"Artificial Intelligence" (AI) a term coined in the 1950s actually dates back as far as 1943. Now very much in the public consciousness, AI research has fallen in and out of favour over the years. Routledge Library Editions: Artificial Intelligence (10 Volumes) brings together as one set, or individual volumes, a small interdisciplinary series of previously out-of-print titles, originally published between 1970 and 1994. Covering ground in computer science, literature, philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy and sociology, this set is a fascinating insight into the development of ideas surrounding AI.

The purpose of this book, originally published in 1987, was to contribute to the advance of artificial intelligence (AI) by clarifying and removing the major sources of philosophical confusion at the time which continued to preoccupy scientists and thereby impede research. Unlike the vast majority of philosophical critiques of AI, however, each of the authors in this volume has made a serious attempt to come to terms with the scientific theories that have been developed, rather than attacking superficial ‘straw men’ which bear scant resemblance to the complex theories that have been developed. For each is convinced that the philosopher’s responsibility is to contribute from his own special intellectual point of view to the progress of such an important field, rather than sitting in lofty judgement dismissing the efforts of their scientific peers. The aim of this book is thus to correct some of the common misunderstandings of its subject. The technical term Artificial Intelligence has created considerable unnecessary confusion because of the ordinary meanings associated with it, and for that very reason, the term is endlessly misused and abused. The essays collected here all aim to expound the true nature of AI, and to remove the ill-conceived philosophical discussions which seek answers to the wrong questions in the wrong ways. Philosophical discussions and decisions about the proper use of AI need to be based on a proper understanding of the manner in which AI-scientists achieve their results; in particular, in their dependence on the initial planning input of human beings. The collection combines the Anglo-Saxon school of analytical philosophy with scientific and psychological methods of investigation. The distinguished authors in this volume represent a cross-section of philosophers, psychologists, and computer scientists from all over the world. The result is a fascinating study in the nature and future of AI, written in a style which is certain to appeal and inform laymen and specialists alike.

'if AI is outside your field, or you know something of the subject and would like to know more then Artificial Intelligence: The Basics is a brilliant primer.' - Nick Smith, Engineering and Technology Magazine November 2011 Artificial Intelligence: The Basics is a concise and cutting-edge introduction to the fast moving world of AI. The author Kevin Warwick, a pioneer in the field, examines issues of what it means to be man or machine and looks at advances in robotics which have blurred the boundaries. Topics covered include: how intelligence can be defined whether machines can 'think' sensory input in machine systems the nature of consciousness the controversial culturing of human neurons. Exploring issues at the heart of the subject, this book is suitable for anyone interested in AI, and provides an illuminating and accessible introduction to this fascinating subject.

Originally published in 1986, in order to probe, dispute and analyse the role of artificial intelligence in cybernetic thought and information science, the author pursues this topic within its philosophical, behavioral and neurophysiological contexts, while drawing attention to cognitive issues. By elucidating the problems and potential associated with knowledge-based systems, the book emphasized the need to examine artificial intelligence in its own right.

New Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Shipping Law in the 21st Century consists of edited versions of the papers delivered at the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law’s 14th International Colloquium at Swansea Law School in September 2018. Written by a combination of top academics and highly experienced legal practitioners, these papers have been carefully co-ordinated to give the reader a first-class insight into the issues surrounding new technology and shipping. The book is set out in three parts: Part I offers a detailed and critical analysis of issues that are emerging, and those that are likely to emerge, from the use of advanced computer technology, particularly at the contracting process and in the context of issuing trading documents. Part 2 focusses on artificial intelligence and discusses the contemporary issues that will emerge once autonomous ships and similar crafts are put to use in the world’s oceans. As well as this, the legal impact of ports utilising artificial intelligence and computer technology will also be considered. Part 3 analyses how the increasing use of legal technology is changing insurance underwriting and shipping litigation. An invaluable guide to the recent technological advances in shipping, this book is vital reading for both professional and academic readers.

