The Age of Smart Information


Book Description

Deceptively powerful and stunningly beautiful, this monumental leap forward in conveying information effectively has always been right there in front of us, waiting to be unlocked, hiding in plain sight. All it took was the convergence of human ingenuity, artificial intelligence, and the rise of a medium capable of magic.




In the Age of the Smart Machine


Book Description

A Harvard social scientist documents the pitfalls and promise of computerized technology in business life, warning that advanced information technologies present us with a fateful choice: to continue automation at the risk of robbing workers of gratification and self image, or to informate and empower ordinary working people to make critical and collaborative judgments.




The Age of Intelligent Machines


Book Description

Comparing the human brain with so-called artificial intelligence, the author probes past, present, and future attempts to create machine intelligence




Life 3.0


Book Description

New York Times Best Seller How will Artificial Intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology—and there’s nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who’s helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial. How can we grow our prosperity through automation without leaving people lacking income or purpose? What career advice should we give today’s kids? How can we make future AI systems more robust, so that they do what we want without crashing, malfunctioning or getting hacked? Should we fear an arms race in lethal autonomous weapons? Will machines eventually outsmart us at all tasks, replacing humans on the job market and perhaps altogether? Will AI help life flourish like never before or give us more power than we can handle? What sort of future do you want? This book empowers you to join what may be the most important conversation of our time. It doesn’t shy away from the full range of viewpoints or from the most controversial issues—from superintelligence to meaning, consciousness and the ultimate physical limits on life in the cosmos.




The Fourth Age


Book Description

As we approach a great turning point in history when technology is poised to redefine what it means to be human, The Fourth Age offers fascinating insight into AI, robotics, and their extraordinary implications for our species. “If you only read just one book about the AI revolution, make it this one” (John Mackey, cofounder and CEO, Whole Foods Market). In The Fourth Age, Byron Reese makes the case that technology has reshaped humanity just three times in history: 100,000 years ago, we harnessed fire, which led to language; 10,000 years ago, we developed agriculture, which led to cities and warfare; 5,000 years ago, we invented the wheel and writing, which lead to the nation state. We are now on the doorstep of a fourth change brought about by two technologies: AI and robotics. “Timely, highly informative, and certainly optimistic” (Booklist), The Fourth Age provides an essential background on how we got to this point, and how—rather than what—we should think about the topics we’ll soon all be facing: machine consciousness, automation, changes in employment, creative computers, radical life extension, artificial life, AI ethics, the future of warfare, superintelligence, and the implications of extreme prosperity. By asking questions like “Are you a machine?” and “Could a computer feel anything?”, Reese leads you through a discussion along the cutting edge in robotics and AI, and provides a framework by which we can all understand, discuss, and act on the issues of the Fourth Age and how they’ll transform humanity.




The Age of Spiritual Machines


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Bold futurist Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity Is Near, offers a framework for envisioning the future of machine intelligence—“a book for anyone who wonders where human technology is going next” (The New York Times Book Review). “Kurzweil offers a thought-provoking analysis of human and artificial intelligence and a unique look at a future in which the capabilities of the computer and the species that invented it grow ever closer.”—BILL GATES Imagine a world where the difference between man and machine blurs, where the line between humanity and technology fades, and where the soul and the silicon chip unite. This is not science fiction. This is the twenty-first century according to Ray Kurzweil, the “restless genius” (The Wall Street Journal), “ultimate thinking machine” (Forbes), and inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era. In his inspired hands, life in the new millennium no longer seems daunting. Instead, it promises to be an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live. More than just a list of predictions, Kurzweil’s prophetic blueprint for the future guides us through the inexorable advances that will result in: • Computers exceeding the memory capacity and computational ability of the human brain (with human-level capabilities not far behind) • Relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers • Information fed straight into our brains along direct neural pathways Eventually, the distinction between humans and computers will have become sufficiently blurred that when the machines claim to be conscious, we will believe them.




Robot-Proof, revised and updated edition


Book Description

A fresh look at a “robot-proof” education in the new age of generative AI. In 2017, Robot-Proof, the first edition, foresaw the advent of the AI economy and called for a new model of higher education designed to help human beings flourish alongside smart machines. That economy has arrived. Creative tasks that, seven years ago, seemed resistant to automation can now be performed with a simple prompt. As a result, we must now learn not only to be conversant with these technologies, but also to comprehend and deploy their outputs. In this revised and updated edition, Joseph Aoun rethinks the university’s mission for a world transformed by AI, advocating for the lifelong endeavor of a “robot-proof” education. Aoun puts forth a framework for a new curriculum, humanics, which integrates technological, data, and human literacies in an experiential setting, and he renews the call for universities to embrace lifelong learning through a social compact with government, employers, and learners themselves. Drawing on the latest developments and debates around generative AI, Robot-Proof is a blueprint for the university as a force for human reinvention in an era of technological change—an era in which we must constantly renegotiate the shifting boundaries between artificial intelligence and the capacities that remain uniquely human.




