Talking to Robots: How Humans and Machines Will Live Together in the Future

Talking to Robots is a book by David Ewing Duncan that explores possible future scenarios about robots, both real and imagined. It is based on discussions with well-known thinkers, engineers, scientists, artists, philosophers, and others, and is focused on what our fixation with bots and AI says about us as humans. The book describes how robots work, but its primary focus is on our hopes and anxieties, myths, stories, beliefs, and ideas about beings both real and artificial, and our attempts to attain perfection.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 25 November 2022
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

If you're curious about what the future might hold for robots and AI, Duncan's book is a great place to start. NPR calls it "intensely readable, downright terrifying, and surprisingly uplifting." Vanity Fair recommends it as one of the "5 books not to miss." USA Today calls it a "riveting read." One of Time magazine's "32 Books You Need to Read This Summer," according to Today. A refreshing variation on the will-intelligent-robots-bring-Armageddon genre, this colorful mixture of expert futurology and quirky speculation does not disappoint. Kirkus Reviews says, "What robot and AI systems are being built and imagined right now? What do they say about us, their creators? Will they usher in a fantastic new future, or destroy us? What do some of our greatest thinkers, from physicist Brian Greene and futurist Kevin Kelly to inventor Dean Kamen, geneticist George Church, and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, anticipate about our human-robot future?"

While robots and AI intrigue us and make us anxious about the future, our fascination with robots has always been about more than the potential of the technology. It's also about what robots tell us about being human. From present-day Facebook and Amazon bots to near-future intimacy bots and the robot that swiped my job bots, bestselling American popular science writer David Ewing Duncan's Talking to Robots is a wonderfully entertaining and insightful guide to possible future scenarios about robots, both real and imagined.

Featured bots include robot drivers, doc bots, politician bots, warrior bots, sex bots, synthetic bio bots, dystopic bots that are hopefully just bad dreams, and ultimately, God Bot (as described by physicist Brian Greene).

Duncan's book is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of technology and its impact on our lives. It's a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the possibilities and limitations of robots and AI, and it will leave you wondering what the future holds for these incredible machines.

Weight: 260g
Dimension: 130 x 197 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472142924