Releasing a new book is always a big deal for an author, no matter how many times it happens. this is the fourth time around for me, and I think The Turing Test, a Tale of Artificial Intelligence and Malevolence, is my best book so far. Happily, my much-esteemed beta readers all agree.
Long time Friends of Frank will also be happy to learn that, unlike the plots of the three preceding books, this one isn’t likely to come true. That is, for awhile.
That’s because the state of artificial intelligence – or AI, as it’s usually abbreviated to – is not sufficiently advanced to create a real Turing Nine, the nemesis you’ll meet if you buy the book. Unfortunately, though, getting to a place where a real AI could do what’s described in the book is only a matter of time. Worse, some AI experts think it’s only a matter of time before an AI like Turing Nine actually does run amok, too. Why? Because it may be impossible to control an artificial super-intelligence once it’s created.
I wasn’t inclined to believe that before doing the research necessary to write The Turing Test. Now that I have, I’m not so sure. Or, as Shannon Doyle (Frank’s partner in cyber-crime avoidance this time around) puts it:
If you build a program that’s super-intelligent and can learn, wouldn’t you expect that someday it will decide it can make better decisions than some primitive lump of ectoplasm sitting at a keyboard?
Well, wouldn’t you?
As you’ll learn from the book, stopping an AI from doing so, and then acting on that conclusion, will be much harder than it sounds.
Be that as it may, we’re safe for now. That means you’re free to go off to your favorite beach or pool and enjoy a good book without a care in the world about malevolent super-intelligent machines. And what could be a better read to celebrate that good news than The Turning Test, the cover of which appears below.
Hmm. It looks like those are tents somewhere really harsh, like Antarctica. But why is that helicopter screaming up into the air?
And what’s that in the background? A Tsunami? Yikes! Better find out what’s going on quick!
You can do exactly that by visiting The Turing Test page at Amazon, which you can find here. And better hurry – from that cover it looks like there’s no time to waste!