Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence

by Hans Moravec

Book Overview

Imagine attending a lecture at the turn of the twentieth century in which Orville Wright speculates about the future of transportation, or one in which Alexander Graham Bell envisages satellite communications and global data banks. Mind Children, written by an internationally renowned roboticist, offers a comparable experience--a mind-boggling glimpse of a world we may soon share with our artificial progeny. Filled with fresh ideas and insights,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674576187
• ISBN13: 9780674576186
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Visionary

This book does a great job of exploring the future of robots, artificial intelligence, the human mind, and human identity. A few parts of it seem dated, but most of what the book describes seems likely to happen this century and to surprise the large fraction of the population which still hasn't given any thought to the possibilities this book describes.

Good but a little too far out

Moravec writes a good book but I think his ideas are a tad to far out there. He doesn't take into account the possiblility of people not wanting to have their minds transfered to machines. He appears to assume that it is inevitable. I personally agree with his goals but I suspect that the majority of the population would be strongly opposed.

Buy it for the prologue alone!

I picked up this book, expecting to learn a little bit about where we're headed with our computers, and the consequences therein. I learned all that--but I got even more than I bargained for. I have to say, the prologue in and of itself blew me away. I had never quite thought of humans as the first step in a bigger evolution. I read this book six months ago, and I haven't been able to get the implications of it out of my head since. If you're looking for the big answers--like "Why are we here?" and "What's the point?"--you may be like me and find more in here than in more traditional spiritual texts.

A definitive Work for the strong AI perspective

This is a hard Hitting Strong AI book. It's the the land mark book the drew the line in the sand. If you wont to know what the strong AI position is this is the only book you have to read. You wont feel special after reading this book... So much for being on the top of the evolutionary ladder

Fast, fun book by a knowledgable author

This book is very pleasant and easy to read. Yes, the subject is in itself fascinating, but Moravec does manage to make that clear. Whether one is interested in artificial intelligence, bioengineering, or just looking for some thoughts on fun-filled research, this book is a sound place to start. In fact, this book is a great bait for caching curious high school and undergraduate students! I know. I've attracted at least a couple to my research just by letting them borrow my own copy! (Francisco Sepulveda, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering Dept. FEEC-UNICAMP, Brazil)