Perceptive Machines - The Future of Feeling Ai and What It Means for Humanity

This book offers a compelling look into the future of artificial intelligence, where AI systems are no longer limited to just processing information, but can perceive the world through synthetic senses. The author explores how this shift from purely cognitive AI to embodied sensory experiences is blurring the lines between human and machine intelligence. It's a deep dive into how multisensory AI, powered by breakthroughs in areas like haptics and neural interfaces, will fundamentally alter what it means to experience, connect, and ultimately, to be human.
The book's key features lie in its multidisciplinary approach, drawing insights from neuroscience, philosophy, ethics, and frontier technologies to examine the far-reaching implications of artificial perception. It explores how synthetic senses will impact everything from personal identity and social relationships to cultural norms and moral agency. The book contains discussions on AI systems that can genuinely "feel" a hug and virtual environments that engage all five human senses, challenging our very definition of reality. There is a deep dive into the technologies of the sixth sense, from theory to engineering, Introducing the infrastructure of synthetic sensing - multimodal models, brain-machine interfaces, and sensory AI architectures. An interesting topic discussed is the privacy of the senses, which raises urgent ethical questions about biometric sensing, perceptual sovereignty, and the right to emotional privacy. Another topic of great concern is designing for dignity that outlines principles for creating AI-perception systems that centre dignity, inclusivity, and user sovereignty.
This book is a useful resource for with technologists, researchers, philosophers, ethicists, and futurists who are grappling with the implications of advanced AI. It can also be read by anyone curious about the cutting edge of AI and its profound impact on human existence.

List of contents

Prologue
Part I Introduction - Synthetic Sensory Perceptive Machines
1. Chapter 1: Minds Without Bodies - The First Age of AI
2 Chapter 2: The Missing Senses - Why Intelligence Needs Embodiment
3 Chapter 3: Sensory Frontiers - Digitising the Human Sensorium
Interlude - Becoming Sensate: From Thinking to Sensing Machines
Part II: The Five (and beyond) Synthetic Senses: From Infrastructure to Intuition
4 Chapter 4: Synthetic Perceptual Technologies - From Theory to Engineering
5 Chapter 5: Seeing More Than We See - AI-Enhanced Vision From Photons to Perception
6 Chapter 6: Hearing the Hidden World - Sound and Sonic AI
7 Chapter 7: Virtual Touch and Remote Feeling - Haptics & Digital Skin
8 Chapter 8: The AI Nose Knows - Digital Olfaction and Emotional Scent
9 Chapter 9: Tasting the Virtual - Digitised Flavour and Culinary AI
10 Chapter 10: Toward Synthetic Sensorium - Synthetic Intuition, Sensory Fusion, and the Origins of Machine Perception
Interlude: Crossing the Threshold: From Experience to Meaning
Part III: Reimagining Reality, Identity, and Ethics
11 Chapter 11: Blurred Boundaries - Virtual vs. Physical Experience
12 Chapter 12: Privacy of the Senses - Surveillance, Consent, and Autonomy
13 Chapter 13: Who Feels? AI Consciousness, Rights, and Moral Agency
14 Chapter 14: The Synthetic Self - Redefining the Human Through Perception
Interlude - Becoming Planetary: From Individual Perception to Collective Sensing
Part IV: Futures at the Edge - Society in the Post-Sensory Age
15 Chapter 15: Society in the Sensorium - New Rituals, Norms, and Cultures
16 Chapter 16: Designing for Dignity - Ethics-by-Design in the Synthetic Age
17 Chapter 17: The Augmented Planet - Geo-sensory AI and Planetary Intelligence
18 Conclusion: The Future of Feeling AI and What it Means for Humanity
19 Closing Thoughts: How Synthetic Sensing Will Transform Human Perception, Identity, and Connection
Epilogue: The Synthetic Sensorium is Just the Beginning of a New Human Story
Glossary of Key Terms
Questions Considered/Addressed
Index

About the author

Rocky Scopelliti is a world-renowned futurologist, best-selling author, and technologist. His pioneering research on emerging technologies and human evolution has shaped global thinking on AI, society, and identity. His books explore the frontier where machines don't just think-but feel.

Product details

• Authors: Rocky Scopelliti
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 30.04.2026
• EAN: 9781041234296
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4123429-6
• No. of pages: 276
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Theoretical psychology; Perception, Cognition and cognitive psychology, COMPUTERS / Artificial Intelligence / General, Neural networks and fuzzy systems, Neural networks & fuzzy systems