On the Origin of Artificial Species by David Wood

David Wood

Author

On the Origin of Artificial Species

Charles Darwin’s natural theory of evolution is one of the greatest ideas in history. His theory enabled mankind to partially perceive the patterns in nature. However, the greater pattern has remained undiscovered until now. With the decoding of ancient Greek mythology and philosophy, the pattern of evolution has been fully revealed. In his book On the Origins of Artificial Species, David R. Wood has completed the work begun by the ancient Greeks and progressed by the family Darwin. He has discovered the pattern of evolution – both natural and artificial. In so doing, David has produced scientific breakthroughs in the fields of evolution, neuroscience, philosophy, history, politics, business, warfare, and technology. This includes clarifying and defining what the emergence of artificial intelligence means in evolutionary terms. These scientific breakthroughs allow humanity to understand our present and predict our future. They enable the framing of a clear choice for the future of artificial intelligence. The wrong choice will lead to our extinction. The right choice will take us to the stars. The book On the Origin of Artificial Species contains the following key discoveries: •\tScientifically define the existential threat and incredible opportunity of artificial intelligence •\tDiscover the theory of artificial evolution by means of artificial selection •\tDecode ancient Greek philosophy and myth lost for millennia •\tProduce new insights into natural evolutionary science •\tReframe the Digital Age in evolutionary terms •\tDiscover the scientific theory of imagination

Reviews

“Our capacity to assess the risk of AI is struggling to keep pace with its technological evolution,” Wood writes in this probing consideration of the “unclear choice” that humanity faces. Arguing that the first step to manage a risk—or to mitigate a threat—is to fully understand it, Wood urges us as a species to heed our qualms about the rapid development of AI, especially as we are “struggling to articulate to ourselves what our instincts are trying to tell us.” To make his case, Wood draws on evolutionary theory, ancient Greek history and philosophy, and the power of imagination (“the ultimate adaptation”), especially in the form of “artificial selection,” that “combination of conscious thought and intentional action that” allows humans alone, of all Earth’s denizens, to produce with intention “a specific ‘thing.’” (Wood explicates and even redefines these terms in clear detail.)

Like Stephen Fry, whom Wood deems an “oracle,” On the Origin of Artificial Species considers AI and evolution through the lens of the myth of Prometheus. The issue facing our species: whether to pass along the fire of consciousness, imagination, and artificial evolution to AI. The stakes, he suggests, are nothing less than “the threat of our species’ extinction,” and he urges readers to take seriously the warnings of science- fiction stories, whose creators’ “natural instincts and imagination are performing their evolutionary role—searching for dangerous patterns in the environment.”

Wood offers sweeping, provocative surveys of artificial selection and evolution, urging humanity writ large to select wisely: “The right artificial selection will take us to the stars,” he argues, “but the wrong artificial selection will force us to fight AI for survival.” Despite pages excerpted directly from Plato, the approach, overall, edges toward Gladwell-style pop science, with clear take-aways in every passage, quotes from Richard Branson and Elon Musk, and breakdowns of instinctual thinking and ancient paradoxes. Wood’s prose is unfussy and mostly clear, and he organizes the material invitingly.

Takeaway: Impassioned call for an assessment of the risks of AI.

Comparable Titles: Geoffrey Hinton; Melanie Mitchell’s Artificial Intelligence.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

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