The Last Plank

If every plank of a ship is replaced one by one, is it still the same ship? Now replace the planks of a human life: memory with search, judgment with prediction, work with automation, conversation with a machine that answers in fluent sentences. Which plank is the last one, the one that makes us who we are?

The Last Plank is an introduction to the concepts and philosophy of artificial intelligence for readers who want more than headlines. It climbs a ladder in five parts, from Sign through Information, Knowledge and Wisdom to the Ideal: what technology is and how it extends the human hand; how numbers, chance and evidence became the raw material of machines; how machines learn and what "intelligence" means; whether a machine can create, be alive, or have a conscience; and what AI means for work, money, power, trust and the future of the human species.

Who it is for

Curious readers with no technical background. Every term is explained in plain words when it first appears. Students and instructors in philosophy, ethics, technology and society courses. Technical readers who want to step back and ask what their work is for. Optional Under the Hood boxes go deeper.

What you will find

26 chapters, from "The Extended Hand: What Technology Is" to "The Singularity", "The Ship of Theseus: Transhumanism" and "Twelve Dark Futures". Key Idea, Thought Experiment, Real Story and Myth vs. Reality boxes that correct popular beliefs with evidence. A Note to the Reader of 2066 at the end of every chapter: a letter to someone reading forty years from now about what should still hold, and what was probably a product of our moment. Questions to Carry into your own life and work, annotated further reading, a glossary and a timeline. Every factual claim rests on a source listed at the end of its chapter; claims about products, laws and research carry a date, because they will change. The questions will not.