Citation
(2010), "The Allure of Machine Life: Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence and the New AI", Kybernetes, Vol. 39 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2010.06739aae.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
The Allure of Machine Life: Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence and the New AI
Article Type: Book reports From: Kybernetes, Volume 39, Issue 1
John Johnson,MIT Press,Cambridge, MA,2009,ISBN 978-0-262-10126-4,£25.95
This book we are told is essential reading for cyberneticians and systemists, particularly those readers who specialise in artificial intelligence. It offers a critical review of the interdisciplinary research and development in and around the fields of cybernetics, artificial life and artificial intelligence.
It has the approval of the British Computer Society reviews which have named it the “Book of the Month” for September 2009. Although a full review of this text will be given in future issues of this journal, it is worth noting that it has been published and that its contents are relevant to our fields. The text looks at the ideas and concepts that bring together cybernetics, artificial life and the new artificial intelligence approaches, with reference to machines that show various characteristics that maybe associated with living organisms. The book has three parts each examining the individual fields included in the book’s sub-title. One reviewer tells us that:
It is not a technical book it does not contain detailed expositions of specific technologies or approaches. It is a deep and stimulating read throughout […] (2009 ITNOW-BCS).