{"product_id":"a-serious-chat-about-artificial-walter-donway-9798244924688","title":"A Serious Chat About Artificial Intelligence","description":"\u003cb\u003eA Serious Chat with Artificial Intelligence\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow AI Works-and What It Reveals About Mind, Economy, and Human Nature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen reason meets its reflection in the machine, it rediscovers itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a world transformed by artificial intelligence, few questions are more urgent: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow does AI actually work-and what does it reveal about human intelligence, consciousness, and free will?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a technical manual or a beginner's guide. It is a wide-ranging exploration of AI from multiple perspectives-technology, economics, jobs and careers, data centers, global competition, and culture-combined with a deeper philosophical inquiry into the nature of mind itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough a series of direct, often surprising conversations with AI, Walter Donway, founding editor of \u003ci\u003eCerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science\u003c\/i\u003e, explores: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ehow artificial intelligence works-large language models, data, and computation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe difference between AI and human intelligence\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ewhether AI can be conscious, sentient, or truly \"understand\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe future of AI in the economy, jobs, and society\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe rise of data centers and the infrastructure powering AI\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe global AI race, including competition with China\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe ethical risks and promises of AI as it enters everyday life\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, the book advances a powerful and original argument: \u003cbr\u003ethat AI, precisely because of its extraordinary capabilities, reveals the limits of a purely mechanistic model of mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAI can generate fluent language, construct arguments, and simulate reasoning at superhuman speed. But it does not initiate thought. It has no self-awareness, no purpose of its own, no stake in outcomes. It responds-but it does not choose.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn that contrast, we are forced to confront a deeper question: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat makes human intelligence fundamentally different?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on philosophy from Aristotle to modern debates over determinism, and engaging contemporary neuroscience and AI research, \u003ci\u003eA Serious Chat with Artificial Intelligence\u003c\/i\u003e challenges the idea that mind can be reduced to mechanism alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a book for the intelligent general reader-for anyone asking: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIs AI conscious or sentient?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDoes AI threaten human thinking-or clarify it?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat is the future of AI and humanity?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat does it mean to think, to understand, to choose?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eAI is already reshaping the economy, culture, and daily life. Understanding it requires more than learning how to use it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt requires understanding ourselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book invites you into that conversation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Walter Donway\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798244924688\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/30\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 388\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.14lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d","brand":"Walter Donway","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48852851130623,"sku":"9798244924688","price":16.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-serious-chat-about-artificial-walter-donway-9798244924688","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}