What Non-Fiction are you currently/just read?

[lounge_jam]

60. God, Animal, Human, Machine

Just read Meghan O'Gieblyn's God, Animal, Human, Machine - a fantastic account of the metaphors we use to talk about progress, AI, ML, and the neural in general. It lays bare the data-enchantment at the heart of this Big Data push. Also examines Kurzweil's arguments concerning "spiritual machines." In general, it aims to show that our present is far from an era of disenchantment. We are, the book shows, deeply enchanted by machines. Other than that, I'm also reading about functionalism--which also drew its validity from its scientific leanings, its enchantment with the positivist tradition. Interesting in the context of Meghan's book, especially since she treats science itself as metaphor.