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Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAbsolutely fascinating book!
ByMonterey residenton January 2, 2018
How refreshing to read a book that uses vocabulary targeted towards an audience with more than a 6th grade education! The author goes off on lots of tangents and although I usually prefer to read fiction, I found myself unable to put the book down. The question he tries to answer is one I had never thought about and is apparently much more difficult to answer than one would expect. If you are looking for fluffy escapism, this book is not for you. The book will definitely get you thinking.
Top critical review
2 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsNot Much Substance
ByJDCon August 9, 2017
This is a typical kind of nonfiction work that is popular these days, a technical subject, a chatty author, lots of research, kind of like writing a college paper, but not a lot of depth. The book revolves around the Turing test and distinguishing human from computer thinking. The author has a college degree in computer science and philosophy and a chatty way of writing that draws you in. But about halfway through the book you start to get the feeling that the author does not have much to say, that his insights are pretty shallow and that what would have been interesting in a 15 page magazine article is a lot less interesting in a 300 page book.
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ByMassimo Pigliuccion October 7, 2011
[This is an excerpt from a full review to appear in Skeptical Inquirer] Mathematician Alan Turing is famous for a number of things, but probably the one that comes most easily to mind is the famous Turing test, a simple procedure for allegedly determining whether a computer is thinking like a human being -- or at least, whether a computer can effectively fool us into such a conclusion. Turing predicted that by the year 2000 computers would be able to trick human judges into thinking they were talking to a fellow human instead of a machine at least 30% of the time, if the conversation lasted for about five minutes. This has always seemed to me to put the bar so low as to make the entire enterprise spectacularly uninteresting. Sure enough, reading Brian Christian's The Most Human Human confirmed my impression that the so-called Turing test is one of the most hyped ideas in both artificial intelligence and philosophy of mind. The issue, as Christian makes abundantly clear throughout the book, is not whether programmers can devise a clever enough trick that can fool some people some of the time (and for a short period at that), but whether it is possible, or even if it makes sense to try, to equip computers with something akin to human intelligence and thought (please notice that I do not subscribe to non-physicalist views of human consciousness). Christian seems convinced that the key to artificial intelligence is to be found in the implications of Shannon's information theory, which deals among other things with the compression of semantic content. As Christian puts it at the end of the book: "If a computer could ... compress English optimally, it'd know enough about the language that it would know the language. We'd have to consider it intelligent -- in the human sense of the word" (emphasis in the original). Well, is some sense of knowing and intelligence this may be true. But would we have succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence substantially analogous to the human variety? Would that computer be conscious of knowing the English language? There are serious reasons to doubt it. More likely, we would have created something different, and we might need to broaden our very understanding of what "thinking" means.
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ByAmazon Customeron December 8, 2017
Mr. Christian’s participation in the most human computer event is described and analyzed, leading to profound revelations about the nature of communication and human-ness.
ByMatt Musselmanon June 14, 2011
What obviously started based on the premise of entering to be a confederate in the annual Loebner Prize (based on the Turing Test), where the author would be a human trying to differentiate himself from various chat software programs attempting to pass as human, and what it means to win the award of being "the most human human" in this contest, Brian Christian delves into a delightful examination of:
- What differentiates human thinking from computer "thinking"? Or from the cognitive processes of non-human animals?
- How does human thinking work?
- What makes for interesting conversation? When do conversations work or not work? What conversations (and thus people) are most memorable? When are our conversations more robotic in nature?
- What aspects of language make it a uniquely human endeavour?
- What is the nature of emotion? Creativity? Poetry? Art?
That Christian was able to explore all this while also spicing the mix with terrific references to source material from Aristophanes and Plato to grunge music, Heisenberg, Hofstadter, and David Foster Wallace, Cameron Crowe films, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, Alan Turing, Claude Shannon, and Bertrand Russell, Isaac Newton, Ezra Pound and Allen Ginsberg, the music of Sting and Feist and Bach, TED Talks, Terminator and The Matrix and Glengarry Glen Ross, Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp, Freakonomics, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. . . . I not only learned a lot, but also felt as if I had just walked into a room full of old friends, while also meeting some new friends to get to know.
