Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-first-Century Science

The drive to create artificial intelligence has been contentious since its beginnings, and the arguments have sharpened our understanding of fields as diverse as mathematics, neuroscience, and philosophy. Science writer Sam Williams's brief history of the controversies, Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-First Century Science, is an excellent starting point for readers interested more in arguments than in circuit diagrams.

Its six chapters, while strongly focused, occasionally go in curious directions; for example, while Jaron Lanier is no doubt an important figure, he gets a surprising and disproportionate amount of page space. Still, Williams defines and clarifies the debates over the feasibility and desirability of A.I. and includes plenty of paper and online resources to inspire further investigation. --Rob Lightner