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I, Cyborg (Hardcover)

by Kevin Warwick (Author) "I WAS BORN human ..." (more)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Century; illustrated edition edition (1 Aug 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0712669884
  • ISBN-13: 978-0712669887
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 369,000 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #14 in  Books > Biography > Theatre & Performance Art > Circus
    #55 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Information Theory
    #62 in  Books > Biography > Science, Mathematics & Technology > Computers

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Product Description

Review
An intriguing account by Britain's - and the world's - leading expert in cybernetics of his experiment: for the first time ever artificial intelligence was implanted in a human - himself. In February of this year, Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics at Reading University, had a computer chip surgically inserted into his nervous system and then, when the safety of this operation was ascertained, a similar chip was inserted in his wife. Both are linked to a computer. A key part of the experiment involves the hope that emotions and experiences will be read in terms of patterns of nervous excitement from the chip into the computer. This great British breakthrough was a huge news story around the world with the experiment's huge medical and scientific implications for the future; the book will create much interest.

Product Description
This title records what happened when, in February 2002, the author and then his wife had computer chips placed into their nervous systems, linked to a computer. Can their emotions and experiences be read and recorded and beamed back into the chips so that feelings can be re-experienced?

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I WAS BORN human. Read the first page
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3.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read - but not much science, 21 Jul 2008
By Fluff (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews
Basically I agree with Matthew N Palmers review. I agree that the author doesn't paint a particularly good picture of himself. I also found the scientific info presented was fairly lacking, so I didn't have a clear picture of what was actually going on in some of the experiments. However, whilst I was a bit disappointed with the lack of depth on the science side of things, the book was interesting as an autobiographical text and also as a reminder that "cybernetic"/AI/robotic technologies (not just specifically implant - which in itself isn't a new technology) are "on their way" from science fiction, well into the here and now.

A specific point I'd make is: The author says in the book how frustrated he got with people saying he hadn't really achieved anything. Yet in 300 pages, I personally felt he hadn't countered this argument very well. Implant technology exists and ops take place routinely, radio transmission technology exists, internets and data acquisition by computer are old technologies. The author bolted them together and tested to see if they worked. Of course they worked. Why wouldn't they? It seems to me (perhaps I'm mistaken) that the only novel technology here is the nerve interface (in human) and then the novel data was that info recorded via the interface.
A lot of the other stuff detracted or confused what was being achieved. There was a lot of old science incorporated into this book..... Once the transducer has got the signal from the neuron, then it's just the same as any electrical signal. You don't need to perform an experiment to see if the transducer can control a light, a wheelchair etc. because you know the answer to this already. This stuff was more about demonstration than experimentation. I'm not saying that these demonstrations weren't valuable, I just think that they actually clouded the more experimental science done which was : The capture (and interpretation) of nerve signal information by means of a direct electrical interface into a nerve.

As I said, whilst the author doesn't come across as the sort of person you'd want to be down the pub with, I did enjoy reading his about his drive and his frustrations achieving his goal so as an interesting biog rather than an informing science book, I'd give it 3 stars.
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23 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Self Serving., 29 Dec 2002
By Matthew N Palmer (London, London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This book says very little of any consequence about the technology or the social dimensions of this intriguing subject (human - machine direct interfacing), but rather spends most of the time on how Mr. Warwick managed the media and publicity machine that accompanied his recent cyborg experiments.

His comments on being continuously spied upon by a Big Brother system are naive beyond belief (It's OK, because we'd use it for nice things rather than nasty things) - no serious discussion of how these technologies impact on privacy, or of other technologies with which they could be combined to ensure anonymity and privacy, such as cryptosystems, zero knowledge proofs, etc. etc.

The technology itself is barely described, and no framework is developed for thinking about the cyborgisation (if that's the correct word to use) of humanity, either as it stands right now or how it may develop into the future.

An ultimately unsatisfying, self serving, and disappointing book from someone who is living at the frontier of this technology. A missed opportunity.

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12 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time or money, 5 Feb 2004
I wish I could give this book no stars. As a programmer I was hoping this book would tell me what the current state of play is within the field of robotics.

Could someone please tell me what is so wonderful about transmitting muscle signals across the internet as opposed to sending them across a LAN? After all, the signals are just IP packets. Did he do it just for the publicity/money? I believe that's the justification Kevin Warwick would give. He talks a lot about the funds he's obtaining for his 'research'. I realise I'm just a humble techy and I may misunderstand his motives but I wonder how research consisting of attaching a chip to a nerve in your arm compares to creating the relational model (Codd) or teasing out the information contained within DNA sequences. The chip in the arm stunt may give joe public a buzz and make the front page of the Sun, but class it as research/pushing forward the frontiers of science? I think not.

If I decide to study for a PhD I certainly won't be applying to any departments headed by Kevin Warwick.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars I, Cyborg.
I found this book very boring. It did tell a story but it was a tired one. It did not go into enough detail about the implant etc. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!!
An enlightening account of Professor Warwick's journey from mere human to omnipotent cyborg -- starting with his childhood inspirations and concluding with a cute piece of fiction... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2002 by Hathor

5.0 out of 5 stars I Cyborg first review
I Cyborg by Prof Kevin Warick is a fasinating insight into real world research that sounds more like science fiction. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2002 by tom_berman

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