Creating the Conscience of the Machine

Been away for a while, but after getting some rest and visiting friends in family in Lake Tahoe last weekend, I'm ready to get back to blogging.

J. Storrs Hall investigates the future implication of artificial intelligence in his new book, Beyond AI.  While I have not yet read the book, my eye immediately caught the cover, an edited version of Queen's 1977 album cover for "News of the world".

This appears to be another of the those books trying to predict where AI is headed, and what great technologies we can expect once we figure out how to actually develop the AI.  Dr Storr takes a look at the medical aspects as they related to gene therapy, and the design of new proteins.

The book also goes into the subject of autogenous systems.  Systems that can extend themselves beyond the limitations of their creator.  This is a subject I have been fond of for some time now.  Can we write programs that can edit or recode themselves?