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Faking It
Paperback

Faking It

$34.99
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The brave new world of faking it ...

Artificial intelligence is, as the name suggests, artificial and fundamentally different to human intelligence. Yet often the goal of AI is to fake human intelligence. This deceit has been there from the very beginning. We've been trying to fake it since Alan Turing answered the question 'Can machines think?' by proposing that machines pretend to be humans.

Now we are starting to build AI that truly deceives us. Powerful AIs such as ChatGPT can convince us they are intelligent and blur the distinction between what is real and what is simulated. In reality, they lack true understanding, sentience and common sense. But this doesn't mean they can't change the world.

Can AI systems ever be creative? Can they be moral? What can we do to ensure they are not harmful? In this fun and fascinating book, Professor Toby Walsh explores all the ways AI fakes it, and what this means for humanity - now and in the future.

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MORE INFO
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Black Inc.
Country
Australia
Date
10 October 2023
Pages
256
ISBN
9781760644826

The brave new world of faking it ...

Artificial intelligence is, as the name suggests, artificial and fundamentally different to human intelligence. Yet often the goal of AI is to fake human intelligence. This deceit has been there from the very beginning. We've been trying to fake it since Alan Turing answered the question 'Can machines think?' by proposing that machines pretend to be humans.

Now we are starting to build AI that truly deceives us. Powerful AIs such as ChatGPT can convince us they are intelligent and blur the distinction between what is real and what is simulated. In reality, they lack true understanding, sentience and common sense. But this doesn't mean they can't change the world.

Can AI systems ever be creative? Can they be moral? What can we do to ensure they are not harmful? In this fun and fascinating book, Professor Toby Walsh explores all the ways AI fakes it, and what this means for humanity - now and in the future.

Read More
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Black Inc.
Country
Australia
Date
10 October 2023
Pages
256
ISBN
9781760644826
 
Book Review

Faking It
by Toby Walsh

by Julia Jackson, Oct 2023

I could’ve parsed some keywords through Chat GPT to write this review, like a student with an imminent deadline, but I didn’t, because it’s not how I roll. Toby Walsh’s latest release is timely. Moreover, as a veteran bookseller with degrees in international politics and art history, I am not all that well-versed in artificial intelligence technology, so I thoroughly appreciated his accessible approach. (I confess, I have played with the cubist-cat art generator, but I digress.)

In Faking It, Walsh touches on the history of AI developments and what’s happening in the industry at the moment. The book continues his argument from 2062, in which he sets out that AI truly reflective of human intelligence won’t be achieved until (at least) that titular year. Right now though, there’s a good deal of panic about AI. Some of it with good reason, as the recent SAG-AFTRA strikes indicate. More problematic aspects of fakery and deception are clearly on the rise across the world. But, as one of my local supermarket staff assured me the other day, the robots aren’t going to take over just yet. (The silly checkout machine had confused my avocado for a lime).

While the glorified-upright-vacuum-cleaner-robot-waiter at a city eatery cannot tell the difference between a lime and an avocado just now (and must rely on human intelligence), someday it will. Though, after reading this book, I understand it will be years before it is intelligent enough to appreciate which gins need citrus or cucumber as a garnish. Thanks to Professor Walsh’s book, I have a better understanding of the wide gamut of issues and impacts of AI uptake. Professor Walsh’s easy, conversational tone makes this a thoroughly interesting and engaging read. I certainly know a lot more on the subject than I did 48 hours ago!