Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

This profoundly ambitious and original book picks its way carefully through a vast tract of forbiddingly difficult intellectual terrain.

I enjoyed parts of this book, but overall found it quite a chore to get through. Just a few years on, some things have changed so much that parts of the book feel dated already. I enjoyed catalog of the problems, approaches and dangers, but found some of the discussion of them pedantic.

As someone who wasn't overly familiar with AI to begin with, this book was a rather dense read.

There were many ideas expressed in this that gave me a lot to think about, and truly admire. Bostram's in depth look at neurological structure and referencing that to the expression of super computers/intelligence was awe inspiring and has left me with wanting to look into the subject further. It is clear he is passionate about the topic, and put a great deal of effort in making sure the information was well researched and thoroughly expressed.

At times though, Bostram's writing got quite clunky, and was filled with terms and concepts that required a lot of referencing to really get the most out of his ideas. It's difficult for me to say whether that is my failing due to my limited understanding of the topic, or if it is a lack in clarity of the prose.

Should have been 1/5th the length. Reads like someone spouting hypothetical scenarios off the top of their head. The only reason it gets a 2 stars is because it isn't “The Circle” by Dave Eggers.