A terrific, fun, and enlightening read.
- What differentiates human thinking from computer "thinking"? Or from the cognitive processes of non-human animals?
- How does human thinking work?
- What makes for interesting conversation? When do conversations work or not work? What conversations (and thus people) are most memorable? When are our conversations more robotic in nature?
- What aspects of language make it a uniquely human endeavour?
- What is the nature of emotion? Creativity? Poetry? Art?
That Christian was able to explore all this while also spicing the mix with terrific references to source material from Aristophanes and Plato to grunge music, Heisenberg, Hofstadter, and David Foster Wallace, Cameron Crowe films, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, Alan Turing, Claude Shannon, and Bertrand Russell, Isaac Newton, Ezra Pound and Allen Ginsberg, the music of Sting and Feist and Bach, TED Talks, Terminator and The Matrix and Glengarry Glen Ross, Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp, Freakonomics, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. . . . I not only learned a lot, but also felt as if I had just walked into a room full of old friends, while also meeting some new friends to get to know.
A terrific, fun, and enlightening read.
ByAmazon Customeron July 28, 2011
This is one of those rare books that was to me so delightful, interesting and well-written that I hated to finish it. At least one other reviewer had a similar experience to myself in this regard. With so many excellent reviews of the book I will try to mention a few facts and themes not already noted by others. The author is fairly young, 27 or 28 years old. He dual majored in Computer Science and Philosophy at Brown University and later received a MFA in poetry from University of Washington. He has published poetry and articles before, but this is his first full length book. The book grew out of research and thought that the author engaged in while preparing for the Loebner contest, a current expression of the Turing Test in which a computer engaged in texting "tries" to fool its correspondent into thinking it is human. In the contest human "confederates" and computer programs take turns texting for 5 minutes to judges who try to decide who is human and who is a "talk-bot". In 2008 one of the computer programs almost achieved a 30% success rate in fooling the judges, which rate would have been considered a "passing" grade for the Turing Test. The author wrangled his way into the 2009 contest intent on "defending the human race" against the encroachments of computing machinery. To quote: "A steely voice inside me rose up seemingly out of nowhere. Not on my watch."
The book is part memoir and part an exploration into what it means to be uniquely human and by implication what we can do to be more ourselves and less robotic in our lives. Future judges and confederates in the Loebner contest, reading this book, will raise the bar for the competing programs "who?" will also continue to be better competitors. Each chapter of the book develops a different theme, delving deeply in an interdisciplinary way into many areas. There is a high density of insights, excellent exposition, and a totally engaging style of writing. I will doubtlessly reread this book again and again to enjoy its riches.
The book is part memoir and part an exploration into what it means to be uniquely human and by implication what we can do to be more ourselves and less robotic in our lives. Future judges and confederates in the Loebner contest, reading this book, will raise the bar for the competing programs "who?" will also continue to be better competitors. Each chapter of the book develops a different theme, delving deeply in an interdisciplinary way into many areas. There is a high density of insights, excellent exposition, and a totally engaging style of writing. I will doubtlessly reread this book again and again to enjoy its riches.
BySteveon January 23, 2015
An excellent read for computer science nerds, psychology nerds, sociology nerds, linguistics nerds, or philosophy nerds. Pretty much anybody who likes thinking about how people interact with each other
Bylauren seileron August 18, 2011
Broadly educated in poetry and computers and deeply immersed in philosophy, Brian Christian writes about his becoming The Most Human Human. The depth and breadth of his exposition, the importance of the idea -- how will we know if machines become humanly intelligent -- and the topic of a Turing Test Contest, make for a wonderful read. His writing is charming, elegant, guaranteed to inform, and sure to intrigue.
