Aleksander I. How to Build a Mind: Toward Machines with Imagination

Columbia University Press, 2001, 205 p.One of the earliest proponents of neural engineering to build artificially intelligent systems, Aleksander (Imperial Coll. of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London) has more than 30 years of artifical intelligence research under his belt. Though he covers a substantial amount of engineering as it applies to building machines with imagination, this work is actually more of a philosophical argument for why he has arrived at his current position. His discussion of why he thinks that a "conscious machine" is feasible is spelled out in a number of imaginary debates and dialogs between himself and various philosophers ranging from Aristotle to Wittgenstein. He also brings in Francis Crick and several arguments from prominent biological researchers. This far-ranging book should interest readers at varying levels, from engineers and computer scientists to science fiction and psychology buffs.Imagination and Consciousness
Miletus: Where the Dreamirg Begins
Nineteen Fifty-eight: A Voyage Toward Interdisciplinarity
The Ghost of Aristotle: An Influence Across Two Millennia
Early Artificial Neurons and the Beginnings of Artificial Intelligence
Liberating Philosophy: The Empiricists
Canterbury: The First Machines
Wittgenstein: A Brief Interlude
The WISARD Years: Machines with No Mind
Starting the Week with Consciousness
MAGNUS in South Kensington and Pasadena
On Being Conscious: The Ego in the Machine