Why Machines Will Never Rule the World

This book’s core argument is that an artificial intelligence that could equal or exceed human intelligence is for mathematical reasons impossible. In supporting their claim, the authors marshal evidence from mathematics, physics, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, biology, and anthropology. This is a revised and expanded second edition of Why Machines Will Never Rule the World. Its core argument remains the same: that an artificial intelligence (AI) that could equal or exceed human intelligence – sometimes called ‘artificial general intelligence’ (AGI) – is for mathematical reasons impossible. It offers two specific reasons for this claim: Human intelligence is a capability of the human brain and central nervous system, which is a complex dynamic system Systems of this sort cannot be modelled mathematically in a way that allows them to operate inside a computer In supporting their claim, the authors, Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith, marshal evidence from mathematics, physics, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, biology, and anthropology, setting up their book around three central questions: What are the essential marks of human intelligence? What is it that researchers try to do when they attempt to achieve ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI)? And why, after more than 50 years, are our interactions with AI, for example when on the telephone with our bank’s computers, still so unsatisfactory? The first edition was published the same week that ChatGPT was unleashed onto the world. This second edition shows how the arguments in the book apply already to Large Language Models such as ChatGPT. This new edition also brings up to date the arguments relating to the limits of AI, showing why AI systems are best viewed as pieces of mathematics, which cannot think, feel,…