Mr. Christian's central theme is his participation in a Turing Test contest created by Hugh Loebner and Robert Epstein ([...]), an idea originated by the British computer genius Alan Turning. Turning proposed that a computer is intelligent when a person (a "judge") typing and receiving notes both from another person and from a computer cannot tell which correspondent is the human. Each year since 1991, the Loebner Prize has been awarded to the computer program that best fools the judges. A corresponding prize goes to the most human human; the person, among several, who judges rate most certainly to be a human. Mr. Christian won this award in 2009.
Mr. Christian, more often than not, subordinates his description of the contest itself to the subtitle of his book -- "What It Means to Be Alive." In short, interrelated sections that show his intense preparation for the Loebner competition, he relates computer contexts and our daily lives. I particularly liked his treatment of the concept "book" as applied to Gary Kasparov's chess match with IBM's Deep Blue Computer algorithm. Chess, as played by man and machine, includes openings and endings that can be "memorized" -- this is the "book" -- the previous established series of chess moves that humans and machines store in their memories. Thus, oftentimes, it is only in the middle game that chess skills come into play. Mr. Christian wonderfully shows us how the "book" concept is of general human importance, concluding, "And the book, for me, becomes a metaphor for the whole of life." He similarly wows readers with his discussion of data compression.
No less interesting are his other tales and insights. For example, he retells the story of Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading who, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, had various electronic devices implanted in his arm. Among these devices, the professor used active ultrasonic sensors to mimic sonar as his sixth sense -- he could "feel" objects without touching them. With another implanted device, Warwick remotely communicated with his wife who also had electronic implants: this was the first ever purely electronic communication conducted between two human nervous systems. Beyond these few examples, Mr. Christian enlightens us as to how computer programs have trouble with "barge-in" conversations, why "apricot" and "prescient" have the same root, and more.
Although Mr. Christian doesn't explicitly draw the conclusion, one can infer from his writing that Alan Turing was wrong. The Turning Test seems unable to provide more than a superficial evaluation of intelligence. A machine with no "life," body, history, or actual experiences seems quite unable ever to convince us that it possesses a true intellect by winning this sort of contest.
Still, if the Turing Test is ultimately a poor barometer of computer capability, the greater question remains: "can machines ever become humanly intelligent? Mr. Christian barely offers his opinion on this matter, only writing near the very end that, "Some people imagine the future as a kind of heaven... [e.g. Ray Kurzweil] ... Others ... as a kind of hell," [e.g. The Matrix]. I'm no futurist, but I ... think of ... AI as a kind of purgatory: the place where the flawed, good-hearted go to be purified -- and tested -- and to come out better on the other side."
I, and most probably other readers, would have liked more such commentary, to know what Mr. Christian thinks about humankind's future in the face of rising machine intelligence. This is an under-appreciated concern that deserves our awareness.
Interestingly, the 2009 Loebner Prize competition was a perfect opportunity to focus our attention. The other winner that year -- the person who won the most human computer award -- was David Levy, who also wrote Love + Sex with Robots, which I use it in my Queens College, CUNY Sociology course Posthuman Society. Levy argues that by 2050, humans will be conversing with, forming social relations with, having sex with, and perhaps even marrying with autonomous robots. Surely, if this happens -- and Levy's strong credentials make him a credible prognosticator -- we will be forced to conclude that machines have become intelligent, no matter how strange or imperfect their programming may seem. And with this, humankind's future will be forever changed -- I don't think for the better -- even if we survive the experience. Of course, Levy could be wrong. Producing the advanced robots that he envisions may require too enormous an effort, if it's even possible.
But I don't think Levy is wrong. The New York Times (8/16/11), for example, reports that Stanford University will offer a free online course in AI this fall that is taught by two leading experts. More than 58,000 people worldwide have already registered for the course, which was only advertised virally. Why such great interest? Because people are curious, in part, but also because NASA needs intelligent robots to explore space. Our military has deployed intelligent machines to fight in Afghanistan. Business wants smart robots to manufacture cheaper and better goods. Google is spearheading the production of robotically driven cars. Japan seeks intelligent robots to care for its aging population. And, sharing love and sex with machines is already well underway. Smart robots are going to solve many human problems but also create others, with dramatic consequences, a future that I believe is inevitable.
