Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence

by Richard Yonck, Robertson Dean (Narrator)

For Readers of Ray Kurzweil and Michio Kaku, a New Look at the Cutting Edge of Artificial Intelligence

Imagine a robotic stuffed animal that can read and respond to a child’s emotional state, a commercial that can recognize and change based on a customer’s facial expression, or a company that can actually create feelings as though a person were experiencing them naturally. Heart of the Machine explores the next giant step in the relationship between humans and technology: the ability of computers to recognize, respond to, and even replicate emotions. Computers have long been integral to our lives, and their advances continue at an exponential rate. Many believe that artificial intelligence equal or superior to human intelligence will happen in the not-too-distance future; some even think machine consciousness will follow. Futurist Richard Yonck argues that emotion, the first, most basic, and most natural form of communication, is at the heart of how we will soon work with and use computers.

Instilling emotions into computers is the next leap in our centuries-old obsession with creating machines that replicate humans. But for every benefit this progress may bring to our lives, there is a possible pitfall. Emotion recognition could lead to advanced surveillance, and the same technology that can manipulate our feelings could become a method of mass control. And, as shown in movies like Her and Ex Machina, our society already holds a deep-seated anxiety about what might happen if machines could actually feel and break free from our control. Heart of the Machine is an exploration of the new and inevitable ways in which mankind and technology will interact.

Genres: Science, Technology, Nonfiction, Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy, Anthropology, Robots

11 pages, Audiobook

Published March 16, 2017

About the author

Richard Yonck began reading science fiction from his earliest school days. Always curious about the future and worlds beyond our own planet, he was fascinated by computers and electronics as well. As a boy, he could often be found in the garage taking apart motors, radios and televisions, then reassembling them in order to understand how they worked. Combined with his love of writing, media, and computing, this eventually put him on the path as an international keynote speaker, global futurist and best-selling author. In these roles, he takes audiences on journeys into the future to explore the potential impacts of emerging trends and technologies on business, industry and society.

Richard’s book, Future Minds explores the nature and future of human and artificial intelligence. His previous book, Heart of the Machine, looks at the future of those technologies that allow computers and robots to read, interpret, and influence human emotions. Now in its second edition, it’s been translated into multiple languages.

Now, his passion for science and science fiction has brought him full circle. Mindstock is Richard’s debut science fiction thriller, though it will be far from his last. He loves writing fiction that explores not only what may happen, but what must never happen. Join him on this sci-fi thriller journey through his books, author talks, newsletters and social media channels.

Raised in Seattle, Richard is married to his wife, Alexandra Steele, and together they make their home in Buenos Aires, Prague, Seattle and who knows where beyond that.

Reviews

[Maryam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly this book doesn't have anything new to give.

First few chapters are about the history of AI and generally machines/computers. So more historical facts.
After that the writer brings lots of examples from movies/ Sci-Fi books to get to the point that what happens in the future and what kind of AI we need.

The point is , we all have read these theories in books or watched them in movies. so nothing really to add to the picture.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a dud for me. One would think any book on machines becoming more human like would be a winner. One would be wrong. I found his mostly current musings on the topic trite and superficial (maybe I'm being redundant, but when a book is as superfluous as this book I don't mind being redundant with my insults). Even his tying autism into his story seemed to lack depth of any kind. I have no idea why this author wrote the book, but the first rule of book writing should be along the lines of assuming that the reader is interested in the topic and wants to learn something new. The book fails that first rule.

One other thing: Shame on the New York Times and their book review section. They had Ray Kurzweil write the review for this book and "Thinking Machine" within a double review, and he wrote a really, really favorable review for both books. Nothing wrong with that since that's a matter of opinion, but they really, really should have warned the reader that both books sung the praises of Kuzrweill within their texts and that the reviewer might not have been able to separate that from an honest review (I'm not saying that Kurzweil didn't like the books, but I wish I had been warned of the potential conflict that the reviewer would have in giving an honest review). For me, both books were duds, insignificant, lacked depth, and I would have been better off re-reading a Kurzweil book.

