James Lovelock is a legend, genius, inventor, and futurologist, who at age ninety-nine is as much at home in the future as the past. Here, in probably his book, he prophetically throws in his lot with artificial intelligence. AI's combination of blinding speed and capacity for self-learning will largely obsolete bio-based nerve networks. This is already happening. Lovelock believes, along with singularity thinkers like Ray Kurtzweil and Elon Musk, that it's unstoppable.

Lovelock leaves some questions unanswered. Will cyborgs have the same rights as humans? Will they sit in the Senate? How do we learn to live with leaders we're too dim to understand, much less monitor? How do we know what goals AI progressively programs into itself? How does Darwinian natural selection morph into "intentional" selection as advanced systems displace nature (and human nature) to effect their calculated goals and visions? How are shadowy human aspects such as prejudice, greed, and rivalry to be sieved from the mix as AI systems code themselves forward in lightning flashes while nudging us forward to people their new world?

Lovelock perhaps naively believes that as AI advances to globally broadened perspectives, it will just conclude that the overriding challenge of preserving our small, fragile planet must inevitably lead it to enlightened ideals and methods. The highest intelligence must just lead, he thinks, to the most sensible outcomes. That's what his earlier Daisyworld simulation seemed to promise, with black and white daisy patches peaceably taking turns modulating Earth's albedo to maintain homeostasis. I wish I could share his kind of optimism.

Whether or not he answers all fears and concerns, Lovelock is, as always, well worth reading. He will expand your mind. ( )

Interesting, insightful, thought provoking, concise and very contentious. Great! ( )

I confess this is an interesting and intriguing book. I don't think James Lovelock was the first to think about hyper-intelligence. if you read some of the books by Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, you will realize that people have hypothesized about this for years.

there is a difference, though, between those days, and ours. For one, artificial intelligence has become a reality and is growing. It seems that computers are designing themselves.

He combines this future with the Gaia concept. In my view, there is more hope than the conviction that machines and humans will cooperate to save Gaia.

This is an enjoyable book to read and keep one thing in mind. If a 99-year-old man can stay mentally fresh, why not us? ( )

Lovelock goes strong Anthropic principle strong Gaia and writes a congratulations note to the Anthropocene on its passing for all its achievements. The future is more Ian Banks Culture minus GSV and similar. ( )

It is apparent that humans are incapable of bringing about a more equal society. Not that they don’t want to, it is simply out of their reach. Just as it is beyond our capacity to grasp the structure of reality itself. Apparently humans are reaching the limits of their understanding both in the social and scientific realm. Just ponder the enigma of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Hence James Lovelock’s crucial observation: Gaia will soon belong to the Cyborgs in Novacene: The Coming Age of HyperIntelligence, by James Lovelock, with Bryan Appleyard, published in 2019 by MIT Press.

Our reign as sole understanders of the cosmos is rapidly coming to an end. We should not be afraid of this. The revolution that has just begun may be understood as a continuation of the process whereby the Earth nurtures the understanders, the beings that will lead the cosmos to self-knowledge. What is revolutionary about this moment is that the understanders of the future will not be humans but cyborgs. Must we fear the future and the surprises the Novocine might bring? I do not think so. This epoch will mark the end of what is to us nearly 4 billion years of biological life on this planet. ......we are playing a part like that of the photo-synthesisers, organisms that set the scene for the next stage of evolution.

Of course, all of that seems to overlook the moral or ethical role of humans. Only going on your precis, Lovelock seems to take the view that nothing is going in inside humans heads. The Earth isn´t nurturing anything - it´s rock with green stuff and blue stuff on it with some feeders roaming about. Lovelock is smart man in some ways but to write off the value of a single human (let alone all of us) as "playing a part" is morally vacuous.

We should be depressed that our intelligence amounted to some nice paintings and a lot of butchery and cruelty.

James Lovelock is a man of genius who can’t tell matter from metaphor... ( )