Facing the Intelligence Explosion Kindle Edition

This is a book about the intelligence explosion, a possible event in humanity's future in which artificial intelligence far surpasses human intelligence. A growing community of intellectuals, including the Machine Intelligence Research Institute of which author Luke Muelhauser is the Executive Director, believes that this will be a pivotal moment in human history and that navigating it will be one of the most important things we can do. Needless to say, these are strong claims, but Muelhauser's defense of these claims in his book is clear and accessible. This is important reading for anyone interested in the role of artificial intelligence in humanity's future.

-I have spent time in the website "Less Wrong" and found the concerns about artificial intelligence interesting enough to make this purchase
-There are legitimate reasons to have concerns about the development of an AI that is smarter than all of us and society needs to be more aware of these concerns, this book does contribute to getting this story out and is a good read for anyone not aware of potential threats from AI
-For some reason the author believes that being an atheist is somehow important or relevant to understanding this topic. I know some really brilliant Christians who can grasp these concepts easily and will not allow their beliefs prevent them from agreeing readily that danger may indeed lurk in careless development of an AI. If the author truly wants to rally awareness and support for his concerns he may want to consider leaving out his own beliefs
-This book and the "Less Wrong" site use what I think are silly examples of how an AI would misunderstand our desires and create a calamity, the book discusses how it could misunderstand saving mom from a building that's on fire, the website has a scenario where an AI decides to use all resources available to make paperclips and eventually burying us in them. It seems that something smarter than all of us combined that has access to the internet would be able to use "big data" analysis to understand we would not want mom killed when it removes her from the burning building or that people really don't want to be buried in paper clips!
-Truly, the author of this book and the contributors to "Less Wrong" are way more educated and smarter than I'll ever be, but in the interest of getting their message out to a larger audience they should consider presenting it in a manner appeals to a broader audience

Luke Muehlhauser has written an important book that accomplishes two interrelated aims. The first aim is to share some of the extensive empirical research pertaining to difficulties in the reasoning process. The human mind/brain is not very good at examining its own processes, so our efforts to arrive at valid conclusions about matters--whether trivial or important--are frequently hampered by many different biases. The second aim of his book is to show that such biases in reasoning prevents us from understanding the threat posed by the emergence of genuine super AI that has not been designed in advance to be human-friendly. Although I had been aware of this issue prior to reading this book, Muelhauser has persuaded me that far more resources should be devoted to insuring that super AI will not end up destroying humankind. Unlike human beings who have inherited and further developed the altruism that has evolved in mammals for millions of years, super AI will have no such evolutionary inheritance. Those who design and construct super AI, then, must build in something like compassion and respect for humankind. This will not be an easy task, and the time is running short. Far more people are working on The Prize, creating conscious AI, than are working on how to modify such AI in ways that minimize the possibility of human annihilation.
I give the book four starts rather than five mainly because I disagree with Muehlhauser's conclusion that atheism is--in effect--the only rational standpoint. Here, I cannot develop an argument contesting his conclusion, but will note only the following. First, monotheistic religions developed thousands of years ago contain substantial mythic features that understandably prove incredible to many modern people. Second, there are very interesting post-mythic views of God, such as the one developed in mid-twentieth century by Teilhard de Chardin, who anticipated the notion that modern science and technology would lead to the whole planet becoming self-conscious in what he called the Omega Point. Teilhard's work has influenced major Singularity thinkers. Third, God does not have to be understood as a Creator who shaped everything in the distant past (intelligent design), but can be depicted instead as the erotic lure (Plato) that draws evolutionary processes forward. Arguably, the cosmos has seen not only a vast increase in complexity over billions of years, but also developments in beauty, truth, and goodness. As opposed to a theism which views God as wholly other than the material world, and pantheism which views God as identical with the world, there is panentheism, according to which God is present in the world but also transcends it. The fact that the universe is enormous beyond imagining in no way precludes the possibility that it is encompassed by a transcendent source. Outgrowing the limits of myth-laden religion may lead to a period of atheism, but exploring more sophisticated understandings of God or spirit may lead in a different direction, one that does not involve blind faith.

Luke Muehlhauser has come to an important realization. Advanced AI is very dangerous, but just as dangerous is our inability to think about it properly. Although the most intelligent animal, we're not capable of roundly addressing the quality that makes us so, and how to develop it as technology. Combined, AI danger and error-prone brains spell disaster. "The clock is ticking," Muehlhauser writes. "AI is coming. We're not ready."

And so Facing the Intelligence Explosion is equal parts discourse on the cognitive science of rationality, and problems with advanced AI. Both parts are persuasive. I could quibble with the long lead-in - nearly half the book goes by before AI rears its Medusa head. I also think the chapters about no God to save us (who thinks he would anyway?) and radical abundance and immortality (well trod Kurzweil territory) are distracting. But the overall effect is gripping nonetheless, and I hope readers not steeped in rationality and AI issues will bother to wade into the enriching links throughout the eBook.

Altogether Facing the Intelligence Explosion is a terrific primer on the most important conversation we could be having. You'll want to read it more than once, and recommend it to a friend.