EVOLUTION CONTINUES
A Human-Computer Partnership
by William Meisel
An exploration of the evolving relationships between humans and machines.
“We seldom think about how much we depend on our tools to extend the capabilities of our bodies,” technology consultant Meisel writes in his nonfiction debut. “A full view of evolution should include the tools we use constantly.” He proceeds to look at human evolution in just that way, drawing on his professional background in computer science to explore the history, nature, and possible future of artificial intelligence, which he expects to “get increasingly powerful and attack an increasing range of applications.” Meisel is an unapologetic champion of AI and marshals a wide array of cited facts and sources (each chapter ends with a reference list) to counter some of the most common objections to the greater ubiquity of high-power “smart” computing in all aspects of life. These include anxieties over the possibility of AI taking jobs from human beings; he argues that such technology would, in fact, create new jobs for people. Different chapters cover different aspects of AI, from increasing sophistication in speech recognition to advancements in “digital assistants,” now in millions of American homes, to the possibility of designing AI to mimic the deep neural networks of the human brain. Throughout, Meisel also insists on the intimate relationship between AI–infused tools and biology: “We make decisions based not only on our bodies, but on the availability of tools to help make a decision and tools to execute that decision,” he writes. “Tools extend the capability of our bodies including our brains.”
Meisel writes with the kind of knowledgeable conviction that can change minds. A persistent problem, though, is the book’s apparent misunderstanding of evolution by means of natural selection: “Humankind has always extended the ability of the human body and brain with tools,” he writes, for instance, which is true in the sociological sense but not the evolutionary sense; whatever changes that have happened to human bodies and brains over the last two centuries have likely been the result of improved nutrition and health care, not evolution. However, he compensates for this with the fierce energy with which he examines many aspects of the smart-technology world. He’s consistently engaging, for instance, when he writes about the role of tech in controlling objectionable speech in online forums: “Who decides what is ethical?” he asks. “Should we leave it in the hands of social media companies, or should it be set by governments or by industry consortiums?” Meisel’s upbeat attitude toward the future is intriguing even if some readers may consider it fairly dystopian. He believes in the enormous potential of his subject, writing that “the right tasks for AI is to do things that help humans with tasks, not emulate them.” Whether such optimism is merited is up for debate—if machines do eventually affect human evolution, it seems equally likely that they could impair human intelligence over the course of 10 generations—but it’s undeniably energizing.A brightly readable overview of how AI is poised to change human society—and perhaps humans themselves.