I've been dipping in and out of this book for several months in between other activities. Each time I found the text easy to pick up again because I am familiar with computer terms, and because of the many pictures and diagrams. Slices of the brain, or transistors, or graphs of advanced neural networks or black box thinking. While the book is intended for higher level readers with understanding of cloud computing and so on, the author is good at explaining and takes matters one step further than we may be used to seeing in fiction. For instance, turning off a rogue Artificial Neural Network (ANN) computer won't be easy when it is functioning from several cloud computing units and has backup copies stored in advance.

The early part of the book explains Moore's Law and the progress we've seen. The author tells us we'll cross the AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) line without realising it. Computers understanding what search results to present, or interpreting voice commands, or correcting grammar and spelling - they keep improving. Every step we take will seem like a good idea, every network link between cars and smartphones and traffic lights and satellites and fitbits, to paraphrase, will be done for economic and safety reasons - and then we'll have a supercomputer which knows more about our movements than we do.

The author has identified facets of genius - ability to learn easily, to comprehend results, experience and practice, the ability to try out different paths based on facts, and the ability to know a great result when you reach it. He explains what we measure with IQ tests, and discusses how computer genius differs from ours. Next, how to improve upon the Turing Test and the now rather clunky Asimov's laws of robotics. Why would computers value us?

At the start of the book we are encouraged to compare a person in a sleep or coma awakening as being similar to a powering-up computer; a baby learning speech and pattern recognition as like a learning programme. At the end, we get a nice little parable about a computer set to work as a teaching assistant. As to the future of computing and whether they'll revolt, you'll need to read the book and make up your own mind. The author guesses we'll just want different things - apart from competing for energy - but I didn't see the analogy of the computer told to be a stamp collector, deciding that everything made of carbon would be a good source of new stamps.

The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life When Robots Rule the Earth by Robin Hanson would be the ideal book to read next, taking us forward into that future imagined at the end of Will Computers Revolt. Author Charles J Simon explains at the start, his practical background in the development of computing and how this helped him to develop models and insights. I consider that any reasonably interested adult reader can enjoy and learn from this book, but it will be of particular interest to those in the computer industry or studying the uses of ANNs and AGI.
Glossary P288 - 231, index P233 - 235. I did not see any names which were female in the index.

I downloaded this e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

The author discusses intelligence in terms of several specified behaviours which he thinks are necessary components of thinking and intelligence. Simon then goes on to show how each behaviour is possible in future computers, but also inevitable. He also takes a look at how humans will interact with intelligent computers in the future.

This is an interesting, methodical and somewhat plodding introductory book to artificial intelligence. There are numerous coloured diagrams to help with the explanations. Also numerous thought experiments and comparisons between machine and human brain functioning. This book provides food for thought, but came across as a course text book for the subject, with repetitions. I felt like I was in a collage classroom being lectured at.

An exciting premise for a book about future technologies with a catchy title.

Unfortunately, as scary as super-intelligent thinking machines may be, this ponderous book was ultimately dull.

There was a great deal of repetition and the idea of mimicking our brain's internal structure is an archaic one.

Whilst there was some illuminating information about the progress of future technologies, this book certainly did not live up to the promise of its blurb.