The Soft Machine, originally published in 1985, represents a significant contribution to the study of contemporary literature in the larger cultural and scientific context. David Porush shows how the concepts of cybernetics and artificial intelligence that have sparked our present revolution in computer and information technology have also become the source for images and techniques in our most highly sophisticated literature, postmodern fiction by Barthelme, Barth, Pynchon, Beckett, Burroughs, Vonnegut and others. With considerable skill, Porush traces the growth of "the metaphor of the machine" as it evolves both technologically and in literature of the twentieth century. He describes the birth of cybernetics, gives one of the clearest accounts for a lay audience of its major concepts and shows the growth of philosophical resistance to the mechanical model for human intelligence and communication which cybernetics promotes, a model that had grown increasingly influential in the previous decade. The Soft Machine shows postmodern fiction synthesizing the inviting metaphors and concepts of cybernetics with the ideals of art, a synthesis that results in what Porush calls "cybernetic fiction" alive to the myths and images of a cybernetic age.

Originally published in 1987 when Artificial Intelligence (AI) was one of the most hotly debated subjects of the moment; there was widespread feeling that it was a field whose ‘time had come’, that intelligent machines lay ‘just around the corner’. Moreover, with the onset of the revolution in information technology and the proclamation from all corners that we were moving into an ‘information society’, developments in AI and advanced computing were seen in many countries as having both strategic and economic importance. Yet, aside from the glare of publicity that tends to surround new scientific ideas or technologies, it must be remembered that AI was a relative newcomer among the sciences; that it had often been the subject of bitter controversy; and that though it had been promising to create intelligent machines for some 40 years prior to publication, many believe that it had actually displayed very little substantive progress. With this background in mind, the aim of this collection of essays was to take a novel look at AI. Rather than following the path of old well-trodden arguments about definitions of intelligence or the status of computer chess programs, the objective was to bring new perspectives to the subject in order to present it in a different light. Indeed, instead of simply adding to the endless wrangling ‘for’ and ‘against’ AI, the source of such divisions is made a topic for analysis in its own right. Drawing on ideas from the philosophy and sociology of scientific knowledge, this collection therefore broke new ground. Moreover, although a great deal had been written about the social and cultural impact of AI, little had been said of the culture of AI scientists themselves – including their discourse and style of thought, as well as the choices, judgements, negotiations and competitive struggles for resources that had shaped the genesis and development of the paradigmatic structure of their discipline at the time. Yet, sociologists of science have demonstrated that the analysis of factors such as these is a necessary part of understanding the development of scientific knowledge. Hence, it was hoped that this collection would help to redress the imbalance and provide a broader and more interesting picture of AI.

Originally published in 1989 The Industrialization of Intelligence is a spirited blend of the principles of social science and computer technology. Critically praised in the United States and England by leading lights both literary and technological, it develops an original and provocative model of the interplay between computer systems and social systems. Noah Kennedy has composed a compelling story from key episodes in the development of the computer, and coupled it with a probing analysis of the true role of automation in modem society. The result firmly plants computer technology in the soil of western culture and denies the shrill claims that the information age represents a sudden break with the historical past. He starts with biographical vignettes from the lives of five pivotal thinkers, weaving their crucial insights into the larger fabric of contemporary and future society. He then gives a provocative forecast of the role of artificial intelligence in future society, and examines the probable impact of new computer technologies on employment and on the relationships between nations. The result is a reasoned understanding of our imminent future through a thoughtful analysis of our historical past.

Artificial Culture is an examination of the articulation, construction, and representation of "the artificial" in contemporary popular cultural texts, especially science fiction films and novels. The book argues that today we live in an artificial culture due to the deep and inextricable relationship between people, our bodies, and technology at large. While the artificial is often imagined as outside of the natural order and thus also beyond the realm of humanity, paradoxically, artificial concepts are simultaneously produced and constructed by human ideas and labor. The artificial can thus act as a boundary point against which we as a culture can measure what it means to be human. Science fiction feature films and novels, and other related media, frequently and provocatively deploy ideas of the artificial in ways which the lines between people, our bodies, spaces and culture more broadly blur and, at times, dissolve. Building on the rich foundational work on the figures of the cyborg and posthuman, this book situates the artificial in similar terms, but from a nevertheless distinctly different viewpoint. After examining ideas of the artificial as deployed in film, novels and other digital contexts, this study concludes that we are now part of an artificial culture entailing a matrix which, rather than separating minds and bodies, or humanity and the digital, reinforces the symbiotic connection between identities, bodies, and technologies.