Talking to Robots - A Brief Guide to Our Human-Robot Futures

Visions of robot futures that feature bots such as robot drivers, the bot that will take your job, psychiatrist and doc bots, sex bots, priest bots, the first robot president, and bot servants; also playthings that in some cases bring out the worst in people; synthetic bio bots that are copies of us; and dystopic bots that may treat us like pets, or worse. Scenarios start with discussions with well-known thinkers, engineers, scientists and philosophers, and their ruminations on future robots and AI systems that they want to meet - or fear to meet - and why. These discussions, along with some examination of bot-tech, bot-history and real-time societal and ethical/moral issues with robots, are the launch pads for unfurling imagined bot futures. The book will describe how various bots work as machines, but also what they say about us as humans. We are at a pivotal moment when our infatuation with human-like beings with certain attributes or super-powers in mythology, religion and sci-fi, is now coinciding with our ability to build these entities for real, so Talking to Robots comes at the perfect moment. David Duncan has interviewed the likes of Kevin Kelly, Stephen Hawking, Brian Greene, Sherry Turkle, Alex Garland, Stephen Pinker, Dean Kaman, Ray Kurzweil, Michio Kaku, Elon Musk, Craig Venter and others. He has researched the topic intensively but wears his knowledge lightly in this dazzlingly thought-provoking, illuminating and entertaining book. Talking to Robots will bring the future to life like no other book in this sphere.

Product details

• Authors: David Ewing Duncan, Duncan David Ewing
• Publisher: Robinson Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2019
• EAN: 9781472142917
• ISBN: 978-1-4721-4291-7
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 235 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Technology: general, reference works; Robotics, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Robotics, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Social Aspects, COMPUTERS / History, Impact of science & technology on society, Impact of science and technology on society, COMPUTERS / Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), COMPUTERS / Artificial Intelligence / General, COMPUTERS / Social Aspects