Life 3.0
Ratings49
Average rating3.9
Dal cosmo al futuro della vita alle leggi che governano l'universo, la filosofia, i grandi interrogativi. Un trattato sull'intelligenza artificiale e il suo possibile impatto sulla vita umana. Un libro con tantissimi spunti, forse in alcune parti un pelino complesso. 7,5
Really enjoyed how Tegmark explored the possible futures for humanity and AI. The sections on consciousness and goals were also interesting, and I feel like he gave a pretty good overview of the many differing opinions that researchers have on these topics.
It was kind of odd reading his description of Elon Musk ("Tall, handsome, eloquent and incredibly knowledgeable" - lol) but I guess you have to be nice to the person that donated 10 million to your foundation...
I got the recommendation from Obama's 2018 book list and ‘read' it during my commute over the past two weeks. It offers a general understanding of the current status of AI technology and its potential and threats (real or perceived). As with every technical field, some threats are exaggerated but our limited knowledge in terms of its extent temper any attempts at dismissing most fears. I like that Tegmark delves into the ontological debates and poses the “should we” questions. I particularly liked the 7 potential scenarios that AI can lead to.
The delivery is a tad dull and it would've helped if the reader didn't spell out the ‘colon' and ‘backslash backslash' in URLs that are peppered throughout the book.
Instead of fear-mongering like many recent A.I. books, this one takes a more practical future-facing approach and asks us how we'd like our future co-existence with A.I. to look like.
First, Max Tegmark takes us expertly by the hand and explains the basics of of the field and all the recent good and bad influences of artificial intelligence on our lives. Then he extrapolates into the future and lists a variety of intriguing scenarios of how humanity and technology/superintelligence could co-habitate. From a benevolent A.I. dictator, to an enslaved God A.I., to Zookeeper scenarios and Self-Destruction. I really enjoyed these chapters (and they are probably a great resource for scifi writers). He then follows up by discussing the definition and pursuit of goals in A.I., how consciousness research plays into it, and the finishes with the industry's recent consensus on the necessity of safety principles in their research.
A good thought provoking read, reminding us that we're still (mostly) in control of what we want our future to look like.
Tegmark is an exuberant AI cheerleader awash in the unbridled nerdy enthusiasm of an inevitable post-human future. To his credit the book, a reflection of the work he's doing out in the world, attempts to broaden the discussion around AI to something more than wondering if sentient robots will kill us all.
His prelude on a plausible AI trajectory is compelling and thoughtful stuff and I loved how it expanded the way I think of AI's progress. The exploration into considering whether super intelligent AI become zookeepers or benevolent dictators or enslaved gods is great too. But thinking about the philosophical considerations of consciousness, intelligence and evolution left me cold and the name dropping, back slapping historical narrative added yet another element to this unbalanced read.
In here is a fascinating exploration of what AI could mean for the world, it's just buried under a lot of wonky, wordy stuff that obscured the picture I was trying to form. Maybe I've been spoiled by more narrative, bite-sized, non-fiction - I want the abridged version of this book.
Max Tegmark thinks big. In his first book, Our Mathematical Universe, Max walked through a modern cosmological conception of our universe. Now he is describing the kind of life that might expand through it. And one cannot help but be inspired by the potential that Tegmark sees in this next step of life:
“After spending billions of years as an almost negligibly small perturbation on an indifferent lifeless cosmos, life suddenly explodes onto the cosmic arena as a spherical blast wave expanding near the speed of light, never slowing down, and igniting everything in its path with the spark of life”
Sorry Nick Bostrom, but Superintelligence was just dethroned as best “future of AI” book
