Imagine a robotic stuffed animal that can read and respond to a child’s emotional state, a commercial that can recognize and change based on a customer’s facial expression, or a company that can actually create feelings as though a person were experiencing them naturally. Heart of the Machine explores the next giant step in the relationship between humans and technology: the ability of computers to recognize, respond to, and even replicate emotions. Computers have long been integral to our lives, and their advances continue at an exponential rate. Many believe that artificial intelligence equal or superior to human intelligence will happen in the not-too-distance future; some even think machine consciousness will follow. Futurist Richard Yonck argues that emotion, the first, most basic, and most natural form of communication, is at the heart of how we will soon work with and use computers.
Instilling emotions 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.
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.
