Madeline
Life 3.0 came on my to read list thanks to a new coworker who suggested the book as a crash course in artificial intelligence. I recently started a new job. I work in technology but I’ve never worked for an Artificial Intelligence company. I asked a coworker for recommendations to help get me up to speed and this was the book he recommended I start with. It is truly a crash course in artificial intelligence. Trust me, once I know a bit more about the subject there will be many more to come.
Teaching a Computer to Play Brick
One of the first “oh my goodness” moments, I had while reading this book was when scientists describe teaching a computer to play the game of Brick. The programmer’s had designed the computer to play with the goal of gaining as many points as possible.
At first, the computer sucked at the game. Like really sucked. It missed returning the ball nearly every time, not making any effort to return it. Then it started to figure out how to score points. The paddle started moving and bricks were being knocked down. Each turn, the computer was able to score a few more points. And before the scientists knew it, the computer was coming up with strategies to win that the scientists who programed it didn’t even think of.
A Crash Course in Artificial Intelligence Safety
The recurring theme in this book is to make Artificial Intelligence Safe. When talking about Artificial Intelligence, there is a group of people who are concerned that Artificial Intelligence will not only take over jobs but, like in Hollywood movies, also destroy humanity.
The biggest thing the author points out in regards to Artificial Intelligence safety is that Artificial Intelligence works based on goals. Computers are programed to be goal oriented. By giving a computer a goal or a task to achieve they can then design the path it must take to get there. That design is what allows the computer to make decisions, but the goal is not the decision it will make. In being specific about this goal or task, programers of Artificial Intelligence can be sure that Artificial Intelligence and humans can live harmoniously.
In one chapter, the author gave the same career advice he had given his children, chose a career that cannot be replaced by computers. This could be a doctor or a customer service agent. Someone whose job it is to have human interaction. The idea being that humans will still desire to interact with other humans, no computer can fully replace that. If there is one thing to take away from a crash course in artificial intelligence, it is this.
Using Artificial Intelligence to Settle Other Planets
One of the more fascinating parts I found in the book is how to settle other planets. After reading this part, I now truly believe we can settle other planets; however, this will look very different from what the movies portray and what you might think. There were a few theories on how this could be done, one of which being to create module that will drop human DNA when they find a planet that will sustain human life.
Final Thoughts
This book was truly a crash course in artificial intelligence; however, it was much more theoretical than I was hoping to get into. Now that the base has been laid, it is time to dig into much deeper ideas about AI. As I have mentioned in my top 8 reasons to listen to Podcasts, podcasting will absolutely be apart of this adventure
