The Road to Conscious Machines

''A terrific book - essential reading for everyone seeking to make sense of Artificial Intelligence'' Professor Sir Adrian Smith, Director and Chief Executive of the Alan Turing Institute

In this myth-busting guide to AI past and present, one of the world''s leading researchers shows why our fears for the future are misplaced.

The ultimate dream of AI is to build machines that are like us: conscious and self-aware. While this remains a remote possibility, rapid progress in AI is already transforming our world. Yet the public debate is still largely centred on unlikely prospects, from sentient machines to dystopian robot takeovers.

In this lively and clear-headed guide, Michael Wooldridge challenges the prevailing narrative, revealing how the hype distracts us from both the more immediate risks that this technology poses - from algorithmic bias to fake news - and the true life-changing potential of the field. The Road to Conscious M