Posthuman Blues

Thanks to a generous addition to my science library (payment for my recent spot on 21st Century Radio), I'm now reading a longish book with the awkward title "After the Internet: Alien Intelligence," a forecast of artificial intelligence trends and their implications for business and geopolitics. The author, James Martin, is not at all convinced that functional AI will mimic human thought (hence his term "alien intelligence," which has nothing to do with extraterrestrials).

Martin argues that networked machines will greatly exceed human potential by virtue of remaining qualitatively different from carbon-based mentation. Computers, for all of their ability, will remain "mere" tools for governments, corporations and think-tanks. According to Martin's reasoning, a "Matrix"-style takeover by rebellious machines is surpassingly unlikely.





I don't know if "After the Internet" will live up to its thesis. The writing is awkward. Martin tends to repeat himself almost word-for word. And many of the ideas have already been examined in-depth by Hans Moravec ("Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind") and Ray Kurzweil. Then again, unlike "Mind Children" or "The Age of Spiritual Machines," Martin's book was largely written for e-commerce enthusiasts and techno-challenged CEOs for whom concepts like artificial life and ubicomp will seem exceedingly "fringe." In other words, corporate savants who totally missed out on cyberpunk.