Mind at Light Speed: A New Kind of Intelligence - Hardcover

Donald D. Hoffman University of California, Irvine, author of "Visual Intelligence" In a few short decades, electronic computing has transformed the way we work, play, and interact. What can we expect next? David Nolte expertly guides us on a bold, yet compelling, tour of the future of computing, in which light and quantum logic take center stage, and in which unprecedented speeds and computing architectures open new possibilities for artificial intelligence. For the reader who wants an accessible guide to the ideas and inventions that promise to revolutionize the future of computing, there is no better source than "Mind at Light Speed."

In this fascinating book David Nolte explains the technology behind the bandwidth revolution and reveals the future of artificial intelligence. From a leading computer scientist and physicist comes proof that the days of computing with clunky electrons (particles of matter) are just about over, and that the use of photons (particles of light) will change the nature of computing and intelligence, artificial or otherwise, forever. Next generation computers won't just read, they will see, and they will do so faster than we can imagine. Exploring the startling possibilities this would allow, Nolte explains the Intelligent Internet (the net won't just be a database, it will make decisions); light computers (how fibre optics, which speed up the flow of information between computers, will speed up the flow inside them); and hologram hard drives (capable of accessing everything at once). Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind argued that we couldn't understand human consciousness because of the difficulty of engineering - and understanding - at the quantum level. A truly revolutionary work, Machines of Light showed that not only is quantum light technology possible but that its applications will take our understanding of what intelligence actually is to the next level. But the implications of the technology described in this book are more than philosophical. The implications of this revolution for business in our new economy and for satisfaction in our daily lives are simply staggering.