In Brainmaker Sukanto Bhattacharya examines the co-evolution of human and synthetic intelligence from a socio-anthropological perspective. He begins by presenting a history of technology discovery and adoption by human society, underpinning the uniqueness of synthetic intelligence. In subsequent chapters he critically comments on the challenging facets of human-AI co-evolution exacerbated by proliferating AI-labelled gadgets. Bhattacharya identifies indicators signalling that the human-AI co-evolutionary trajectory is about to, or has already, hit a turbulent patch with unknown and likely undesirable outcomes. He highlights the need for a new, more holistic ontological framework to cast intelligence, biological and artificial, as something more than a mere collation of cognitive capabilities. In the final chapter, he posits a few controversial conjectures on human-AI co-evolution.
Dr Sukanto Bhattacharya is a Senior Lecturer in Management in the Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Australia. He has master’s degrees in business administration and commerce, and a PhD in information technology. He is broadly interested in AI and ethics. He also has active research interests in the application of machine learning tools in business decision-making. His authored/co-authored articles have been published in a wide range of scholarly journals like Minds and Machines, Decision Support Systems, Group & Organization Management and Business Ethics Quarterly. Sukanto loves motorcycling road trips. He is also a published poet. He lives with his wife in Geelong, Victoria.