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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
It's ironic that a book about AI should read as though it was written by AI. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as the book (at least the majority of it) is very easy to read and I zipped through it quite quickly, finding it mostly entertaining but a little dry.
The story is based on real events and people, predominantly John Von Neumann, a physicist whose work touched on various fields but especially artificial intelligence. The last part of the book then switches to the creator of an AI computer that plays GO and defeats the world's best player Lee Sedol. The theme of AI is interesting and certainly current, its tentacles reaching into everything right now, so Labatut chose a valid subject matter. But the first few chapters aside, I'm not sure I ever truly enjoyed the writing style nor the fact that it details real people in a fictionalised setting. Truth be told, it made think I might be better off simply reading a biography of Von Neumann (clearly a fascinating character). The book details his early life, his genius, his move to America and is involvement in the Manhatten Project. But you never really get a true sense of the man or his work, only a general outline which paints him (somewhat predictably) as an aloof, occasionally cranky genius (again, a biography might have been more rewarding). That being said, Labatut deserves credit for the research he must have done.
It was fun to read for a while but I began to lose interest slightly and only perked up again when it was time to move on to the story of Sedol playing against the AlphaGo AI computer. But the sudden switch to a significantly less brilliant character slowed things down too much. Plus, I've never really liked the whole concept of a fictionalised account of real people's lives, and a lot of it felt like I was reading a Wikipedia entry, albeit one which is essentially giving me the facts but in an easy to digest and mildly more animated manner. Ultimately, the whole thing felt a little dull and lifeless, lacking in any real human warmth or creative prose (hence, the book itself started to feel a little robotic). Maybe that was the point, maybe Labatut is a genius.
Overall, it was fine, readable, clear, and I mostly enjoyed it. I just never found it to be anything very beautiful, artistic or soulful. Essentially, a very fun Wikipedia entry in book form.
The story is based on real events and people, predominantly John Von Neumann, a physicist whose work touched on various fields but especially artificial intelligence. The last part of the book then switches to the creator of an AI computer that plays GO and defeats the world's best player Lee Sedol. The theme of AI is interesting and certainly current, its tentacles reaching into everything right now, so Labatut chose a valid subject matter. But the first few chapters aside, I'm not sure I ever truly enjoyed the writing style nor the fact that it details real people in a fictionalised setting. Truth be told, it made think I might be better off simply reading a biography of Von Neumann (clearly a fascinating character). The book details his early life, his genius, his move to America and is involvement in the Manhatten Project. But you never really get a true sense of the man or his work, only a general outline which paints him (somewhat predictably) as an aloof, occasionally cranky genius (again, a biography might have been more rewarding). That being said, Labatut deserves credit for the research he must have done.
It was fun to read for a while but I began to lose interest slightly and only perked up again when it was time to move on to the story of Sedol playing against the AlphaGo AI computer. But the sudden switch to a significantly less brilliant character slowed things down too much. Plus, I've never really liked the whole concept of a fictionalised account of real people's lives, and a lot of it felt like I was reading a Wikipedia entry, albeit one which is essentially giving me the facts but in an easy to digest and mildly more animated manner. Ultimately, the whole thing felt a little dull and lifeless, lacking in any real human warmth or creative prose (hence, the book itself started to feel a little robotic). Maybe that was the point, maybe Labatut is a genius.
Overall, it was fine, readable, clear, and I mostly enjoyed it. I just never found it to be anything very beautiful, artistic or soulful. Essentially, a very fun Wikipedia entry in book form.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
3.5
While not as exciting as his first book, this one treads largely the same path that I enjoyed. The difficulty this time around was that the novelty had warm off and I was fairly bored after von Niemanns tale. The first two stories are mythologized biographies, and the third a pretty realistic rendering of what actually happened with AlphaGo. I see more of a future for his writing in this latter category, which was refreshing.
While not as exciting as his first book, this one treads largely the same path that I enjoyed. The difficulty this time around was that the novelty had warm off and I was fairly bored after von Niemanns tale. The first two stories are mythologized biographies, and the third a pretty realistic rendering of what actually happened with AlphaGo. I see more of a future for his writing in this latter category, which was refreshing.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a brilliant book. The first part, in which we get to know John von Neumann through the (fictional) voices of people near him is a novel way to write a historical biography and what makes the book worth reading. The second part, following themes of AI a bit removed from von Neumann is not as innovative or insightful but nevertheless an enjoyable read. Overall still highly recommended.
Much more of this book was over my head than I would care to admit, but it was interesting to learn about the hyper-intellects of the world and how they shaped it.
this book had many of the same elements that made "When We Cease to Understand the World" really good. after this second book drawing on the existential horrors at the heart of math and physics, which leave anyone who truly understands them a hollowed out shell of their former self, I'm starting to think it's a good thing I dropped out of physics, and am in no danger of truly understanding anything (except Ancient Greek). unfortunately, this book was much longer than the other one, and added a lot of elements that were less successful. The voicing of the multiple narrators was clumsy, achieved by cramming each sentence chock-full of identity specific slang that often verged on unintentional parody. The prose was generally less crisp, and I wonder if that's because there's no translator credited, which means this was written directly in English (unlike the first, which was translated from Spanish). finally, the two sections (Von Neumann and Go) of the book, while enjoyable on their own, didn't really complement each other as well as I hoped. looking forward to reading whatever he writes next!
Maniac è un libro bellissimo ma non facile da descrivere. Diviso in tre parti, si incentra su altrettante menti straordinarie, raccomando la loro caduta dinanzi al progresso scientifico.
Paul (Ehrenfest), fisico classico annientato dalla scoperta del ruolo del caos (vedi il principio di indeterminatezza di Heisenberg) e dalla affermazione della fisica quantistica.
John (von Neumann), matematico eccelso, prima destabilizzato dal principio di incompletezza di Gödel, e poi perdutosi nelle infinite possibilità di calcolo del computer più potente dell'epoca (il MANIAC del titolo).
Lee (Sedol), imbattuto campione 9°dan di Go, travolto dal calcolatore AlphaGo basato sul machine learning.
Scritto benissimo e con stili diversi a seconda del personaggio, Maniac è un libro particolare ma impossibile da mollare prima dell'ultima pagina.
Paul (Ehrenfest), fisico classico annientato dalla scoperta del ruolo del caos (vedi il principio di indeterminatezza di Heisenberg) e dalla affermazione della fisica quantistica.
John (von Neumann), matematico eccelso, prima destabilizzato dal principio di incompletezza di Gödel, e poi perdutosi nelle infinite possibilità di calcolo del computer più potente dell'epoca (il MANIAC del titolo).
Lee (Sedol), imbattuto campione 9°dan di Go, travolto dal calcolatore AlphaGo basato sul machine learning.
Scritto benissimo e con stili diversi a seconda del personaggio, Maniac è un libro particolare ma impossibile da mollare prima dell'ultima pagina.
"Fiction based on fact" makes for propulsive writing! Loved and learnt a ton.
The way he gives space and weight to single sentences across multiple pages is glorious.
Reading the back of the book after I finished and seeing the note about the cover created by man and DALL-E 2 is quite the bookend.
Fascinating and provocative book about not only von Neumann but also about emerging AI and AGI technology.