[Gopika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It did a good job of summarizing existing research on the intersection between technology and emotions while also describing thought-provoking scenarios on the future of affective technologies. It was well-written and easy to follow despite the breadth of information covered. I found the book to be a good read that I'd like to revisit again in the future.

[Kyle Butterworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sections about the particular future applications for Affective Computing and Emotional AI were the most interesting sections of the book. Artificial Intelligence is the future of our world; we will use them for everything, everyone has their own intelligent personal assistant, our homes are controlled by AI and the Internet of Things, and so on. At that point, we will want the next, most immersive iteration: emotionally intelligent machines. Machines and technology that can interpret our moods and emotions and interact with us in more effective ways will be a must. This book does a good job of laying out that future. Other than the hypothetical segments, a lot of this book was very boring. I would only recommend this book if you can stand the boring bits, and would like a solid introduction into the past, present, and future of Affective Computing.

[Chrystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

The third part (of three) I found particularly interesting and enjoyable. If readers are not already familiar with the history, philosophy and science underpinning the present state of technology, the first two parts will be of value to them.

I got a pleasant surprise near the end.... Richard Yonck's thesis agrees with my own. High five!

[David C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fascinated by this book from start to finish. I'd say I've read my share about AI but I was mostly unfamiliar with how much has been accomplished in this particular branch – affective computing. I thought it did a good job covering a huge scope. The second chapter might've tried to do too much, but after that each chapter left me wanting to start the next. My one other quibble would be I would've liked more explanations about the techniques and algorithms being used but maybe that's just me. All in all, I thought it was a really worthwhile read.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book on how emotional processing is one of the high-level targets of AI research. Emotionally intelligent AI will be necessary to make a convincing AI useful in many areas. My guess is if the robots are after our jobs the caring professions in medicine and education and social work will be the last to fall to an AI replacement. Caring for people is no simple algorithm. Interesting book on this frontier of AI research.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this one. I'm on board with Yonck's thesis, but there's not much original research or new analysis in here - I felt it could have been a longform essay rather than a full book.

[Meg Coulson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book was interesting, it was somewhat repetitive and provided far too many definitions for commonly understood terms while not explaining well more complicated concepts. Also, it kind of creeped me out.

[Gruia Novac · Rating 1 out of 5]

writer piles information in this book. it lacks depth and it lacks any sense of value. the reader will learn nothing and will not grow by reading this book. waste of time

[Dovydas Ceilutka · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the concept of emotional AI is fascinating. I've been following companies like Affectiva and Emotibot for a while. This area of research appears to be underserved, but hopefully, it will change in the near future as more and more practical applications of emotional AI appear. This book is a decent non-technical introduction to the world of emotional intelligence. However, there is a number of flaws that make this book less than it could have been.
1. It heavily anthropomorphizes artificial intelligence. It is infuriating that so much time and focus are given to the hardware (robots!!!) component, and only the algorithms are only an afterthought.
2. It tries to be very futuristic. There is so much happening right now that pushing the focus far into the future is frustrating. What is more, the future projections do not really follow from the current research and not much explanation is given why.
Overall this book has good parts, but feels frustrating.

[Jon Norimann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of "Heart of the Machine" are very interesting, discussing modern technology for creating or simulating emotions. Sadly the interesting bits are so few and far between the book has become a nightmare to read. Yonck himself seems to have understood this, repeatedly saying these things are beyond the scope of this book, despite spending pages on them. Most likely Yonck did not have enough related material to fill more than 50-60 pages so it was decided to pad the book with unrelated material to fill it out.

"Heart of the machine" is a book best avoided by all with no entertainment value. Some of the book has value for those especially interested in technology of emotions, gaining it a star more than lowest possible, but those things are better read elsewhere.

[亭均 劉 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains various psychology theories, history introductions, and plots from science fiction stories. I would say it’s not a bad book if you want to know some interesting facts of ai. However, I was looking forward to having deeper discussions when I started… The book lacks of substantial content, feels like I'm just reading a book with gathered news or articles.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: A lot of breadth, which was great but sadly, topics were also rather touch and go, so not all that much depth. No one can predict the future with absolute certainty, so it's expected that there would be a lot of speculation. Speculation alone isn't particularly informative but in conjunction with analysis and statistics, imagining plausible futures aids in risk assessment and preparing for particular events. I'm sure the author worked through these before positing his vision of technology, artificial intelligence and the future. However, these explanations didn't adequately prop up the conclusions.

