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Identity, institutions, and governance in an AI world: transhuman relations
Bloom P., Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland, 2020. 268 pp. Type: Book (978-3-030361-80-8)
Date Reviewed: Apr 19 2021

You must pause for a moment to get into the right frame of mind for this book. Grant the author a willing suspension of disbelief and allow for the possibility that several major breakthroughs have occurred in artificial intelligence (AI), including human-like robots that are indeed fully human-like, even to the extent of possessing consciousness and internal subjective experiences. I realize that is a lot to ask. But, if you cannot imagine a world like that, then we cannot go any further with this book. The world you are imagining is a transhuman world where humans coexist with machines that are intelligent, conscious, and sentient.

Now that you have achieved a heroic level of imagination, the author will ask you to imagine specific concerns that will arise within this imagined world. Each chapter begins with the word “imagine” and provides a scenario which is then used to explore issues related to that scenario. For example, chapter 2 asks us to imagine nonhuman coworkers; chapter 4 asks us to consider metal health issues among our robotic coworkers and friends; chapter 6 asks us to consider robot civil rights; chapter 7 asks that we explore issues related to crimes against robots. The cynic in me wants to point out that the term “robot” will probably no longer be politically correct. But I am trying to keep such urges in check.

I am all in favor of imagining possible worlds, as it gives us an opportunity to explore the consequences of technology, or even more traditional policy decisions involving political or economic issues. And, to that extent, this book provides a useful example of doing just that. Our current approach is to do something, see what happens, and deal with the consequences the best we can. This is not always an optimal approach.

The problem I have with this book is the assumption that we will someday have robots that are intelligent, conscious, and sentient. In my view, this assumption is deeply flawed. The author does not explicitly articulate this assumption. Instead, in chapter 1, we are asked to imagine visiting a brothel staffed by robots. This is supposed to set the scene. But that did not work for me. And I felt that it clumsily dodged the central assumption of the book. There are differences of opinion on this point. My opinion is that robots such as these are no more likely than time travel, teleportation, or immortality. These technologies may work well in fantasy stories. But the real world has many barriers that the imagination does not. This makes it difficult to take the subsequent scenario explorations seriously.

Another problem I have with this book is its “thought experiment” approach of imaginative scenarios. This might work well and be productive for many other similar areas, such as augmented humans or clones, which may well become technologically feasible at some point.

Many technological achievements have made their way from science fiction into reality. Geosynchronous satellites provide an often-cited example. But that does not mean that everything you see in a fantasy movie will eventually come about. For example, do not hold your breath for a time traveling DeLorean to take you back to 1955. I may be wrong about the feasibility of some technologies, as we do not know what will be happening 100,000 years from now. But the people who are living 100,000 years from now will be so different from us that any concerns we have today will look childishly simplistic to them. So, we might want to imagine scenarios that are possible or even likely in some timeframe that we would care about.

Who might want to read this book? Beyond the naive unstated assumptions about robot technology, does it have redeeming qualities? Yes, I think it does. I like the methodology of using imaginative scenarios and the subsequent analysis to explore possible consequences. So, if one can grant the willing suspension of disbelief that I requested at the beginning of this review, there is something to be gained from this book.

Reviewer:  J. M. Artz Review #: CR147243 (2108-0198)
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