What would happen if robots became self-aware? Eliza's Children may have the answer to that question.
MIT graduate Gordon Wysmann remembers when Eliza, the first computer program simulating natural communication between a machine and a human, was created. That was in 1964. Despite the advances in technology and his experience, Gordon refuses to conduct research that could lead to something greater than Eliza-he knows the consequences.
The young programmers on his team don't.
In their efforts to create a social network that will top all existing ones, the young developers begin to communicate with bots that escaped as the result of a major hack. They start to cross lines that may spell danger not only for themselves but also human civilization. Have these young upstarts done what Gordon has always feared-and that he now can't stop? Have they triggered a technological growth they can no longer control-and that now controls them?
Written by a computer engineer with more than thirty years of experience, Eliza's Children is a realistic tale that imagines what could happen in the event of a singularity-and if artificial intelligence takes over.
According to author Joe Zeigler, it's not a question of if...but rather of when.
About the Author: Joe Zeigler has seen and done a lot. With degrees in engineering and business administration, he has also explored many interests, including fighting fires in Virginia, racing motorcycles professionally for ten years, and writing a manual for racers after starting the Penguin Road Racing School in 1981. During his long career in computers (over thirty years), Zeigler launched six computer stores and the nation's first computer discount warehouse. He wrote FirePrograms, a software package for fire departments, as well as the world's first PC-based UPS shipping manifest software.
After retiring from motorcycle racing, Zeigler learned how to fly an airplane. When Zeigler isn't writing books or software programs, he can be found bicycling, reading, or cooking-he even has his own hot sauce. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife, and he has a daughter who works for Apple.