That said, my comments should in no way detract from Brian Christian's marvelous book. He is a gifted informative writer with a keen eye for the human condition. I look forward with great anticipation to curling up with his next provocative volume.
Mr. Christian's central theme is his participation in a Turing Test contest created by Hugh Loebner and Robert Epstein ([...]), an idea originated by the British computer genius Alan Turning. Turning proposed that a computer is intelligent when a person (a "judge") typing and receiving notes both from another person and from a computer cannot tell which correspondent is the human. Each year since 1991, the Loebner Prize has been awarded to the computer program that best fools the judges. A corresponding prize goes to the most human human; the person, among several, who judges rate most certainly to be a human. Mr. Christian won this award in 2009.
Mr. Christian, more often than not, subordinates his description of the contest itself to the subtitle of his book -- "What It Means to Be Alive." In short, interrelated sections that show his intense preparation for the Loebner competition, he relates computer contexts and our daily lives. I particularly liked his treatment of the concept "book" as applied to Gary Kasparov's chess match with IBM's Deep Blue Computer algorithm. Chess, as played by man and machine, includes openings and endings that can be "memorized" -- this is the "book" -- the previous established series of chess moves that humans and machines store in their memories. Thus, oftentimes, it is only in the middle game that chess skills come into play. Mr. Christian wonderfully shows us how the "book" concept is of general human importance, concluding, "And the book, for me, becomes a metaphor for the whole of life." He similarly wows readers with his discussion of data compression.
No less interesting are his other tales and insights. For example, he retells the story of Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading who, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, had various electronic devices implanted in his arm. Among these devices, the professor used active ultrasonic sensors to mimic sonar as his sixth sense -- he could "feel" objects without touching them. With another implanted device, Warwick remotely communicated with his wife who also had electronic implants: this was the first ever purely electronic communication conducted between two human nervous systems. Beyond these few examples, Mr. Christian enlightens us as to how computer programs have trouble with "barge-in" conversations, why "apricot" and "prescient" have the same root, and more.
Although Mr. Christian doesn't explicitly draw the conclusion, one can infer from his writing that Alan Turing was wrong. The Turning Test seems unable to provide more than a superficial evaluation of intelligence. A machine with no "life," body, history, or actual experiences seems quite unable ever to convince us that it possesses a true intellect by winning this sort of contest.
Still, if the Turing Test is ultimately a poor barometer of computer capability, the greater question remains: "can machines ever become humanly intelligent? Mr. Christian barely offers his opinion on this matter, only writing near the very end that, "Some people imagine the future as a kind of heaven... [e.g. Ray Kurzweil] ... Others ... as a kind of hell," [e.g. The Matrix]. I'm no futurist, but I ... think of ... AI as a kind of purgatory: the place where the flawed, good-hearted go to be purified -- and tested -- and to come out better on the other side."
I, and most probably other readers, would have liked more such commentary, to know what Mr. Christian thinks about humankind's future in the face of rising machine intelligence. This is an under-appreciated concern that deserves our awareness.
Interestingly, the 2009 Loebner Prize competition was a perfect opportunity to focus our attention. The other winner that year -- the person who won the most human computer award -- was David Levy, who also wrote Love + Sex with Robots, which I use it in my Queens College, CUNY Sociology course Posthuman Society. Levy argues that by 2050, humans will be conversing with, forming social relations with, having sex with, and perhaps even marrying with autonomous robots. Surely, if this happens -- and Levy's strong credentials make him a credible prognosticator -- we will be forced to conclude that machines have become intelligent, no matter how strange or imperfect their programming may seem. And with this, humankind's future will be forever changed -- I don't think for the better -- even if we survive the experience. Of course, Levy could be wrong. Producing the advanced robots that he envisions may require too enormous an effort, if it's even possible.
