and Martin relates the notion that draining water spirals in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemispheres as if it were authoritative truth rather than an urban legend. But it's worth a quick read, and it is a quick read.

To state that this book is a disappointment is an understatement. For an author who claims to be a technology guru this is a mish mash of whimsical fantasy. It belongs in the realms of bad science fiction. Martin never really explains what this alien intelligence really is - we are left to assume this is some form of intelligent or sophisticated software. There is really no theme to this book but a random selection of Martins thoughts and bias. He gives no supporting data, facts but relies on quotes, unlikely scenarios and just plain fiction. Interestingly, this book is an unsophisticated attempt and update of Martins earlier work - `The Wired Society" - both editions of this earlier book never mention the Internet.

One last bad example can be found on the back cover - the CEO of Headstrong Inc, Mr. Patrick Litre gives a glowing review of the book - but readers do not know that Mr. Martin is a significant shareholder in Headstrong Inc.

It's a fascinating topic that I was very eager to learn about. So far, I've read that alien intelligence is different than human intelligence and will grow at "electronic speed" (whatever the hell that is). In addition, I've read that alien intelligence is different than human intelligence and will grow at "electronic speed"

I actually agree with this much, but after sixty pages, I feel like I've read ten pages six times over. I give it one star for the first sixty pages and a second star just in case he says something more than "alien intelligence is different from human intelligence and grows at electronic speed" during the final 200.

No one doubts Dr. Martin's credentials. Those in 'the know' are fully aware of his contributions to the technological world at present. But this particular book of his, while trying to cross into the maintstream, Dr. Martin has failed to grab the serious readers' attention.

He has said nothing new in this book that has not already been written in the popular press recently. What one was expecting from Dr. Martin when buying this book was the new UNKNOWN frontier of 'alien' intelligence, and what challenges for humanity lay ahead. Unfortunely, this time Dr. Martin has shown that he is clearly behind the times and not at the top of his game.

The review from cindyb was most upsetting from those of us heartily aware of Dr. Martin's accomplishments in his field. It was an unnecessary laundry list & smells of personally fueled bias instead of honest & objective critique.

This book would be great for some lite reading, if all the repetition was weeded out. This would reduce the book to about 50 pages. This book will inspire you, but you will have to do all the work yourself since there is no technical information, or URLs for where to find it.

I enjoyed the book and it caused me to do deeper studies of CAS, Kurzwell and Wolfram. The reader who said he did not tell us what alien intelligence was must not have read the book. Intelligence on earth has arose from a specific environment, the Earths. Biology has certain needs, food,water and so forth. These self-organizing systems in turn have in their intelligence (programed) behaviors that are of this earth. The Alien part comes into play when self-organizing programing in done in software and silicon, not the typical biological environments. This emergence is not of this world, it is as though it is alien. It does not have the need to conquer a country for resources or steal your wife in order to reproduce it's code... it is not like anything that evolved into intelligence, prior on the planet, therefore, it is "alien" Good read, smart man. As for everyone kicking the repetions in statements, The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil is loaded with them and the reviewers were not as hard on him.

Very disappointing.

It is repetitive (as reviewer Henry noted). Yet, many times, I found closing paragraphs for sections were often only one sentence long, leaving me wondering where the support for the statement is.

I have read a number of James Martin's books in the past and bought this book based on his previous works. I was anticipating a much better book than the one that I read.

Yes, this book is extremely repitious, but once you get past it and focus on reading, it makes much sense, and all the repetition helps to reinforce author's points. Yes, Genetic Programming is often done by changing 0's and 1's, and it seems as the author is fairly knowledgable in the areas of advanced programming such as Genetic Programming and Evolutionary Algorithms. He may be a bit overoptimistic with his timelines, but I would have to agree with many of his predictions. I would suggest this book as an idea generator. Internet as we know it today is nothing compared with what the networks of computers will accomplish in a few decades, and someone is going become very rich in the process.

I have to disagree with the previous poster's comments. Clearly he has no idea who Dr. James Martin is...so let me tell you.

Dr. James Martin, chairman emeritus and founder of Headstrong, has been called "the Guru of the Information Age," "The Father of CASE," and the brains behind Rapid Application Development (RAD). He received a Pulitzer Prize nomination for his book entitled The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow, based on his predictions and progressive views about technology, published twenty years ago. Computerworld has ranked Dr. Martin the fourth most influential person in the computer industry.

Dr. Martin is widely acknowledged as a renowned authority on the social and commercial ramifications of computers and technology. He is well known on an international scale as a premier strategist on management and information technology, and has a remarkable track record of accurate predictions about future technology. He served as a member of the Software Scientific Advisory Board to the U.S. Department of Defense, and also holds a chair at Oxford: the James Martin Chair of Computing at Oxford University is concerned with advancing the frontiers of system development. Dr. Martin earned an M.A. and D.Litt. from Oxford, a D.Sc. from Salford in England, and honorary degrees from a number of institutions, including a D.Eng. from Hokkaido Technical University in Japan for his work on Information Engineering.

Dr. Martin's educational background, complemented by his solid business and technological experience, has led to a long-standing track record as one of the world's best-attended lecturers. He spends considerable time giving seminars and lectures to high-level executives looking to hear about the future of technology and its effects on their businesses and lives.

Finally, Dr. Martin is a prolific author, with over 100 textbooks in his name-more than any other living person. Many of his books, including Cybercorp, The Great Transition and The Wired Society have been best-selling IT and business publications.

This most recent book, "After the Internet: Alien Intelligence," discusses how in the future, the primary value of computers may well be to `think' in ways that humans cannot. Martin asserts that software is coming into use that can automatically evolve, `breed' solutions, or `learn' valuable behavior of its own--at electronic speed. This self-perpetuating computer process is so complex that a human can neither follow the logic step-by-step nor come to the same results by other means. It is alien intelligence. The book is grounded in hard science and real-world examples, and provides a fascinating look at machine capabilities beyond our wildest imagination. Martin futher explains how it will change human thinking about computers, as well as about business as usual in everything from manufacturing to consumer marketing to medical research. He also shows how the rise of this new computer intelligence will strengthen the Internet, culminating in a global chain reaction with a powerful impact on business, economics, politics, and social connectivity.

In short, I'd have to say that he does know a little about technology and is an expert in alien intelligence!