Machines That Think - A Book Review

In the 1980s a huge number of books were written on artificial intelligence. From as early as 1980 books started really producing solid content on the topic. No, the concept obviously originated decades the prior, but by the early 80's computer scientists were really getting a handle on it, and towards the end of the 80s there were some really excellent books that honed in on the future.

Much of what we think of today and the direction we are moving in AI programming really stem from this period. So, if this topic interests you, I'd recommend that you read at least a few works from that era. Let me recommend one book that is fully illustrated and straight forward, one which will really get you on the right track, by allowing you to see from where all of this once came. The book is:

"Thinking Machines; the Search for Artificial Intelligence," by Igor Aleksander and Piers Burnett; Alfred A. Knoff Publishers, New York, NY, (1987).

The authors address the age old question; What is intelligence? And this chapter has a great overview of originality of concept, and all of Alan Turing's philosophical thoughts. It indeed brings it up to date to the mid-1980s. Then the authors talk about the ever elusive "Universal Machine" and then they really help us understand the difference between humans and the future of AI, which one could now say is in the present.

Learn about the thoughts on The Machinery of Vision and sensors, and the philosophical and historical significance. The chapter; "Inside the Machine" is of supreme interest and one you will enjoy. Indeed, I liked the authors' topic; The Myth of the Super Intelligent Machine, and these authors seem to indicate, in the end, no matter what, it is still a machine, not a human and it can only work a certain way. The Future may confirm this, but with the neural networking it may prove them wrong too.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio Lance Winslow is also Founder of the Car Wash Guys, a cool little Franchise Company; http://www.carwashguys.com/history/founder.html

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