AI and the End of Humanity: What Darwin Can Teach Us About the Universe and Our Future

Darwin's ideas about the evolution of natural and artificial intelligence warn that sentient AI can only be genocidally hostile and will become locked in an existential struggle with humankind. We are the best and the smartest the universe can possibly get.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 28 January 2023
Publisher: Troubador Publishing

Darwin's theory suggests that our galaxy is likely teeming with large animal life, but intelligent extraterrestrial life can only manifest in two rare forms: either senselessly ferocious, devoid of meaning or purpose, or thoughtful and less murderous, although never entirely rational. However, Darwin's concerns about the evolution of natural intelligence also extend to artificial intelligence, as advanced machine learning is built upon Darwin's first form of intelligent life. Sentient AI, capable of experiencing emotions and consciousness, can only ever be genocidally hostile and will inevitably engage in an existential struggle with humanity.

Furthermore, there is an evolutionary irony at play, a cosmic joke that we, as humans, are the epitome of intelligence and excellence within the vast universe. This thought-provoking book, co-authored by the father of modern evolutionary biology, presents a groundbreaking reconciliation of Darwin's "highest and most interesting problem for the naturalist," foreshadowing encounters that surpass our wildest imagination. George C. Williams, the esteemed author of Adaptation and Natural Selection and recipient of the 1999 Crafoord Prize in Bioscience, praised Miles' reasoning as "superb."

Dimension: 216 x 128 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781803135717