What he did explore extensively was emotion — its importance in communication, how it could integrated into technology, and what the outcomes could be. I supposed that's what "heart" refers to in the title: emotions, rather getting to the core of this topic.

Also, I didn't like the narrator. His droning voice sounded bored from beginning to end with little variation in tone. That's why I rounded down to 3 stars for my Goodreads rating instead of up to 4.

[Gareth]

Sci-fi has long agreed that the one thing missing from Artificial Intelligence is emotion. From Star Trek's Data to Arnie's Terminator, the capacity to feel anger, sadness, joy, etc, has been taken as a milestone past which robots and computers could rightly claim the same rights as their biological equivalents. As Yonck acknowledges to his credit, we are nowhere near that point – and may never be – but the role of emotion is nonetheless destined to play an increasingly vital role in technological development for decades to come. So, while the question of true artificial sentience is interesting – and Yonck does dedicate some of the book to discussion of that more far-fetched possibility – the really exciting developments in machine emotional intelligence are already beginning to take place.

Machine emotional intelligence – or "affective computing", as Yonck terms it – involves both a computer's ability to read human emotion, and the related ability to simulate it. The Siris and Alexas of the future will not only know when you're feeling a bit down or pissed off, and adjust your house lights and introduce some appropriate music, but will ultimately develop a degree of emotional behaviour and empathy that will allow them to behave as "our assistants, our friends and companions, and yes, possibly even our lovers." Westworld here we come! Well, perhaps not – or at least not yet.

The majority of the book takes the form of a survey of the varoius fields in which affective computing is being – and will be – developed. Each chapter is prefaced by a "scenario" – some past, current or future playlet – that explores how affective computing will impact (for instance) education, shopping, war, medicine, therapy, and of course sex (without which no book on robots would be complete). This is all, by and large, pretty interesting, and nicely put together. In this regard, the book acts as an extremely valuable primer on technological trends for any techno-fans or budding sci-fi writers (ahem!), and I can heartily (pun intended) recommend it on that score.

Yonck is closer to the techno-evangelist camp than neo-Luddites such as myself, but he does a fair job of cooling his futurist ardour with various caveats and healthy doses of scepticism. The closing chapters grow more philosophical – at which I pricked up my ears and sharpened my talons – but his overview of the philosophical terrain is both fair and balanced, even if it is not in-depth (e.g. there is no mention of intentionality), and there were points I would disagree with (I don't think we need a third category in addition to "access" and "phenomenal" consciousness, really – but that's by the by...). But overall I found myself agreeing with his conclusion that, while it's highly unlikely that machines will eventually develop the capacity for phenomenal consciousness (feelings, emotions, etc), making it improbable that we could have full artificial equivalents of humans, we face a much greater likelihood of human-like artificial beings that can simulate human thought and behaviour. Beyond that there is also the worry that AI will develop its own non-human intelligence (though without true sentience, it's hard to think how this can be anything more than a sort of rampant runaway set of maths equations with thermonuclear warheads attached – not a settling thought, though, I agree).

There are a few points where I would question Yonck's theoretical commitments, though these are also shared by other commentators in the field who are less balanced in their approach. He parrots the common observation that technology is "neutral", and that it's up to us to decide its ethical import (which sort of misses the point - which I credit to Marx, via Marshall McLuhan – that all technologies – "media" – come pre-embedded with values and norms – their own "message"). He flirts with the idea that, sentient or not, since we won't be able to tell whether future AI have in fact evolved sentience, machines should therefore be accorded rights. Here he offers up the usual comparisons with liberal progress – racism, sexism – where future generations will have to be cured of their inherent robotism (as I guess you might call it). The justification for this equality seems simply to be that such machines would be "black boxes", so complicated that we simply don't know what's going on inside them; and because we don't know, we should err on the side of caution (which is a not very appealing form of the argument from ignorance – to me, anyway). He also seems very keen on the idea of "homo hybridus", or cyborgism, and that some future blending of human and machine almost represents an inevitability ("It's only a short step from a wooden leg to a bionic foot!" – not a direct quote). So while at times he does topple from his balanced pedestal into something more partisan – "The future's a-comin', y'all!" (again, not a direct quote) – Yonck's book is quite sober and measured.

