AI and Humanity

by Illah Reza Nourbakhsh, Jennifer Keating

Overview

An examination of the implications for society of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence systems, combining a humanities perspective with technical analysis; includes exercises and discussion questions.

AI and Humanity provides an analytical framing and a common language for understanding the effects of technological advances in artificial intelligence on society. Coauthored by a computer scientist and a scholar of literature and cultural studies, it is unique in combining a humanities perspective with technical analysis, using the tools of literary explication to examine the societal impact of AI systems. It explores the historical development of these technologies, moving from the apparently benign Roomba to the considerably more sinister semi-autonomous weapon system Harpy.
The book is driven by an exploration of the cultural and etymological roots of a series of keywords relevant to both AI and society. Works examined range from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, given a close reading for its themes of literacy and agency, to Simon Head's critique of the effects of surveillance and automation on the Amazon labor force in Mindless.

Originally developed as a textbook for an interdisciplinary humanities-science course at Carnegie Mellon, AI & Humanity offers discussion questions, exercises (including journal writing and concept mapping), and reading lists. A companion website provides updated resources and a portal to a video archive of interviews with AI scientists, sociologists, literary theorists, and others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262043847
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.25(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.69(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Illah Reza Nourbakhsh is K&L Gates Professor of Ethics and Computational Technologies in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of Robot Futures and coauthor of Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots (both published by the MIT Press).

Jennifer Keating is Assistant Dean for Educational Initiatives at Dietrich College of Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. She is the author of Language, Identity, and Liberation in Contemporary Irish Literature and editor of McCabe's Ireland.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Illah Nourbakhsh and Jennifer Keating have done a masterful job applying deep analysis to raise critical questions about the social impact of artificial intelligence. AI and Humanity is an informative and thought-provoking work that benefits students and anyone who is grappling with the complex issues raised from the evolving machine-human relationship.

—Doug Peterson, President and CEO, S&P Global

This book cuts through the confoundingly complex technological maze, revealing how AI will impact all aspects of our lives and empowering us to shape its evolution. Comprehensive, yet accessible, it identifies the critical issues and concepts and should be essential reading for anyone interested in the vital questions of AI and humanity.

—Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford