The technological innovations that have made learning computers possible are being met with
utopian hopes as well as apocalyptic apprehensions. Will AI research eventually lead to
software systems that have consciousness and are capable of autonomous decision making? The
essays challenge strong AI from the perspective of human agency and moral judgment explain the
categorical difference between vulnerable humans and AI devices and discuss diverse forms of
applied AI such as prograns of natural language processing computional creativity
neuroenhancement and the use of AI in international healthcare. These theoretical issues are
illustrated in essays that focus on the encounter with artificial beings in film literature
and theater. Examining science fiction that blurs the borderline between humans and
deep-learning androids the essays explore and challenge ways of questioning human
exceptionalism for instance by visualizing non-conscious cognition and sentience. The book
suggests a sober distinction between well-argued achievements of digital technology and
excessive unfounded expectations.