Envisioning Holograms


Book Description

Explore the approach, techniques, and mindshift needed to design truly breakthrough experiences for the Microsoft HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality platform. Learn what’s so different about working with holograms, how to think spatially, and where to start designing your own holographic projects. You’ll move rapidly from initial concept to persuasive prototype—all without the need for expensive tools or a designer’s skill set. Designing for mixed reality is a completely new experience for everyone involved, and takes some experimentation to get right. You won’t nail your first mixed reality project by relying upon your previous mobile or web design expertise as a guide. Mixed reality requires a different kind of design thinking for its unique challenges. Breakthrough holographic design starts with envisioning—the act of visualizing what could be. By rapidly depicting a desired experience and trying out its real-world interactions, you can quickly turn your initial vision into a tangible example of innovative design. Envisioning Holograms digs into why holographic computing is the future, takes you through the mixed reality design process, and gets you ready to take advantage of its endless opportunities. Praise for the Book "Envisioning Holograms is a guidebook for designing our holographic future. You’ll find the processes, techniques, and production tools needed to design immersive products that will change how we work, play and communicate.” – Tony Parisi, Global Head of AR/VR for Unity. Industry legend. "Just as the pioneering work of E.S. Porter helped define a new language for cinematic storytelling at the dawn of motion pictures, Envisioning Holograms provides us with the missing vocabulary and grammar to help define a new design language for this world-changing medium of Mixed Reality.” – Ori Inbar, Founder and Managing Partner for Super Ventures, an AR/VR fund. "An exceptional introduction to a new way of thinking about software. Envisioning Holograms is approachable to people just starting out, and also provides some excellent bits of insight to veterans that can help influence their creative process.” – Lucas Rizzotto, award-winning creator of Mixed Reality experiences. "Envisioning Holograms is the perfect book for VR/AR/MR studios that are struggling with application design. It is filled with strategies to acquire ideas, develop and iterate through scenes, and find the best fit. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to create solid user experiences using 3D interfaces and spatial computing.” – Rick King, authority on the latest trends in AR, VR, and MR development. What You'll Learn Understand what makes mixed reality a challenging design space See how envisioning quickly and persuasively brings ideas to life Get to know your audience, medium, and palette Explore several innovative rapid envisioning techniques Identify the key elements of your own holographic experience Design an engaging holographic experience from start to finish Who This Book Is For While aimed at those designing for Microsoft HoloLens and the Windows Holographic tool kit, the techniques in the book are equally applicable to those designing for other holographic hardware. This book is for the designer who is new to thinking in 3D and wants to quickly learn best practices, and the developer who needs to do design work while building exciting new products for Microsoft HoloLens, and the marketer who has a great story to tell in this exciting new medium of mixed reality.




AI in the Wild


Book Description

Examining the potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence to advance global sustainability. Drones with night vision are tracking elephant and rhino poachers in African wildlife parks and sanctuaries; smart submersibles are saving coral from carnivorous starfish on Australia's Great Barrier Reef; recycled cell phones alert Brazilian forest rangers to the sound of illegal logging. The tools of artificial intelligence are being increasingly deployed in the battle for global sustainability. And yet, warns Peter Dauvergne, we should be cautious in declaring AI the planet's savior. In AI in the Wild, Dauvergne avoids the AI industry-powered hype and offers a critical view, exploring both the potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence to advance global sustainability.




The Age of Intelligent Cities


Book Description

This book concludes a trilogy that began with Intelligent Cities: Innovation, Knowledge Systems and digital spaces (Routledge 2002) and Intelligent Cities and Globalisation of Innovation Networks (Routledge 2008). Together these books examine intelligent cities as environments of innovation and collaborative problem-solving. In this final book, the focus is on planning, strategy and governance of intelligent cities. Divided into three parts, each section elaborates upon complementary aspects of intelligent city strategy and planning. Part I is about the drivers and architectures of the spatial intelligence of cities, while Part II turns to planning processes and discusses top-down and bottom-up planning for intelligent cities. Cities such as Amsterdam, Manchester, Stockholm and Helsinki are examples of cities that have used bottom-up planning through the gradual implementation of successive initiatives for regeneration. On the other hand, Living PlanIT, Neapolis in Cyprus, and Saudi Arabia intelligent cities have started with the top-down approach, setting up urban operating systems and common central platforms. Part III focuses on intelligent city strategies; how cities should manage the drivers of spatial intelligence, create smart environments, mobilise communities, and offer new solutions to address city problems. Main findings of the book are related to a series of models which capture fundamental aspects of intelligent cities making and operation. These models consider structure, function, planning, strategies toward intelligent environments and a model of governance based on mobilisation of communities, knowledge architectures, and innovation cycles.