The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence

The future is now. Acclaimed technologist and inventor Amir Husain explains how we can live amidst the coming age of sentient machines and artificial intelligence—and not only survive, but thrive.

Artificial “machine” intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in our society. We are already using cruise control in our cars, automatic checkout at the drugstore, and are unable to live without our smartphones. The discussion around AI is polarized; people think either machines will solve all problems for everyone, or they will lead us down a dark, dystopian path into total human irrelevance. Regardless of what you believe, the idea that we might bring forth intelligent creation can be intrinsically frightening. But what if our greatest role as humans so far is that of creators?

Amir Husain, a brilliant inventor and computer scientist, argues that we are on the cusp of writing our next, and greatest, creation myth. It is the dawn of a new form of intellectual diversity, one that we need to embrace in order to advance the state of the art in many critical fields, including security, resource management, finance, and energy. “In The Sentient Machine, Husain prepares us for a brighter future; not with hyperbole about right and wrong, but with serious arguments about risk and potential” (Dr. Greg Hyslop, Chief Technology Officer, The Boeing Company). He addresses broad existential questions surrounding the coming of AI: Why are we valuable? What can we create in this world? How are we intelligent? What constitutes progress for us? And how might we fail to progress? Husain boils down complex computer science and AI concepts into clear, plainspoken language and draws from a wide variety of cultural and historical references to illustrate his points. Ultimately, Husain challenges many of our societal norms and upends assumptions we hold about “the good life.”

未來已經來臨。受人讚譽的技術專家和發明家Amir Husain解釋了我們如何在即將到來的機器智能和人工智能時代中生活，並且不僅僅是生存，而是繁榮。

人工「機器」智能在我們的社會中扮演著越來越重要的角色。我們已經在汽車上使用定速巡航，藥店自動結帳，無法離開智能手機。關於人工智能的討論是極端的；人們認為機器要麼會為每個人解決所有問題，要麼會將我們引向黑暗、反烏托邦的道路，使人類完全無關緊要。無論你相信什麼，我們可能帶來智能創造的想法本質上是令人恐懼的。但如果我們迄今為止作為人類的最大角色是創造者呢？

傑出的發明家和計算機科學家Amir Husain認為，我們正處於書寫下一個最偉大的創造神話的曙光。這是一種新形式的智力多樣性的開端，我們需要擁抱它，以推進許多關鍵領域的藝術，包括安全、資源管理、金融和能源。 "在《有感知的機器》中，Husain為我們準備了一個更光明的未來；不是通過誇大其詞地談論對錯，而是通過嚴肅地討論風險和潛力"（Greg Hyslop博士，波音公司首席技術官）。他探討了關於人工智能的廣泛存在性問題：我們的價值在哪裡？我們可以在這個世界上創造什麼？我們如何聰明？對我們來說，什麼構成進步？我們如何失去進步？Husain將複雜的計算機科學和人工智能概念簡化為清晰、平易近人的語言，並從各種文化和歷史參考中引用來說明他的觀點。最終，Husain挑戰了我們許多社會規範，顛覆了我們對"美好生活"的假設。