Growing Up with Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps (Hardcover)

by Steve Grand (Author) "The first time I created life I did it the easy way..." (more)
Key Phrases: Moore's Law, Occam's Razor, Morgan's Canon

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Growing up with Lucy takes the reader through Grand's work to date. He relates the pleasures and frustrations of working from home on a shoestring budget and explains his ideas about how the human brain functions... Grand's engaging style always carries you along. And Lucy is a fascinating project." NEW SCIENTIST "Growing up with Lucy is a long and chatty newsletter from the friendliest artificial intelligence researcher you could wish to meet." -- Graham Farmelo THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Fiercely dedicated and passionate about his subject... essential reading." FOCUS "never less than interesting" -- BRYAN APPLEYARD NEW STATESMAN "cheerfully self-deprecating but hugely inspiring." DAILY TELEGRAPH

Product Description

Steve Grand is a self-taught scientist who has deliberately eschewed large public grants and laboratory affiliation so as to give himself the freedom required to put his revolutionary theories on artificial intelligence to the test. The result is Lucy, one of the most advanced research robots in existence, and it is Lucy's successes and failures which stand as indicators of the present state of robotics. The compelling story of Lucy's creation, all done in Steve's own home, is a fascinating mixture of human perseverance and cutting edge scientific endeavour.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing; illustrated edition edition (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297607332
• ISBN-13: 978-0297607335
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,665,705 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New View of a lot of Thought Processes, January 15, 2005

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With a subtitle of How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps, this is a most interesting book. But you do need to understand two things: One this is not an Android in the sense of what you see on television or in the movies, and Two, while there are twenty chapters in the book, some of them aren't all that easy. ==This is not a description of how to build an android, instead it is some thinking on how some aspects of mental processes might best be implemented using today's electronic technology. He presents some thoughts on how we perceive sound and how our mind processes visual images that are different in both concept and implementation than I've seen before. They certainly seem in conflict with descriptions from other writers. I haven't studied this book enough yet to have formed opinions as to the validity of his views. Sometimes just looking at things a bit differently is enough to open other doors in your mind. At any rate, this makes a very interesting read, and may point some of us in other directions.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steve Grand does it again, May 6, 2005

By	John R. Mancine (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Growing Up with Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps (Paperback)

Yet another excellent book on creating synthetic life from Steve Grand. As always, he uses his unpretentious style and fun wit to keep the reader entertained while at the same time tackling some very complex questions about neuroscience and intelligence.

An excellent read for anyone interested in understanding intelligence and how we might create it in a machine.

1.0 out of 5 stars No real easy steps..., June 16, 2009

By	Dire DAve "Dire DAve" (Redondo Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Up with Lucy: How to Build an Android in Twenty Easy Steps (Paperback)

This book can't help you build anything, but give you ideas what an android can do today...