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Lee Gutkind

Almost Human: Making Robots Think Paperback – Illustrated, August 15, 2009

by Lee Gutkind (Author)

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“A crazy suspense story about these kids at Carnegie Mellon and their leader making robots . . . fascinating stuff.” ―Jon Stewart

In the High Bay at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon, Segways scoot across the floor chasing soccer balls while other robots hunt for treasure. Nursebots, developed to care for hospital patients, mingle with a robotic Lara Croft lookalike. Lee Gutkind immersed himself in this frenzied subculture and, in Almost Human, introduces us to Zoë, Groundhog, Grace, and Sandstorm―robots designed to help, or in some cases replace, humans―as well as to the colorful cast of researchers attempting to create language to talk not only to machines but also to one another across their disciplines.15 illustrations

Print length

300 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

August 15, 2009
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
ISBN-10

9780393336849
ISBN-13

978-0393336849
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating look inside a place where sci-fi dreams are being made real. . . . High tech at its most exhilarating."
― Kirkus Reviews

"A compelling account that reveals how far [roboticists] have come, but how far they have yet to travel to create machines with human sensibilities and gumption."
― David Temple, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

About the Author

Lee Gutkind is the founder and editor of the literary journal Creative Nonfiction and a pioneer in the field of narrative nonfiction. Gutkind is also the editor of In Fact and Becoming a Doctor, the author of Almost Human, and has written books about baseball, health care, travel, and technology. A Distinguished Writer in Residence at Arizona State University, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Tempe, Arizona.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0393336840
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (August 15, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780393336849
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393336849
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,981,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #687 in Scientific Experiments & Projects
- #937 in Robotics (Books)
- #1,587 in Robotics & Automation (Books)

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12 ratings

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Lee Gutkind

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Lee Gutkind, recognized by “Vanity Fair” as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” is the author and editor of more than 30 books and founder and editor of “Creative Nonfiction,” the first and largest literary magazine to publish narrative nonfiction exclusively.

Gutkind has lectured to audiences around the world, and has appeared on many national radio and televisions shows, including “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Good Morning America, National Public Radio and BBC World. He is the recipient of various grants and awards, from the National Endowment for the Arts to the National Science Foundation.

His book, “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” is described by Susan Orlean, author of “The Orchid Thief,” as the “essential and definitive guide to creative nonfiction . . . engaging, useful, indispensable and inspiring.”

Visit his website at www.LeeGutkind.com.

Customer reviews

5 star		39%
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3 star		8%
2 star		8%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Vahagn Karapetyan

Decent overall

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 8, 2007

Verified Purchase

The book might be a bit misleading with its title because you don't really get the impression how the robots described in the book are even remotely close to being human but it does an excellent job when it comes to describing the world that roboticists live in. It portrays their struggles and frustrations and then their celebration at even the slightest hint of success.

However, if you are someone that expects a book that mainly focuses on the concept of artificial intelligence and discusses all the abstract theories associated with the concept then you might be looking for the wrong book. There are little bits of info on the aforementioned topic throughout the book but the main focus of the book is about the experiences of the roboticists, not the theories behind the kind of work they do.

Overall, it is a great way to get a good picture of the robotics culture in the United States and get to know some famous individuals and institutions in the field.

8 people found this helpful

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Eve Welts

Almost Human: Making Robots Think

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 26, 2007

Verified Purchase

Easy, fascinating read! If you are interested in what is being accomplished in Robotics, and where it is being done...buy this book.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 3, 2007

An example of what goes wrong when an author without any expertise in a field attempts to write a "popular" science book. This is about the robotics program at CMU. It follows the "popular" format - focus on the personalities as a framework for the science. But the spark and drive of the people doesn't come across at all, because the author has no feel for the subject. There is no larger context, since the author was only at CMU to observe, and knows nothing about any other robotics work besides what the people there may have said. There is no bibliography or index.

An egregious error 1/2 way through the book was nearly a showstopper for me ("Linux is the language in which some of the robotics programs are written. The reason Apple computers are not used extensively here is because Apple's can't interface with Linux."), but I plodded through the rest.

38 people found this helpful

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Randolph Crawford

Robot building can turn you into a robot

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 17, 2010

This book has cured me of my interest in building robots in the wild.

I've been a professional computer scientist for 25 years and worked in several different R&D arenas. I read "Almost Human" thinking I might want to work in robotics. Now that I've read the book... Well... I'm having second thoughts.

Gutkind does a competent job of reporting the work of students and staff in CMU's Robotics Lab as they develop several robotic systems, primarily the Mars rover robot Zoe. While half of the projects Gutkind describes are more appealing (e.g. RoboCup soccer team play using Aibo kit robots), the book devolves into a protracted slog to finish the development of Zoe in the desolation of the Chilean desert. Not surprisingly, the boredom and exhaustion that eventually envelop the team is vicariously shared by the reader after plodding through page after page on the team's soul-deadening 'race' to build the robot before the desert's isolation destroys their will to live. In the end, the CMUers seem not to have enjoyed nor benefitted from the experience except to be one step closer to earning their degrees. Likewise, this reader shared their sense of boredom and lost passion. Instead of accompanying a team of intellectual explorers on an odyssey of discovery, I came away feeling that I had survived a Death March.

In my opinion, the 'Zoe' half of this book will not be a fun or illuminating read for most folks interested in robotics. But for me, 'Almost Human' was worthwhile nonetheless.

7 people found this helpful

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Steve

Not a very good read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 19, 2009

It seems poorly written, and it is not what I expected. The author talks far too much about people rather than "making robots think". There is not all that much on actual robots and a lot of filler. There has to be a better book on this subject.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Anthony J. Diodato

Capturing the essence of creating silicon life

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 25, 2007

"Back in my day, we didn't have these fancy icons. All we had were 1's and 0's and sometimes we didn't have any 0's....". Yes, I'm a dinosaur who has been developing software-based products for almost 30 years and although the hardware has changed, and the languages have evolved, the creators still devote their lives to their creations. In this book, Lee has captured the essence of what we geeks refer to as the "zone". The willingness to forsake everything else to bring life to their silicon offspring. Whether an autonomous mobile robot or the latest "killer app", there is no linear path to a successful outcome (so eloquently described in the title of chapter 15).

I especially recommend this book to managers who may not understand the way software is produced and have uttered the phrase "when will that program be finished?". (LOL!)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 19, 2007

Many years ago, I attended a "robot party" at Carnegie Mellon. Munchkin-sized bots scooted around serving drinks. Nerds wearing special shoes boinged twenty feet into the air. Out in front of the building, scientist-revolutionaries used a remote-controlled car to spraypaint anit-imperialist messages all over the asphalt of the parking lot. Gutkind's book is fantastic; he brings to life one of the weirdest and most compelling scientific communities in the world. Read it and you'll never see machines the same way again.

8 people found this helpful

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Larry Cardo

Great Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 21, 2007

If your interested in Robitics, don't miss this book. You can't put it down. Reads like an adventure story.

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D. Shearer

Excellent Value

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

A book for my son to utilise his creative technical skills, very good value for money, arrived on time and was packaged well, so therefore would recommend this book.

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