In summary, then: worth reading, even just for it's accessible, well-researched and (generally) well-balanced overview of what tech has in store for us – perhaps.

Gareth Southwell is a philosopher, writer and illustrator.

[Maryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Во первых строках своего письма я хотела бы чуточку четче объяснить тему книги, ибо лично для меня, человека с гуманитарным образованием, словосочетание «эмоциональное программирование» не говорило ничего. Нет, ну кроме картинки обезумевшего программиста, вырывающего себе волосы на голове, потому как внезапно выключилось электричество и ничего не сохранилось. Так вот… Эмоциональное программирование, по крайней мере, в той форме, что оно подано в данной книге, - это исследования, направленные на то, чтобы обучить машины распознавать и воссоздавать человеческие эмоции. В этой книге автор в достаточно простой и понятной форме рассказывает о том, что уже сделано в этой сфере, что еще предстоит сделать, и зачем вообще все это надо. Благодаря интересной и увлекательной форме подачи вполне можно рекомендовать широкому кругу лиц, которые интересуются новыми технологиями, футурологическими подходами к истории человечества и просто различными «приколами» из сферы компьютеров и роботов.

Теперь немного глубже о структуре книги и о том, какие темы затрагивает автор. Книга разделена на три части – «Путь к программированию эмоций», «Рассвет эмоциональных машин» и «Будущее эмоционального искусственного интеллекта». В первой части автор запрягает очень издалека, начиная рассказывать о роли эмоций при передачи первых технологий у первобытных людей. Далее сразу очень большой скачек и мы попадаем в современность, где речь идет о первых шагах искусственного интеллекта, первых роботах и прочем. Кстати, очень интересная часть, не смотря на всю ее «вступительность». Вторая часть посвящена сферам, в которых можно применять эмоциональное программирование и как именно его можно применять. Надо сказать, что суть второй части частенько пересекается с третьей, потому как и там, и тут автор заглядывает в будущее и рассказывает, что могло бы случиться в этих сферах при «если бы да кабы». Третья часть уже целиком и полностью футурология – здесь есть и глава о будущем эмоционального программирования в сфере сексуальных услуг, и глава про права и свободы будущих человеко-роботов. Как по мне, так эти наметки на будущее и есть самая «размыслительная» часть книги, потому что не задуматься над тем, куда же и каким образом идут наши технологии невозможно. Это такая научная фантастика, которая очень похожа на правду.

Общее впечатление от книги очень хорошее. Она написана простым языком, автор излагает все доходчиво, увлекательно и иногда даже с юмором. В книге нет ничего «особо» технического, поэтому ее можно смело рекомендовать и тем, кто плохо разбирается в технике, компьютерах, и кому слово «программирование» внушает неподдельный ужас. Еще меня очень порадовали многие интересные примеры – например, о том, как Майкрософт выпустил самообучающегося бота в Твиттер и через 24 часа его пришлось удалить ибо он стал самым заядлым матерщинником и нацистом во всем мире. Или вот, допустим, что у человекообразных обезьян точность и меткость швыряния г…ном напрямую соотносится с уровнем интеллекта. Одним словом, «Сердце машины» - вполне приятный нон-фикшн, который существенно расширил мои познания. И да, я внутренне рада, что если я в кого-то решу кинуть тем самым, то, наверное, попаду – я ж умная.

9 / 10

[KellyD · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed.

I need to admit right up front that I was unable to finish ‘The Heart of the Machine’. It was certainly compelling in parts, but the writer’s dry, scholarly approach to the topic combined with the publisher’s incredibly confounding editing style just made it too difficult to continue.

And that’s really unfortunate because it’s an important subject, one that many of us probably take for granted. And while the author makes some excellent points (albeit tinged with a rosy hue), he has a tendency towards repetition and pretension at times – a lot of unnecessary name dropping for example -- as if he’s trying to impress his peers, instead of writing to a wider audience.

