The Most Human Human: What Talking With Computers Teaches Us About What It Means To Be Alive (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I loved this book. I found it surprisingly profound, and I'm still thinking about some of the ideas in the book a month after finishing it. I expected it to be a kind of Malcolm Gladwell-esque book that was interesting and well-written. It wasn't actually all that well-written, but it more than made up for it in super interesting material. What really surprised me was how much it made me really re-think how I can make myself more human. By looking at what things computers can easily copy when they are imitating us, we can easily see things we do that are quite pre-programmed, mundane, and robotic. But there are some things that computers simply cannot (yet) copy, and that's where true human interaction really takes place. That's where I want my relationships to go, and reading this book helped me understand better how to get there. Highly recommended. The premise of this book sounded awesome. I've since heard that This American Life and Radiolab did stories jumping off from this book and I feel safe to assume I'd probably enjoy those more than I did reading this book. First, Christian left out his participation in the actual event that was driving this book. That, to me, was the essence of this narrative - and it never made an appearance. There were some great bits in here about chatbots and language. But, geez, some of these tangential ideas turned into massive detours. I left really confused and lost at points trying to figure out exactly what Christian wanted this book to be. That confusion aside, though, there are some interesting bits.
What do You think about The Most Human Human: What Talking With Computers Teaches Us About What It Means To Be Alive (2011)?
smooth read on philosophy and tech, but not much on the actual competition. I love his style.
—joang
Incredibly interesting and thought provoking.
—Chrystiana
