Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence

by Richard Yonck

Rana el Kaliouby (Foreword)

"Futurist Richard Yonck argues that instilling emotions, the first, most basic, and most natural form of communication, into computers is the next leap in our centuries-old obsession with creating machines that replicate humans. But for every benefit this progress may bring to our lives, there is a possible pitfall. Emotion recognition could lead to advanced surveillance, and the same technology that can manipulate our feelings could become a method of mass control. And, as shown in movies like Her and Ex Machina, our society already holds a deep-seated anxiety about what might happen if machines could actually feel and break free from our control. Heart of the Machine is an exploration of the new and inevitable ways in which mankind and technology will interact."--Amazon.com.

• ISBN10: 1628727349
• ISBN13: 9781628727340
• Publish Date: 7 March 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Arcade Publishing
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 328
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: A lot of breadth, which was great but sadly, topics were also rather touch and go, so not all that much depth. No one can predict the future with absolute certainty, so it's expected that there would be a lot of speculation. Speculation alone isn't particularly informative but in conjunction with analysis and statistics, imagining plausible futures aids in risk assessment and preparing for particular events. I'm sure the author worked through these before positing his vision of technology, artificial intelligence and the future. However, these explanations didn't adequately prop up the conclusions.

What he did explore extensively was emotion — its importance in communication, how it could integrated into technology, and what the outcomes could be. I supposed that's what "heart" refers to in the title: emotions, rather getting to the core of this topic.

Also, I didn't like the narrator. His droning voice sounded bored from beginning to end with little variation in tone. That's why I rounded down to 3 stars for my Goodreads rating instead of up to 4.