The Island by Ragnar Jónasson

Sequel to The Darkness. Super quick, Great read!!!!

The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson

This novel grabbed my attention because of its protagonist. A 64yo female detective about to retire who decides to investigate the death of Russian asylum seeker. The girl's death had been dismissed as suicide but the detective is not sure about that. 

First time I read about an old female detective. The novel has everything, her (old fashioned) detective work, past trauma and the psychological effects of her imminent retirement. She cannot imagine life without her job. A super interesting protagonist, a gripping murder mystery and a quick read.

The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis by David J. Chalmers in Science Fiction and Philosophy from Time Travel to Superintelligence Ed Susan Schneider

This a 47 page paper originally published in Journal of Conscious Studies 2010. It looks into the possibility of a Singularity and its impact on humanity which may “force us to think hard about values and morality and about consciousness and personal identity.” 

A singularity involves an intelligence explosion and possibly a (technology) speed explosion. However in order to determine if there will be an intelligence explosion we “need to understand what intelligence is and whether machines might have it.” The paper discusses how we are far from understanding how a brain works, how it can be intelligent, and be conscious. We are slowly progressing in understanding the mechanics of the brain but we don’t know what makes it conscious. 

The author makes a distinction between AI (human-level AI), AI+ (artificial intelligence more intelligent than us) and AI++ (super unimaginable artificial intelligence) and discusses ways to achieve them. For example by brain emulation, brain enhancement, or direct programming or machine learning. In terms of the possible consequences of a Singularity we need to explore our role in it. Chalmers predicts 4 possible outcomes: Extinction: which is obviously undesirable Isolation: which is unattractive akin to cultural and technological isolation Inferiority: could diminish the significance of our lives. Integration: we become superintelligent too.

Chalmers supports integration (of course) and proposes ways to achieve it through Uploading. Uploading means making a digital copy of the brain in processes which could or not destroy the original brain. Questions which arise are: Will an uploaded version of me be conscious? And Will it be me? Excellent Thought Provoking Read.

Machine by Elizabeth Bear

This the second White Space Novel. The first is Ancestral Night which I read a few months ago. I think Machine is slightly better than Ancestral Night. 

This novel explores the effects a malevolent software meme has on Artificial Intelligence and on the Synarche, a galactic society comprised of hundreds of alien races and including Artificial Sentience. The quick spread of the virus takes by surprise the staff of a galactic hospital which is run by AI and by organic beings with artificial implants which can also be infected. The ramifications of a virus infestation of a galactic scale are very well explored and are food for thought. I also found it interesting how the Synarche considers organic and Artificial life equal (except that AI have to pay for the price of their creation by working) in rights and in wrongs. AI can also be reported for crimes. Also, as the story involves the rescue of an ancient human generation ship we are able compare old humans' mindset with the synarche's advanced way of thinking. At the same time we question the synarche's use of "rightminding" in their citizens to correct sociopathies and any way of thinking which threatens their society. We realise that rightminding can be used as a way for social control and brainwashing but the synarche's citizens see it too?

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan

I found about this novel (and The Cement Garden, which I already read) in a YouTube video about disturbing books. Go check Plagued by Visions "Most disturbing books Series" Playlist. This book is OK but I think the Cement Garden is better. Both are very well written with a nice compelling prose. But I prefer the subject matter and the overall story in the Cement Garden. 

The story follows a couple on holidays Mary and Colin. We don't know where but we follow them in their utterly boring holiday activities and conversations. That is until the couple meet Robert, a local. Robert starts an interesting conversation about his childhood. I thought OK now things are getting interesting. But then we go back to Mary and Colin dull selves. 🥱 However near the end things get more interesting again and *freaking disturbing* with Robert and his wife flipping around an otherwise meh story. I think this novel is worth reading just for its twisted, mad ending. And it is only 100 pages.

Science Fiction and Philosophy. Edited by Susan Schneider. Part III Mind: Natural, Artificial, Hybrid, and Superintelligent.

I read the first half of this Part which comprises: 

1.Robot Dreams. A well-known short story by Isaac Asimov with Susan Calvin as protagonist. It explores the dangers sentience in robots may bring to humanity. 

2. A Brain Speaks by Andy Clark - a short story (?). It reads like a monologue by a Brain explaining how its Person, John, is unable to understand how his brain works and how alien it would seem if John could actually see or understand it. 

3. Cyborgs Unplugged by Andy Clark. The chapter starts by suggesting that rather than building artificial earth-like environments for space exploration we should look into the alteration of humans to cope with the demands of space. Clark starts this way to make a point of how our future lays in space and how to better adapt to it. The essay then discusses cybernetics (the study of self-regulating systems by control and communication), homeostatic systems (mechanisms which correct deviations in a system by dragging them back to original settings), and the cyborg (cyber organism) which contains "exogenous components extending the self-regulating control function of the organism in order to adapt it to new environments". Some examples of cybernetic implants are given, in animals and humans. The author reflects on how these technologies could be deeply and fluidly integrated with the organisms and the profound transformation in our lives, projects and live-styles. The case of cognitive systems is discussed in which integration is not as important as the “fluidity of information” between organism and machine. To exemplify this Clark presents the case of airline pilots piloting airplanes with computers which are able to make decisions. This situation could be thought of as humans becoming part of a temporal cyborg system in which the information flows from the computer to the pilot. Clark makes a case for a kind of cyborg which does not need implants or any alien technological device inside the body. Using tools from cybernetics he describes cyborgs using (electronic) tools outside the body, so integrated in their everyday life that they are "invisible in-use" making it difficult tell where the "person stops" and where the "smart world begins". In fact our brains need not extra effort to work this way because they are already doing it, for example by receiving inputs from body subsystems which operate unconsciously while holding a pen to write. In fact a lot of our activities are "invisible in-use" to the brain. This could be thought of as symbiotic relationships which “expand and alter the shape of the psychological process that make us who we are". Because of this Clark thinks that humans are "natural-born cyborgs". 

4. Superintelligence and Singularity by Ray Kurzweil. Actually this is the first chapter of Kurzweil’s famous book The Singularity is Near: When Humans transcend biology. Here Kurzweil explains how according to him, the evolution of technology grows in an exponential fashion rather than linear. This means that the more our technology progresses the faster it evolves. See for example how in the 19th and first part of the 20th century science and technology generation lasted more than one human lifetime whereas now several generations of science and technology could happen within one human generation. A point of interest within the exponential curve is the knee of the curve, where imperceptive growth turns to explosive growth. The knee of the curve will certainly reached when we achieve a technological singularity. Kurzweil emphasises crucial role the exponential nature of technological development has for forecasting or speculating on the (short or far) future. The chapter follows by dividing earth’s (and human) progress in 6 epochs: 

1. Physics and Chemistry: atoms to form molecules and so on. 

2. Biology and DNA: DNA appears and with it life. 

3. Brains: creation of information processing mechanisms. 

4. Technology: from simple mechanisms to super computers. 

5. The Merger of Human Technology with Human Intelligence: kicked by the Singularity. It will “enable our human-machine civilisation to transcend the human brain’s limitations of a mere hundred trillion extremely slow connections.” 6. The Universe Wakes Up: human (biological and technological) intelligence will spread to the rest of the universe.