In the readition of the bestselling Chaos and A Brief History of Time, here is a science book with mainstream appeal. Proponents of artificial intelligence maintain that eventually a computer will be able to do everything a human mind can do, but Oxford University Professor of Mathematics Roger Penrose explains his view that there are facets of human thinking that can never be emulated by a machine. Drawings throughout.
Some love it, some hate it, but The Emperor's New Mind, physicist Roger Penrose's 1989 treatise attacking the foundations of strong artificial intelligence, is crucial for anyone interested in the history of thinking about AI and consciousness. Part survey of modern physics, part exploration of the philosophy of mind, the book is not for casual readers--though it's not overly technical, it rarely pauses to let the reader catch a breath. The overview of relativity and quantum theory, written by a master, is priceless and uncontroversial. The exploration of consciousness and AI, though, is generally considered as resting on shakier ground.
Penrose claims that there is an intimate, perhaps unknowable relation between quantum effects and our thinking, and ultimately derives his anti-AI stance from his proposition that some, if not all, of our thinking is non-algorithmic. Of course, these days we believe that there are other avenues to AI than traditional algorithmic programming; while he has been accused of setting up straw robots to knock down, this accusation is unfair. Little was then known about the power of neural networks and behavior-based robotics to simulate (and, some would say, produce) intelligent problem-solving behavior. Whether these tools will lead to strong AI is ultimately a question of belief, not proof, and The Emperor's New Mind offers powerful arguments useful to believer and nonbeliever alike. --Rob Lightner

人工智能作为21世纪科技发展的最新成就，深刻揭示了科技发展为人类社会带来的巨大影响。本书结合求解智能问题的数据结构以及实现的算法，把人工智能的应用程序应用于实际环境中，并从社会和哲学、心理学以及神经生理学角度对人工智能进行了独特的讨论。本书提供了一个崭新的视角，展示了以人工智能为代表的科技现象作为一种“奇点”思潮，揭示了其在世界范围内所产生的广泛影响。本书全书分为以下几大部分：第一部分人工智能，第二部分问题延伸，第三部分拓展人类思维，第四部分推理，第五部分通信、感知与行动，第六部分结论。本书既详细介绍了人工智能的基本概念、思想和算法，还描述了其各个研究方向最前沿的进展，同时收集整理了详实的历史文献与事件。
适合于不同层次和领域的研究人员及学生，是高等院校本科生和研究生人工智能课的课外读物，也是相关领域的科研与工程技术人员的参考书。