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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher

HEART OF THE MACHINE

Richard Yonck

Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence

Richard Yonck is exploring the growing role of emotion in artificial intelligence and its use in affective computing and social robotics, the possibility of machines not only detecting and understanding emotions, but of actually having emotions, and how this influences society at large as machines' level of intelligence inevitably surpasses our own. For readers of Ray Kurzweil and Michio Kaku, HEART OF THE MACHINE is a new look at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence.

Imagine a robotic stuffed animal that can read and respond to a child’s emotional state, a commercial that can recognize and change based on a customer’s facial expression, or a company that can actually create feelings as though a person were experiencing them naturally. HEART OF THE MACHINE explores the next giant step in the relationship between humans and technology: the ability of computers to recognize, respond to, and even replicate emotions. Computers have long been integral to our lives, and their advances continue at an exponential rate. Many believe that artificial intelligence equal or superior to human intelligence will happen in the not-too-distance future; some even think machine consciousness will follow. Futurist Richard Yonck argues that emotion, the first, most basic, and most natural form of communication, is at the heart of how we will soon work with and use computers. Instilling emotions into computers is the next leap in our centuries-old obsession with creating machines that replicate humans. But for every benefit this progress may bring to our lives, there is a possible pitfall. Emotion recognition could lead to advanced surveillance, and the same technology that can manipulate our feelings could become a method of mass control. And, as popularized in movies like “Her" and "Ex Machina," our society is already anxious about what might happen if machines could actually feel and break free from our control. HEART OF THE MACHINE is an exploration of the new and inevitable ways in which mankind and technology will interact. Richard Yonck is a futurist, author, and speaker with Intelligent Future Consulting based in Seattle. An award-winning author on developing trends and technologies, he has written features and cover stories for numerous publications and web sites, and is the computing and artificial intelligence contributing editor for The Futurist magazine. He has been published in Scientific American, World Future Review, Fast Company, Wired, Psychology Today, H+magazine, American Cinematographer, Mensa Bulletin, and the Seattle Times.

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Book Published 2017-03-07 by Arcade

Comments

As technology grows more sophisticated, it’s getting exponentially better at interpreting, replicating and even influencing human emotions. In his new book, Heart of the Machine, futurist Richard Yonck acknowledges this may well lead to mass manipulation—allowing retailers, for example, to goad shoppers into spending more money by analyzing their posture and expressions, assessing their mood, digging into their shopping history and projecting images of them wearing items they are predisposed to like. But this new technological norm could be a force for good as well, Yonck writes. Developers are working on AI that could help people with autism make sense of other people’s emotions, among other advances. “It’s in our best interest to explore the possible future this technology could bring about,” Yonck concludes, “while we still have time to influence how these will ultimately manifest.

By using the futurist’s most valuable communications tool—the scenario—to introduce his chapters, Yonck moves between anecdotes from research in affective computing and AI/robotics to speculative scenarios, all with the even hand of a skilled storyteller.

Yonck, who has contributed to Scientific American, The Wire, and World Future Today, makes a compelling argument for why affective computing (technology that can read, interpret, replicate, and experience emotions and use those abilities to influence us) is the key to AI and the heart of how we will work with computers. . . Aimed at a general audience, this work focuses on one topic at a time, using an accessible anecdote or a fictional future scenario, resulting in an engaging read. VERDICT For those interested in technology trends, robots, and AI.

Very important for any decision-maker and a must-read for corporations for planning their road map. It is also recommended to everyone who is curious enough to understand the future. Even the very near future.

A fascinating, and sometimes disturbing, look at a rapidly approaching future where smart machines understand and manipulate our emotions—and ultimately bond with us in ways that blur the line between ourselves and our technology.

Richard Yonck’s HEART OF THE MACHINE is a fascinating speculation on the near- and far-term significance of emotions for user interfaces, machine-mediated communication between humans, and what technology and humans may become.

Chinese rights pre-empted

Your world is about to change in shocking and amazing ways. The line between machines and humanity is blurring giving us a strange and beautiful tomorrow. Yonck takes us on a journey through this world from the science and technology of today and into the possibilities and perils that lay just over the horizon. If you want to catch a glimpse of the future open this book.

Yonck makes a very strong case why our devices and advanced AI systems need to have emotional intelligence, specifically the ability to sense human emotions and adapt accordingly.