cover image Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-First Century Science

Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-First Century Science

Sam Williams. Atrandom, $15 (128pp) ISBN 978-0-8129-9180-2

In Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-First Century Science, journalist Sam Williams presents a compact yet detailed approach to the controversial subject of artificial intelligence. Although the notion of A.I. might conjure up images of science fiction movie characters, it's actually a very real science, one that technophiles are consumed in a serious debate over, especially since the threat of technology surpassing human intelligence frightens many. Williams profiles A.I.'s key players: German mathematician David Hilbert, American scientist John McCarthy and hi-tech CEO Ray Kurzweil, among others. Mainly an overview of the A.I. debate, Williams's slim volume is a good introduction to this complicated controversy.