MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCE: What We Have That Machines Don't

As the threats of AI loom large, we must all earn how to think alongside our silicon counterparts. Discover the unexpected advantage of the AI age. There is so much talk about the threat posed by intelligent machines that it might be tempting to surrender to our robot overlords right away, but Mubeen isn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. As far as he is concerned, we have an edge over machines. Our own superpower is a remarkable system of thought developed over the centuries. Familiar to us all, but often badly taught and misrepresented in popular discourse, this system has a name - mathematics. Mathematicians have always seized upon the latest technologies to enhance their own thinking skills. Computers may reign supreme when it comes to totting up sums and spotting patterns, but Mubeen identifies seven areas of mathematical intelligence where humans can retain a crucial advantage. In exploring these areas, he opens up a fascinating world in which we can develop our uniquely human abilities. Topics covered are estimation where tribes only count to four, where babies outsmart computers and why we underestimate pandemics. He looks at the dogness of dogs, how mathematicians paint ideas, and the blind spots of computers; when stories fool us, why machines can't be trusted, and how to tell eternal truths; why spoilsports deserve more credit, how mathematics gets reinvented, and the truths computers will never discover; and why speed is overrated and the wisdom of 'sleeping on it'. Finally he looks at an unlikely mathematical duo, how ants get their intelligence, and the quest for a super-mathematician. 339pp, graphs and illus.