Birth of Intelligence: From RNA to Artificial Intelligence

What is intelligence? How did it begin and evolve to human intelligence? Does a high level of biological intelligence require a complex brain? Can man-made machines be truly intelligent? Is AI fundamentally different from human intelligence? In Birth of Intelligence, distinguished neuroscientist Daeyeol Lee tackles these pressing fundamental issues. To better prepare for future society and its technology, including how the use of AI will impact our lives, it is essential to understand the biological root and limits of human intelligence. After systematically reviewing biological and computational underpinnings of decision making and intelligent behaviors, Birth of Intelligence proposes that true intelligence requires life.
Review
"This book addresses two fundamental questions--what it means to be intelligent and why it is important for biological systems to be intelligent. Drawing on key discoveries in neuroscience, computation, psychology, biology, and economics, Lee explains that a flexible ability to deal with the unexpected is central to intelligence and that such a capacity is inextricably linked to the biological imperative for replication and reproduction. There are books about intelligence and books about brains but this is the only one to explain how knowing about the workings of the Venus fly trap, the transistor, RNA, the agency dilemma, and Martian rovers can be useful for understanding either."
--Matthew Rushworth, FRS, DPhil, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Oxford
"In this engaging book, celebrated neuroscientist Daeyeol Lee provides an accessible but authoritative introduction to the core sciences of mind and brain. Building on this, he offers a penetrating and novel argument concerning the differences between biological and artificial intelligence. The book not only contributes key points to one of the most important debates of our time, but also provides an entree into this discussion for both non-experts and experts alike. In this way, Lee helps to create a space for informed and constructive debate concerning the future of our technology, and our relationship with it."
--Matthew Botvinick, MD, PhD, Director of Neuroscience Research, DeepMind and Honorary Professor, Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London
"This ambitious book addresses the complex subject of intelligence. It is an account by a leader on the frontiers of neuroscience and psychology that is crackling with ideas and presented within a new framework of the critical role of intelligence in evolution. The author is engaged in the most up-to-date studies on the broad topic of decision neuroscience. His narrative shows amazing mastery of the essential topics, across a wide range of fields, including psychology, neuroscience, mathematics, probability theory, economic theory, evolution, philosophy, and artificial intelligence. These are all knitted together by a logical sequence of chapters and an engaging narrative style to give new insights into the neural basis of intelligence."
--Gordon M. Shepherd, MD, DPhil, Professor Emeritus in Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine