Overview

"""The Most Human Human"" is a provocative, exuberant, and profound exploration of the ways in which computers are reshaping our ideas of what it means to be human. Its starting point is the annual Turing Test, which pits artificial intelligence programs against people to determine if computers can ""think."" Named for computer pioneer Alan Turing, the Tur-ing Test convenes a panel of judges who pose questions--ranging anywhere from celebrity gossip to moral conundrums--to hidden contestants in an attempt to discern which is human and which is a computer. The machine that most often fools the panel wins the Most Human Computer Award. But there is also a prize, bizarre and intriguing, for the Most Human Human. In 2008, the top AI program came short of passing the Turing Test by just one astonishing vote. In 2009, Brian Christian was chosen to participate, and he set out to make sure ""Homo sapiens ""would prevail. The author's quest to be deemed more human than a com-puter opens a window onto our own nature. Interweaving modern phenomena like customer service ""chatbots"" and men using programmed dialogue to pick up women in bars with insights from fields as diverse as chess, psychiatry, and the law, Brian Christian examines the philosophical, bio-logical, and moral issues raised by the Turing Test. One central definition of ""human"" has been ""a being that could reason."" If computers can reason, what does that mean for the special place we reserve for humanity?"

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9780385533065

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Reviews

@lt;p@gt; A fascinating exploration of what it means to be human. This book will surely change the way readers think about their conversations. --@lt;i@gt;Booklist@lt;/i@gt;, starred review@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt; A heady exploration of the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and human nature. Christian's examination of the way machines are forcing us to appreciate what it means to be human leads him to explore everything from poetry, chess and existentialism...[and] offers an overview of the history of AI. @lt;br@gt;-- @lt;i@gt;Kirkus Reviews@lt;br@gt;@lt;/i@gt;@lt;br@gt; This is a strange, fertile, and sometimes beautiful book. It has been said that man creates images of himself, then comes to resemble the images. Something like this seems to be going on with the computer. Brian Christian writes with a rare combination of what Pascal took to be two contrary mindsets: the spirit of geometry and the spirit of finesse. He takes both the deep limitations and halting progress of arti

<p><br> Illuminating.....an irreverent picaresque that follows its hero from the recondite arena of the 'Nicomachean Ethics' to the even more recondite arena of legal depositions to perhaps the most recondite arena of all, that of speed dating.....As THE MOST HUMAN HUMAN demonstrates, Christian has taken his own words to heart. An authentic son of Frost, he learns by going here he has to go, and in doing so proves that both he and his book deserve their title. -- New York Times Book Review <br> Terrific.....one of the rare successful literary offspring of Godel, Escher, Bach, where art and science meet an engaged mind and the friction produces real fire......dense with ideas -- The New Yorker <br> Absorbing.....Mr. Christian cleverly suggests that the Turing Test not only tells us how smart computers are but also teaches us about ourselves....Mr. Christian covers a great deal of ground with admirable clarity but with a lightness of touch, and he never tries too hard. He alsoi

Author Information

BRIAN CHRISTIAN holds a dual degree from Brown University in computer science and philosophy, and an MFA in poetry. His work has appeared in both literary and scientific journals.

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