This website uses cookies

Welcome! This website uses cookies to give the best, most relevant experience. By using our website you consent to all cookies, and agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use / EULA. The website is intended for adults 18 years of age or older or who are of the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence. By accessing the website, you represent that you are 18 years of age or older.

The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity

Author:
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $23.00
Our Price: $2.95 CAD
Qty Avail: 56


ISBN: 9781501158575
Publisher: Atria Books
Language: English
Page Count: 320
Publication Date: 3/17/2020
Size: 8.34" l x 5.45" w x 0.94"
Series: N/A

As we approach a great turning point in history when technology is poised to redefine what it means to be human, The Fourth Age offers fascinating insight into AI, robotics, and their extraordinary implications for our species.

In The Fourth Age, Byron Reese makes the case that technology has reshaped humanity just three times in history:

• 100,000 years ago we harnessed fire, which led to language.
• 10,000 years ago we developed agriculture, which led to cities and warfare.
• 5,000 years ago we invented the wheel and writing, which led to the nation state.

We are now on the doorstep of a fourth change brought about by two technologies: AI and robotics. The Fourth Age provides extraordinary background information on how we got to this point and how - rather than what - we should think about the topics we’ll soon all be facing: machine consciousness, automation, employment, creative computers, radical life extension, artificial life, AI ethics, the future of warfare, superintelligence, and the implications of extreme prosperity.

By asking questions like “are you a machine?” and “could a computer feel anything?”, Reese leads you through a discussion along the cutting edge in robotics and AI and provides a framework by which we can all understand, discuss, and act on the issues of the Fourth Age and how they’ll transform humanity.

You May Also Like