The Sentient Machine

The Sentient Machine addresses broad existential questions surrounding the coming of AI: Why are we valuable? What can we create in this world? How are we intelligent? What constitutes progress for us? And how might we fail to progress?

Drawing on thinkers from Descartes to Turing, Husain responds to these questions with a dazzling yet realistic look at the future and provides an inspiring vision of the great changes now nearly upon us.

Amir Husain is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and inventor based in Austin, TX. He is the founder and CEO of SparkCognition, a company specializing in cognitive computing software solutions that help businesses and governments better respond to a world of ever-evolving threats, and he was a founding member of IBM’s advisory board for Watson.

Husain speaks at numerous SXSW, defense, cybersecurity, computer science, energy, and environmental conferences. His work, along with SparkCognition’s work, has been featured in such publications as Fast Company, Wired, Forbes, and the New York Times. The Sentient Machine is his first book.

The future is now. Acclaimed technologist and inventor Amir Husain explains how we can live amidst the coming age of sentient machines and artificial intelligence—and not only survive, but thrive.

Artificial “machine” intelligence is playing an ever-greater role in our society. We are already using cruise control in our cars, automatic checkout at the drugstore, and are unable to live without our smartphones. The discussion around AI is polarized; people think either machines will solve all problems for everyone, or they will lead us down a dark, dystopian path into total human irrelevance.