Faking It

A prescient analysis of what makes artificial intelligence so … artificial

Artificially intelligent machines are set to play an increasingly important role in our lives. They will take the dirty tasks of life off our hands, as well as the dull, the difficult and the dangerous – which is a good thing.

But at the heart of AI is a fundamental deceit: its goal is to imitate human intelligence. Although AIs like ChatGPT are powerful and convincing, they are fakes. They lack true understanding, sentience, consciousness and common sense, the very traits that make our human intelligence so special. The phoniness of AIs is a great weakness, and should be of concern to everyone.

Can AI systems be creative? Can they be moral? What can we do to ensure they are not harmful? Will they ever develop consciousness – and if they do, what does this mean for humanity?

In this fascinating new book, leading AI expert and author Professor Toby Walsh explores the artificiality of artificial intelligence, and considers the impact it is having on society. The fakery of AI, he argues, threatens to blur the distinction between what is real and what is simulated. It might even throw into question the very essence of what it means to be human. The stakes, therefore, are as high as they could be.

About the Author

Toby Walsh is one of the world’s leading researchers in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and leads a research group at Data61, Australia’s Centre of Excellence for ICT Research. He has been elected a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI for his contributions to AI research, and has won the prestigious Humboldt research award. He has previously held research positions in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Sweden.