Reviews

O Humano Mais Humano: O Que a Inteligência Artificial nos Ensina Sobre a Vida by Brian Christian

bechols's review against another edition

5.0

I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as his other two books. I was wrong. Playful, thought-provoking, varied, with several great turns of phrase.

“I can’t really explain it, it’s easier to just show you”, the analogy to keyframes in video, and the further implication for creativity particularly got to me.

Recommended.

omdel's review against another edition

4.0

This is a finely written, entertaining overview of AI and how computers imitate processes like conversation. However, after you read it you're left with very few, long-term take aways in either insight or information. It's as if the offer said a bunch of things you already knew using eloquent and entertaining words. On the plus side, though, this also serves as a great compilation of quotes from Bertrand Russell, Garry Kasparov and others. My kindle edition has tons of highlighted passages.

saadr's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

hebryant's review against another edition

5.0

"The word games Scattergories and Boggle are played differently but scored the same way. Players, each with a list of words they've come up with, compare lists and cross off every word that appears on more than one list. The player with the most words remaining on her sheet wins. I've always fancied this a rather cruel way of keeping score. Imagine a player who comes up with four words, and each of her four opponents only comes up with one of them. The round is a draw, but it hardly feels like one....As the line of human uniqueness pulls back ever more, we put the eggs of our identity into fewer and fewer baskets; then the computer comes along and takes that final basket, crosses off that final word. And we realize that uniqueness, per se, never had anything to do with it. The ramparts we built to keep other species and other mechanisms out also kept us in. In breaking down that last door, computers have let us out. And back into the light.

Who would have imagined that the computer's earliest achievements would be in the domain of logical analysis, a capacity held to be what made us most different from everything on the planet? That it could drive a car and guide a missile before it could ride a bike? That it could make plausible preludes in the style of Bach before it could make plausible small talk? That it could translate before it could paraphrase? That it could spin half-plausible postmodern theory essays before it could be shown a chair and say, as any toddler can, "chair"? We forget what the impressive things are. Computers are reminding us."

possiblypoet's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.5

I’ve had a heart of blending the brainy and the artsy and my god did this deliver

sturdel's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

abhi_reads's review against another edition

5.0

It doesn't happen very often you pick up a non-fiction read a few pages and think "This is a good book!". This is what I felt after starting this book. I remember the last non-fiction for which I felt so was [b:Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind|23692271|Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind|Yuval Noah Harari|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420585954s/23692271.jpg|18962767]. In a way I felt this book is complimentary to Sapiens. And everyone who loved Sapiens should give this a try.

So what is this about? I think the title gives it away. Brian has a written a very thought provoking and ambitious book about what it takes to be human in a world filled with machines. Since the invention of computer, it is becoming smarter everyday and coming closer to becoming a human or at least act like a human. Brian takes different aspects of 'what makes a human human' like sociological, anthropological , philosophical and psychological and compares how computer has been breaking each barrier and becoming more like us. But there is a huge gap. Brian has pointed them out. One of my favorite line from the book was:

“To be human is to be 'a' human, a specific person with a life history and idiosyncrasy and point of view; artificial intelligence suggest that the line between intelligent machines and people blurs most when a puree is made of that identity.”

He plays a confederate in famous the Loebner Prize (a world wide competition on Turing test) where he fights for the prize of 'The most human human' which is kind of ironical. For this competition he does a lot research and learns different AI system and how they have been trying to imitate human. Which brings us to this book. He has pointed out so many intriguing ideas and theories about being a human and what sets apart from a machine. Each of these systems is trying to imitate one or more aspect of human behavior. But to be a human is to have all these behavior and idiosyncrasies at once which is a huge gap to fill. He has mostly focused on the art of conversation and just this small part of our psychology is too advanced and it'd be like climbing a mountain to ever beat a human.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are so many things to ponder about and to learn about ourselves. You find different dimensions of being a human and embracing all this is what makes us human.

katherinepamina's review against another edition

5.0

I picked up this book expecting it to be more of an account of the author's experience as a confederate at the Loebner Prize. When I started reading and realized that it was less personal account (although there is some of that) and more research-backed musing, I was at first kind of bored by his discussion of souls and whatnot.

As I kept reading though, I was drawn in by his take on the relationship between humans and computers. He draws on disciplines spanning not just subfields of computer science, but also (and not only) linguistics, philosophy, psychology, literature, inserting cool facts, studies, and stories along the way. I read this with a notebook next to me, because about every other page there was some person, study, or idea that I wanted to follow up on.

Brian Christian's background in poetry shows in how cleverly and imaginatively he writes. I also appreciated that he clearly has a background in computer science. This depth of understanding and skill in communicating come together to make something really delightful.

ivylong's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

rstafford's review against another edition

5.0

This book is really excellent. Each chapter taught me something I wasn't aware of before, and encouraged me to think critically. I also appreciated the personal anecdotes and the enjoyable POV throughout the book.