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Why Machines Will Never Rule the World

by Jobst Landgrebe (Author), Barry Smith (Author)

Why Artificial Intelligence Will Never Rule the World

About the book​

The book's core argument is that an artificial intelligence that could equal or exceed human intelligence―sometimes called artificial general intelligence (AGI)―is for mathematical reasons impossible. It offers two specific reasons for this claim:

  1. Human intelligence is a capability of a complex dynamic system―the human brain and central nervous system.
  2. Systems of this sort cannot be modelled mathematically in a way that allows them to operate inside a computer.

In supporting their claim, the authors, Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith, marshal evidence from mathematics, physics, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, and biology, setting up their book around three central questions:

  • What are the essential marks of human intelligence?
  • What is it that researchers try to do when they attempt to achieve "artificial intelligence" (AI)?
  • Why, after more than 50 years, are our most common interactions with AI, for example with our bank's computers, still so unsatisfactory?

Landgrebe and Smith show how a widespread fear about AI's potential to bring about radical changes in the nature of human beings and in the human social order is founded on an error. There is still, as they demonstrate in a final chapter, a great deal that AI can achieve which will benefit humanity. But these benefits will be achieved without the aid of systems that are more powerful than humans, which are as impossible as AI systems that are intrinsically "evil" or able to "will" a takeover of human society.

In this second edition, the authors have added a new chapter showing the essential limitations of physics, providing a thorough grounding for the arguments of the book.

Human intelligence is a capability of the human brain and central nervous system, which is a complex dynamic system. Systems of this sort cannot be modelled mathematically in a way that allows them to operate inside a computer In supporting their claim, the authors, Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith, marshal evidence from mathematics, physics, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, biology, and anthropology, setting up their book around three central questions: What are the essential marks of human intelligence? What is it that researchers try to do when they attempt to achieve 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI)? And why, after more than 50 years, are our interactions with AI, for example when on the telephone with our bank's computers, still so unsatisfactory?

The first edition was published the same week that ChatGPT was unleashed onto the world. This second edition shows how the arguments in the book apply already to Large Language Models such as ChatGPT. This new edition also brings up to date the arguments relating to the limits of AI, showing why AI systems are best viewed as pieces of mathematics, which cannot think, feel, or will. They also demolish the idea that, with the help of AI, we could 'solve physics' in a way that would allow us to create, in the cloud, a perfect simulation of reality in which we could enjoy digital immortality. Such ideas reveal a lack of understanding of physics, mathematics, human biology, and computers.

There is still, as the authors demonstrate in an updated final chapter, a great deal that AI can achieve which will benefit humanity. But these benefits will be achieved without the aid of systems that are more powerful than humans, which are as impossible as AI systems that are intrinsically 'evil' or able to 'will' a takeover of human society.

Key Changes to the Second Edition​

  • Shows how the arguments of the first edition apply also to new Large Language Models
  • Adds a treatment of human practical intelligence – of knowing how vs. knowing that – a topic that is ignored by the AI community
  • Demonstrates why 'AI ethics' should be relabelled as 'ethics of human uses of AI'
  • Adds a new chapter showing the essential limitations of physics, providing a thorough grounding for the arguments of the book
  • Demolishes the idea that we might already be living in a simulation

Endorsements​

"It's a highly impressive piece of work that makes a new and vital contribution to the literature on AI and AGI. The rigor and depth with which the authors make their case is compelling, and the range of disciplinary and scientific knowledge they draw upon is particularly remarkable and truly novel."
— Shannon Vallor, Edinburgh Futures Institute, The University of Edinburgh

"The alluring nightmare in which machines take over running the planet and humans are reduced to drudges is not just far off or improbable: the authors argue that it is mathematically impossible. While drawing on a remarkable array of disciplines for their evidence, the argument of Landgrebe and Smith is in essence simple. There can be no models and no algorithms of the complexity required to run machines which can come close to emulating human linguistic and social skills. Far from decrying AI, they laud its achievements and encourage its development; but they pour cold water on those who fail to recognise its inherent limitations. Compulsory reading for those who fear the worst, but also for those inadvertently trying to bring it about."
— Peter M. Simons FBA, Department of Philosophy, Trinity College Dublin

"Just one year ago, Elon Musk claimed that AI will overtake humans 'in less than five years'. Not so, say Landgrebe and Smith, who argue forcefully that it is mathematically impossible for machines to emulate the human mind. This is a timely, important, and thought-provoking contribution to the contemporary debate about AI's consequences for the future of humanity."
— Berit Brogaard, Department of Philosophy, University of Miami

"Whether it was John Searle's Chinese Room argument or Roger Penrose's argument for the non-computable nature of a mathematician's insight, we have always had skeptics that questioned the possibility of realizing strong Artificial Intelligence (AI), or what has become known by Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). But this new book by Landgrebe and Smith is perhaps the strongest argument ever made against strong AI. It is a very extensive review of what building a mind essentially amounts to, drawing on insights and results from biology, physics, linguistics, computability, philosophy, and mathematics."
— Walid S. Saba, Institute of Experiential AI, Northeastern University

Interviews and Podcasts​

Video Playlists​

Podcasts​

Reviews​

Book Symposium​

Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World, edited by Janna Hastings, Cosmos+Taxis, 12 (5+6)

Press Items and Notices​