Artificial Minds

Stan Franklin, Seth Wolpert, Susan R. McKay, and Wolfgang Christian

Citation: Computers in Physics 11, 258 (1997); doi: 10.1063/1.4822552

View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4822552
View Table of Contents: https://aip.scitation.org/toc/cip/11/3
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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Books Received
Atomic Collisions in Solids and at
Surfaces: Theory, Simulation and
Applications
RogerSmith, cd., Cambridge University
Press, New York, 1997; ISBN 0-521 -
44022-X; 310 pp., cloth, $69.95 .
Beyond Calculation:The Next SO Years
in Computing
Peter 1. Denning and Robert Metcalfe,
cds., Copernicus/Springer, New York,
1997; ISBN 0-387-94932- 1; 320 pp.,
cloth, $27.00 .
Computational Physics
Nicholas J. Giordano, Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1997; ISBN 0- 13-
367723-0; 418 pp., cloth, $69.33.
Fields of Physics on the PC byFinite
Element Analysis, Second Edition
Gunnar Backstrom, Studcntlirteratur,
Lund, Sweden, 1996 ; ISBN 91-44-
00293-9; 430 pp., paper, SEK 403 or
£19.95.
25M {"()\11'1.1 HIS1\ l'IIYSIl'S. \"01.. I I. ~O, J. \lAYIJU1\ 1'/97
Al'tificial !finds
Stan Franklin
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997; ISBN 0-262-56 109-3; 464 pp., paper, $17.50
(or 1995; ISBN 0-262-06178-3; 499 pp., cloth, $30.00).
Reviewed by Setb Wolpert
A rtificial Minds is a systematic, yet entertaining, narrative tour of the technol-
ogy and philosophy associated with develop ing artificial life. Stan Franklin is
a mathematician who writes clearly across the many disciplines from which he ap-
proaches his topic. From the fields of biology, psychology, neuroscience, com-
puter science, physics, and philosophy, he raises fundamental questions about life,
consciousness, and intelligence and explores the various approaches to these ques-
tions. Included in these explorations are the debates, the personalities behind the
viewpoints, and their motivations and accomplishments.
Each of the 16 chapters is fast-paced, clearly and succinctly written, rich in
examples and suppositions, and amply referenced for further reading. In the first
chapter, Franklin introduces the concept of artificial minds, the disciplines from
which it is approached, and the fundamental questions from the standpoint of each
discipline. He then discusses con-
sciousness in relation to motive, ra-
An Introduction to Computational tionality, and self-awareness and ex-
Science and Mat hematics
Charles F. Van Loan, Jones & Bartlett,
amines the mind-body problem. In
Chapter 3, animal minds are presented
Sudbury, MA, 1996 ; ISBN 0-86720-473- as models for various aspects and de-
7; 600 pp.,paper, $40.00. grees of consciousness. Chapters 4
through 7 describe inroads that com-
Mathematical and Numerical Modeling puter science has made into artificial
in Electrical Engineering
intclligence, including models ofprob-
Michal Krizek and Pekka Neittaanmaki, lem solving and neural computation.
Kluwer Academic, Norwell, MA, 1996; In Chapters 8 and 9, computational
ISBN 0-7923-4249-6; 300 pp., cloth, models of animal behavior are de-
$149.00. scribed and their insights into survival
an d evo lution discussed. Chapter 10
Mathematica Exercises in Introductory
Physics relates the complexity of the multiple
Rodney L Varley, Prentice Hall, Engle- mind as a compound system, whose
wood Cliffs, NJ, 1996; ISBN 0- 13- sensation, processes, and responses ex-
23 1739-7 ; 207 pp., paper, $ 19.50. ist in a state of constant flux. Recreat-
ing this chaos is then reduced, in
Visual Explanations: Images and Chapter 11 , to the more approachable
Quantities, Evidence and Narrative task of choosing what to do next. Af-
Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Press, ter all, the breadth and depth of that
Cheshire, CT, 199 7; ISBN 0-96 13921- choice on ly distinguish greater f rom
2-6; 157 pp., cloth, $45.00. lesser minds, but they arc all minds,
nevertheless.
Webmaster in a Nutshell In Chapter 12, Franklin presents
Stephen Spainhouser and Valerie Quer- system dynamics and the notion of at-
cia, O'Reilly & Associates, Sebastopol, tractors and repellors in a state space
CA, 1996 ; ISBN 1-56592-229-8; 356 as a framework for a conscious mind
pp., paper, $19.95. to choose what to do next. At this
point, he discusses the duality of
chaos and information in a neural sys-
tem , along with a neural basi s for rec-
ognizing and reacting to sensory stimuli. This leads to the notion that it is possible
to obtain from a brain more than was put into it. Chapter 13 qualifies this notion
as a mec hanism for higher mental processes-association, recall, and creativity.
Chapter 14 brings up the significance of representation, which had beenput off in
previous chapters. Processing power is inextricably linked to how well the mind's
interpreted and stored images are represented. This leads to
the discussion of goals versus motives in conscious system s. ~.lilllklin
Finally, Franklin maps out future platforms for debates over
creating consciousness. The author prese nts the individual
neuron, and hence Ihe neural circuit, as a quantum device.
maps0111 flltlll'c
frank lin also raises the prospect that the sheer power of the
living bra in may soon be surpassed by its artificial counter- platlol'lllsfill'
parts. Finally, the highl ights o f the book arc revisited and in-
tegrated in Chapter 16.
T he recent proliferation of new methods in compute rs
debates ovel'
and arti ficial neural networ ks and the multidisciplinary ap-
proaches now being taken to research in artificia l life have
been difficult for interested scientists from other discip lines
cl'eating
.
to follow . The majority of literature in these areas is written
by and for specia lists in the field. Artificial Minds is an excel-
conSCIOllsness.
lent lead-in to marc advanced reading, introducing the bio-
logical, behavioral, computat ional, and philosophi cal issues
and methods in artificial life. Franklin clearly points out the philosophies and per-
sona lities behind these issues, the contributors, and their view points. Having di-
gested the material in this book, a reader would be much more able to purs ue
more advanced literature pertinent to the defi nition and implementat ion of artifi-
cialIife.
Seth Wolpertis 0 /1 thefaculty at
Penllsyh'O/lia SlateUniversity-Harrisburg.
lIecol/duds research onthe modeling ofneve
cdlsund n ell' f pmce.u fs ill silicoll.
E-muil: .rrw33@psuI'IIIpsu.edu