But the primary reason I made it about two-thirds of the way through was the editor’s apparent tunnel vision with regards to overall readability. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many unnecessarily and awkwardly hyphenated words in a book in my life. And worse, the kerning (the spaces between both letters and words) is frankly appalling. Just as an example, in some sentences -- like the one at the beginning of the third paragraph, halfway down page 113 – the words are so crowded together the sentence becomes almost unreadable, something that should’ve been caught and corrected early on.

I thought it was just me, so I showed it to my brother, and two friends, and all were in agreement – they’d never seen such bizarre kerning. Full disclosure: My brother’s wife was a typesetter, so perhaps he’s more attuned to these things, but still, he found a missing word on the first page he opened the book to (pg. 36), and I found one later on (pg. 194, about where I stopped) when I wasn’t even looking. Considering this is a book on artificial emotional intelligence, perhaps it was edited by a robot. If that’s the case, then maybe he or she just didn’t give a damn? Nevertheless, a human should have, and it’s a shame that it wasn’t handled more professionally, both for the author and his potential audience.

[Tom Calvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an ambitious and impressive book overall, in my view. We focus so much on the cognitive and computational aspects of AI that a book focusing more on the affective, emotional, and social aspects can offer some counterbalance to this.

There is an array of chapters on everything from the evolution of human emotion through to sexbots, soldier bots, teacher AI, recreational AI, sci-fi, and more. Given that the author is a futurist, there are also some engaging futuristic scenarios starting some of the chapters and some longer-term speculations about the singularity and transhumanism.

I think the author could have been more critical overall of Big Tech and more political and economic views of the topic. Then again, the book is already quite sprawling, and I felt at times it did not consistently relate back to emotion as the main focus. Some of the scenarios were also arguably a bit short and a bit weak, where more bold, detailed, and challenging future visions could have been discussed more.

Overall, the author has put a lot of effort into recounting evolutionary and neuroscientific research about human emotions and the development of fields like affective computing and social robotics. They also note the dark side of technology and the need to consider its uses, abuses, and more threatening trajectories. You don't have to agree with all the points made, and the author seems aware of that. I would recommend it for thinking about how models of human emotions and consciousness relate to models of machine intelligence and functioning, even if some of the material in the book seems unlikely, far-fetched or troubling.

Finally, it's obviously a shame that any book like this represents an account published in the years before (in 2017 in this case) ChatGPT, GenAI, and LLMs became such a prominent focus for innovation and debate. It might be that an updated edition or sequel could be helpful for reconnecting the emotional themes covered to these most recent, ongoing developments.

[Jay French · Rating 5 out of 5]

While recently attending my daughter’s college graduation, I was impressed by the sheer number of students announced as receiving Psychology degrees as their second bachelor’s degree. I was told it was one of the top degrees in the school. I really didn’t see the obvious value, outside of sales and as a step to a grad degree, but “Heart of the Machine” makes the case for the study of psychology, or in particular emotion. What this book makes obvious is that technology is providing ways to “read” people that were not available previously. Through video recording of movements imperceptible to humans, responses that give away inner thought, emotional response to stimulus can be captured, cataloged, and used to optimize, say, buying behavior or knowledge acquisition. And can these capabilities be given to robots, so they can respond to the world with emotional signals, and can read our own signals and react appropriately? Or could you make devices that work as part of a human, allowing the human to repair a possible lack in recognizing the state of others? The book goes through many such scenarios, bringing to light the state of the art in design, and conjecturing where these capabilities can lead us.

I really enjoyed the way this was written, describing issues, the state of the art, and the possible futures of the technology and its usage. I also appreciated the author’s use of recent sci-fi films with “awoke”, or awakening, robots. I consider myself well read, to the point where I’ve-seen-it-before is my usual response to a book. It’s a rare book that can open my mind to something new and exciting. This was one of those books. If I could have asked for more, it would have been for investment advice. BTW, audiobook was well narrated by Robertson Dean.

[Randolph King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Computers and robots that can respond to us on an emotional level are already among us, although at a primitive level. This books explores the logical extensions of that technology, looking at the good and the bad. The technology is not waiting for a moral analysis, nor even public awareness. It is being rolled out to benefit whichever company develops it.

