Joshua Foa Dienstag (UCLA): When a Man Loves a Robot: Blade Runner's Humanism. America’s android obsession: We're fascinated by beings that act or look human but aren't, but a lot has changed since "Blade Runner". From The Atlantic Monthly, James Somers on the man who would teach machines to think: Douglas Hofstadter, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Godel, Escher, Bach, thinks we've lost sight of what artificial intelligence really means — his stubborn quest to replicate the human mind; and all can be lost: Nicholas Carr on the risk of putting our knowledge in the hands of machines. Walter Frick on how algorithms won’t replace managers, but will change everything about what they do. The robots are here: Not only are they taking our jobs — they’re harbingers of a new libertarian age, says Tyler Cowen. Will robots take our jobs or will aging wreck the economy? Lydia DePillis on eight ways robots stole our jobs in 2013 (and more: “They aren't taking our jobs quickly enough”). How close are we to getting virtual assistants like Samantha in Her? Jordan Larson on Her and the complex legacy of the female robot (and more). Would you have sex with a robot? Greta Christina wants to know. Why robot sex could be the future of life on earth: If self-replicating machines are the next stage of human evolution, should we start worrying? From The American Prospect, when robots take over, what happens to us? Paul Waldman interviews James Barrat, author of Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era (and more). George Dvorsky on why a superintelligent machine may be the last thing we ever invent.
