Artificial Intelligence: A Philosophical Introduction by Copeland (21-Oct-1993) Paperback

by B. Jack Copeland

Presupposing no familiarity with the technical concepts of either philosophy or computing, this clear introduction reviews the progress made in AI since the inception of the field in 1956. Copeland goes on to analyze what those working in AI must achieve before they can claim to have built a thinking machine and appraises their prospects of succeeding.There are clear introductions to connectionism and to the language of thought hypothesis which weave together material from philosophy, artificial intelligence and neuroscience. John Searle's attacks on AI and cognitive science are countered and close attention is given to foundational issues, including the nature of computation, Turing Machines, the Church-Turing Thesis and the difference between classical symbol processing and parallel distributed processing. The book also explores the possibility of machines having free will and consciousness and concludes with a discussion of in what sense the human brain may be a computer.

Genres: Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence, Nonfiction, Science, Computer Science

Paperback

First published October 28, 1993

About the author

Brian Jack Copeland is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand and author of books on computing pioneer Alan Turing.

Reviews

[Callum Frew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outdated

[Minorityof1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

out of date speculations regarding what computers will be like post 2000.
has a handy history of some of the important moments in ai history, eliza, etc. also attempts to tackle some of the short comings of the turing test, though doesn't come to any definite conclusion.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

A excellent introduction to the philosophy of A.I, however it is outdated, most books in computer science are, though it still serves as a good introduction.

Take the last chapter on parallel distributed processing , (PDP) with a pinch of salt. There are a few other things that are outdated, such as what ai is and isn't capable of has largely changed in the last 20 years.

[Abatang]

Great book

[Kiran · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an undergraduate of philosophy I thoroughly enjoyed this book, at times hard to follow, but overall very interesting and informative.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besides its name, this book is non-technical, but a philosophical one.
It tries to explain what are both the "intelligence" and the self awareness. If it happens in a machine, how it could be? Why a machine could/could not be intelligent?

There are some interesting parts on perception and knowledge. I've recently wrote about "qualia" and mentioned this book (and the famous "phenoltiurea" phenomena) in my blog: http://www.boriel.com/2010/08/22/cons...

Even though this book has more than 15yrs, is prety updated, since most philosopical questions in the book are still unanswered or have been resolved as the author expected!

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, so funny, sometimes a bit nerdy-funny (hellooooo, green slimy aliens that were not exactly necessary for proving a point). Nice introduction to the field of A.I. and some major theories and philosophical issues. Some parts might be a bit dated (the parallel distributed processing part where it is presented as the most promising thing that could ever happen in A.I.-well, my professor doesn't exactly agree), still it is a surprisingly accessible story for people with basic knowledge on philosophy of cognition and computer science or A.I. and offers interesting insights as well. Worth the time and money.