Machine Intelligence is changing every aspect of our lives. Internet
traffic and sensors in households, cars, and wearables provide data that
oligopolistic companies collect and use to extract patterns of human
behavior. Further, active digital assistants are taking over more and
more of our everyday decisions. Humanity is on the verge of an
evolutionary leap and it is time to determine if this development will
benefit people's wellbeing or will just mean the accumulation of capital
and power with no regard for quality of life.
This book integrates the perspectives of various disciplines that are
striving to establish resilient foundations - computer science,
economics and social sciences, political science, psychology,
philosophy, neuroscience, ethics and religion - in order to clarify a
number of positions and, as a result, objectify the discussions. Written
by Hubert Osterle, a researcher working at the interface of these
disciplines, the book promotes debate on the future of man and machine,
on happiness and evolution and on the major changes brought about by
digital technology. Last but not least, it is a manifesto calling for a
new - integrated - discipline to be founded: life engineering.
"If you want to think more deeply about what machine intelligence (aka
AI) really means for humanity, you should read this book. Hubert
Oesterle takes an amazingly broad and multi-disciplinary look at all
relevant aspects, from the roots of human behavior to the impact
advanced digital assistants might have on our daily lives (and who will
control these assistants). Highly recommended!" Andreas Goeldi, Partner
at btov Partners
