The Fourth Age, Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity, reviewed

By @SimonCocking review of The Fourth Age Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity. Available from Simon & Schuster here.

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.

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. The Fourth Age provides extraordinary background information 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, 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 Fourth Age, Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity, reviewed

Overall this is a smart, thoughtful and well reasoned book, that aims to deconstruct a range of ideas / myths and preconceptions about what AI can and can’t be expected to do in the near to distant future. We enjoyed Reese’s progression through a series of concepts, and statements, some of which have been overhyped in the media.

The book first covers a catchup period to bring us to where we are now. This is useful in terms of proving a context for those who are new to the subject. For those new to these questions and topics this part of the book is useful, and we found it well written and fast moving for those waiting to get to the more meaty issues in terms of what happens next and where are we going.

As Ray Kurzweil, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawkings and many more have outlined their various views, often at different ends of the spectrum, Reese aims to navigate between these opinions of the good and the great. In doing so it does feel like he is helping to bring us to a more considered and balanced appraisal of AI, narrow and general. How soon, if at all, will robots/AI become sentient? Will they then instantly wish to kill us all? Can AI be programmed to follow Asimov’s general lawas of robotics, and are these even reasonable goals.

In questions like robots and ‘our’ jobs Reese does a good job of exploding so myths and deconstructing loose statements made by others. The book is a pleasure to read and takes you through an enlightening and illuminating tour of the current issues we need to grapple with as we experience the coming tsunami  of AI related life changes. We recommend it.

With #transferredlearning, humans can identify objects under varying conditions with just one sample. Without a lifetime of experiences to apply to new environments, #machines are unable to do this & need an enormous number of samples to train on. #ai #robot #tech #thefourthage pic.twitter.com/3JZAYWPjJD

— Byron Reese (@byronreese) August 13, 2019

Ethics of AI Predictions is the topic on this @Gigaom #AIMinute with @byronreese. #facebook #AIEthics #bigbrother #AI #artificialintelligence #AIforAll#AIforGood https://t.co/AJM4bB4tdP

— GigaOm AI Minute (@AIMinute) August 14, 2019

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