Beyond Human: Living with Robots and Cyborgs [Paperback]

Gregory Benford (Author), Elisabeth Malartre (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 076531083X | ISBN-13: 978-0765310835 | Publication Date: December 9, 2008 | Edition: First Edition

Would your body work better with some artificial parts? Will you live longer, perhaps a lot longer, than you now expect?  The next decade promises another qualitative shift in the way we view technology, as once purely fictional concepts—robots, cyborg parts, and the many variations in between—become part of reality.

Beyond Human treats the landscape of human self-change and robotic development as poles of the same phenomenon. Can we go too far in making ourselves machine-like or making machines resemble us? Once made, what will such creatures think about us? These questions will arise in myriad ways in the next few decades, as we press against boundaries that a short while ago existed only in works of the imagination. Written in a lively and provocative style, this is a readable book about the accumulation of small scientific advances that add up to something large and challenging.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The simple title of this book belies its profundity-and its sense of humor. Besides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of developments in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence, physicist Benford and biologist Malartre also address deeper questions about the relationship between the brain and the mind, as well as humankind's nervous relationship with increasingly sophisticated machines. Looking at robots' use in all areas, such as unskilled labor, precision work (like surgery), the home and the battlefield, Benford and Malartre take into account not just the latest research and developments, but the long popularity of robots and cyborgs in pop culture (citing movies like A.I. and The Day the Earth Stood Still). Their concluding argument, that consciousness and the intellectual power of the human mind emerge from the complexity of the brain, and thus cannot be reduced to the functioning of its individual components, leads them to doubt, convincingly, that robots (machines that mimic humans) and cyborgs (man-machine hybrids) will ever amount to more than sophisticated tools, enhancing human life but never replacing it. Throughout, the authors maintain a playful sense, an optimistic view of the future and a steady grip on this rapidly expanding field.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A Selection of the Scientific American Book Club

“Interviews with pioneers and participants in enhancement research, robotics and engineering, and informed perspectives on the theory, economics, and actuality of life extension, give Beyond Human the flavor of a tourist guide to the future, conducted by natives…. Serve[s] up a feast.”
--Nature

“The simple title of this book belies its profundity—and its sense of humor. Besides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of developments in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, physicist Benford and biologist Malartre also address deeper questions about the relationship between the brain and the mind, as well as humankind’s nervous relationship with increasingly sophisticated machines.”
--Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (December 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076531083X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765310835
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Cybernetics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview, April 12, 2008

By 

Vance "Klaatu" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Human: Living with Robots and Cyborgs (Hardcover)

This is a well-written comprehensive overview of the coming technological and cultural changes wrought by increases in robot and AI development. It refers to many sci-fi treatments of the subject, since Benford is an accomplished sci fi writer in his own right. Some parts dragged, but overall a good and interesting effort.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neat, but not for enthusiasts., July 4, 2008

By 

Jesse Allen (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Human: Living with Robots and Cyborgs (Hardcover)

This book offers a pretty exciting examination of current technologies and their possible future applications, but doesn't go farther than hopeful speculation. The language is not very technically specific, and most of the examples are from sci-fi movies and books.
This book is fun and worth checking out from the library, but I highly recommend that you purchase "The singularity is near" for a more stimulating read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction, February 4, 2010

By 

Kelley (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Human: Living with Robots and Cyborgs (Paperback)

Having read about 6 books on the subject, I found this to me one of the most accessible and interesting treatments on the subject. Great introductory book with big ideas.