Nishigaki, Toru, AI genron : kami no shihai to ningen no jiyu, Kodansha, 2018 (book review)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is attracting increasing attention. Some voices say that work efficiency and productivity is expected to improve, but on the other hand, there is a fear of loss of employment and the advent of a surveillance society. In order to identify the various problems relating to social implementation of AI and their relevant solutions, as wellas to predict the future society that AI will bring, we must understsnd what AI is in the first place, what is or is not possible for AI, and what the goals of AI are. This book, AI Genron examines these questions from aspects of both technology and philosophy.In this book, the author, Toru Nishigaki, first indentifies the purpose of artificial intelligence, and then categories the differences between life and machinery in terms of autonomy and homogeneity. He points out issues in current AI development which are based on naive realism, and proposes speculative realism as an alternative philosophical basis. Finally, he
explores Judea-Christ Monotheism for an ideological source of transhumanism and brings reader’s attention to the potential dangers.