Over the next couple of decades, these technologies will become part of our everyday lives. From the handheld assistants that can respond to the needs of our moods to salesbots that can exploit your weaknesses in order to make a sale. And there will be the inevitable exploit from hackers seeking to take advantage of weaknesses, ignorance, or just software bugs.

Each chapter begins with a short scenario that demonstrates use of some aspect of the technology. Then he delves into that technology and take the reader into new ideas and new frontiers.

Overall, I found the book enlightening. Not only is it a good read, I encourage people to read it just to prepare themselves for the future. Whether his ideas will come to fruition, or some other variants, it is already on its way.

[H. III · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful and broad discussion of the topic with in-depth understanding of biology, medicine, neuroscience and computer science. An excellent review of the topic.

Like some of the other reviewers, at times I thought the author had lost the thread or was not going into enough detail. At times I thought there was too much detail, particularly around the end of the first third of the book. The second half, though, rewarded me with the connections I was seeking as the author tied together history, current science, theory and speculation.

It must be difficult to write a book like this for the intelligent, well educated non specialist as finding the best balance of introduction and depth for the majority of readers is bound to disappoint readers at both extremes of familiarity with the topic. I would say that the author has done an admirable job that will satisfy a large number of readers. I am a psychiatrist and after reading this book I was able to discuss this topic with my sons who are in computer science with much more depth and specificity than ever before. Thank you.

[Tosin Toshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I could have read this book but it was great via audio. It opened up my imagination a bit more about what is possible in a future where there is a proliferation of AI, and AI that could feel or simulate emotions. This science is called Affective Computing. The book provides a fascinating history, current applications and possible future scenarios. With all discourses on AI, I wish there was more around current applications or how far off we are to pervasive use or what would need to be true for true proliferation to occur. Are we 5, 10 or 50 years away? The book has definitely created an appetite for me to learn more.

[David C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fascinated by this book from start to finish. I'd say I've read my share about AI but I was mostly unfamiliar with how much has been accomplished in this particular branch – affective computing. I thought it did a good job covering a huge scope. The second chapter might've tried to do too much, but after that each chapter left me wanting to start the next. My one other quibble would be I would've liked more explanations about the techniques and algorithms being used but maybe that's just me. All in all, I thought it was a really worthwhile read.

[Dave Irwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did think this was an interesting book but it was slightly out of date and a little alarmist at times. I think it raised an interesting subject, affective computing, but it doesn't really show any practical applications for the software and how it evolves. A very wishy-washy, and overly stuffed, "futurist" take in the technology.

It definitely sparked my interest in the subject but only so far as to find better resources to learn about artificial emotional intelligence.

[Roger Rosenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting description of what has been going on between humans and technology for millennia. Also disturbing and a little frightening. Also very, very important. Important takeaway for me...Ludditeism has never been an effective long term strategy. Enhancing ourselves through technology is what humans do.

[retnolaras · Rating 3 out of 5]

took me along time to finished this. fyuh! earlier chapters talked about hypothetical situations and imagining the future, which I am not interested reading on non-fiction book. however, later on it picked up the pace and gave a lot of informations and facts and insights. It was a nice read for someone who worked in AI and machine learning field.

[Matthew Gibb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a detailed account of Affective Computing, which is set to read human body language and adjust people's emotional state based on feelings, which stem from a number of hormones the body excretes naturally. It offers a number of possible outcomes. The best one is a synergy between man and machines that enhances humanity.

[Britt Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I found the concepts presented interesting, they seemed to be disjointed. Other than the general topic of AI, I didn't see any cohesiveness. Each chapter read like a completely separated essay, with some topics seeming far more disconnected than others (from history to sex robots).

[Ivan Roque · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great! I think the combination of fiction (future) present and the past is amazing. I read that book in my free time and I found very interesting that most of the news was talking about robots and things that were in the book. I recommended this book to all of my friends and family.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can scientists, who don't believe feelings are relevant, invent machines that feel? Was shocked by some of the horrifying honesty in this book about how scientists actually view emotion. That was more interesting to me than the ideas presented on developing AI.