Byron Reese — The Fourth Age Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, And The Future Of Humanity

Atria Books 2018 Paperback, 336pp. 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 lead 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. Minor foxing to paper egdes of first few pages. (ISBN: 9781501191626). Good.