Reviewed by Jenny Monesson
November 1996
Since the times of Plato, great thinkers among us have questioned the workings of the human brain. How does this ball of grey matter work its wonder we know as thought? What is the root of consciousness? Is all mind activity reduced to a set of algorithms, mathematical equations and logical progressions? As the complexity of humanity progressed, the questions have remained. The dawn of the Information Age has upped the stakes, altering the idea of "mind as machine" to encompass "machine as mind," bringing the quest for artificial intelligence to the forefront of research. Roger Penrose, one of the world's most respected mathematical physicists and winner of the 1988 Wolf Prize (shared with Stephen Hawking) for his contribution to humanity's understanding of the universe, attempts to refute the possibility of sentient computers in his insightful and entertaining work The Emperor's New Mind.
The subtitle of this volume may scare off some readers, but this is truly a work that, while dealing with the most complex philosophical issues in a mathematical context, was clearly written for the layman. In his note to the reader, Penrose suggests that any mathematical equation that seems too daunting to the reader be simply passed over. This concept immediately puts the reader at ease, and Penrose writes with such clarity that the idea of incomprehension of his words and formulae seems unlikely. With chapter titles such as Can a computer have a mind? And Cosmology and the arrow of time, it is clear that weighty issues will be examined within, but Penrose examines them with such mental agility and levity of heart that it is impossible not to become engrossed with his text.
Penrose's argument against strong AI is compelling and logical. His goal is not to close the argument of the workings of the human mind and consciousness, but rather to provoke thought and raise challenges. He remains hopeful that research in the realm of artificial intelligence can, in the future, increase our understanding of the design of the human brain, and reading this book will encourage even the most serious skeptic to share his optimism.