lIigh I'cl'[ol'mam:e tomputing-Challenges fol' MUl'e Systcms

David J. Kuck
O xford University Press, Ncw York, 1996; ISBN 0- 19-50955 1-0; 320 pp.,
paper, $35.00.
Reviewed byGaryS. Grest
p to now, the rema rkable rate of increase in computer performance.of roug hly
U 10 times every seven years has principally been the result of increasing the
cloc k speed of single-processor rnachines. However, the sw itch ing time of curren t
processors is getting closer to the physical limit of abo ut 1 ns; therefore, future in-
creases in processing speed arc most likely to come from para llelism. A number
of companies that have expl ored this avenue and bro ught innovative ideas to high-
performance comp uting (HPC) have nevertheless failed in the past few years as
hardware man ufacturers, desp ite our insat iable dema nd for com puting power. Al-
though the first teraflops mach ine, now being built at Sandia Nat ional Labo rato-
ries, will be operat ional shortly (e iP I I:2, 1997, P. 129), it is likely to remain a
prototype para llel machine. Chang es in the industry have occurred so rapidly that
they arc creating some confusion in the HPC community, and, at the present time,
there is no clear consensus on the best way to ach ieve a practical parallel- process-
ing environment. This environment, which com bines hardware, architecture, and
soft ware, is somehow necess ary to maintain a constant rate of increase in comput-
ing performance. which most of us take for granted.
Why this has hap pened and what the future holds for HPC are the main
themes of High Performance Computing-Challenges/or Future Systems. T he
autho r, David Kuck, emeri tus professor of computer science and electrical and
computer engineering at the University of Illino is at Urbana-C ham paign, has
worked in the field of Hl'C for a number of years . His aim in this book is to mise

COM PUTERS IN Ptl YSIt"S, VOL. I I. NO. J, MAY/JUN 1997 259