But I don't think Levy is wrong. The New York Times (8/16/11), for example, reports that Stanford University will offer a free online course in AI this fall that is taught by two leading experts. More than 58,000 people worldwide have already registered for the course, which was only advertised virally. Why such great interest? Because people are curious, in part, but also because NASA needs intelligent robots to explore space. Our military has deployed intelligent machines to fight in Afghanistan. Business wants smart robots to manufacture cheaper and better goods. Google is spearheading the production of robotically driven cars. Japan seeks intelligent robots to care for its aging population. And, sharing love and sex with machines is already well underway. Smart robots are going to solve many human problems but also create others, with dramatic consequences, a future that I believe is inevitable.
That said, my comments should in no way detract from Brian Christian's marvelous book. He is a gifted informative writer with a keen eye for the human condition. I look forward with great anticipation to curling up with his next provocative volume.
Bymaurypbon May 31, 2011
I enjoyed this book, and I recommend it highly, if you're interested in consciousness, "mind vs brain" stuff, perception of art, language and/or computer science. He discusses the ever changing definition of what it means to be conscious, in the light of ever increasing computational power. He argues, quite convincingly, that the things that have been considered uniquely in the realm of we humans is being whittled away, quite quickly by machine ability.
The best part of the book is the first few chapters, which expose his thesis, and has a highly coherent nature. The later chapters are interesting and all valuable, but they are more like a set of shorter, independent and more varied thoughts, all pointing towards the original theme.
Mr. Christian often quotes Douglas Hofstadter's "Godel Escher and Bach" throughout - which is also a very good read. If you liked that, you'll also like this one, as they seem to draw from the same vein in many respects.
I'd certainly enjoy having coffee with Mr. Christian sometime, and see how far "out of book" we can get, and how fast. ("Out of book" is a term he used, to mean exhausting the well worn conversation templates, and getting into new, creative ground).
In the end, and enjoyable read, well worth the time and price.
The best part of the book is the first few chapters, which expose his thesis, and has a highly coherent nature. The later chapters are interesting and all valuable, but they are more like a set of shorter, independent and more varied thoughts, all pointing towards the original theme.
Mr. Christian often quotes Douglas Hofstadter's "Godel Escher and Bach" throughout - which is also a very good read. If you liked that, you'll also like this one, as they seem to draw from the same vein in many respects.
I'd certainly enjoy having coffee with Mr. Christian sometime, and see how far "out of book" we can get, and how fast. ("Out of book" is a term he used, to mean exhausting the well worn conversation templates, and getting into new, creative ground).
In the end, and enjoyable read, well worth the time and price.
ByTigerlily20190on August 27, 2011
Brian Christian's The Most Human Human is a fascinating read on several levels. First, it's the story of his participation, practice for and standing in the Turing Test. Second, it's the story of the Turing Test - a rating of computers and their programmers pited against Confederates that do their best to be very human. Can the judges tell which is which? As Christian, both technologist and poet, weaves the tale, one learns as well as gets involved in the answers. An intellectual read. Well worth the time.
ByBabon March 14, 2011
What a great book, so relevant, so witty, so now! I really thoroughly enjoyed reading it this weekend. Found myself stopping to email others about specifics in the text. Not just a "computer" book, not just a human nature book, a lot to offer. Philosophers, techies, psych majors...all would be interested, great read, intelligent, witty writing, highly recommended.
Byfeifeion September 26, 2015
This book broaden my horizon and quenched my thirst for curiosity for AI development. As a visual artist who received a four-year-education on art and art history, this book helped me bridge the science side of me. I have gained a unique view through Christian's lens to examine the human side of AI. This book also pointed out a few interesting insights on human-computer relationship.I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in AI and its development. Christian's writing is easy to understand and intriguing. I finished the book very fast, but I know there's a lot more I can learn in the near future when I go back to it.
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