57 pages 1 hour read

Max Tegmark

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017

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Essay Topics

1.

Review the story of the Omega Team and Prometheus. What are the potential unspoken ethical issues in this story? Does the Omega Team handle its power responsibly? Should Prometheus be restrained? Explain why or why not.

2.

As the title of Chapter 1 indicates, Tegmark believes that the advancement of AI technology and questions concerning AI safety are part of “the most important conversation of our time (22). Why does he think this? Is he right? Why?

3.

In his discussion of AGI, machine learning, and the advancing capacities of AIs to perform tasks previously only achievable by humans, Tegmark shows that there are some tasks AIs can already do better than humans, but that there are others, like art and scientific research, that AIs still find difficult. What has changed since the publication of this book in 2017? Do you think there are some things AI will never be able to do? Why or why not? Is there anything that makes humans special or exceptional? How so?