Several years ago I was taking economic classes at my local university out of interest and to be more informed about intentions in our geopolitical world.
A few years after those classes I ran as a candidate for city council in my local municipal elections on a platform based on sound economic policy. I did not get elected, not even close, as I was running opposite an incumbent.
A few years after that I saw this man at a coffee shop that I knew I recognized from somewhere, but had no chance of remembering him on my own. He came up to me and prompted me, and I then realized that he was one of my economic profs, retired now, from when I was taking courses all those years ago.
After brief pleasantries he said: “I recognized your name in the last election. I wanted to say that I voted for you.”
Quite surprised, I managed to respond with a sincere smile on my face: “coming from an economist, that really means a lot to me, thank you”.
My favourite part of that book is where Penrose perfectly describes what today we call AI deepfakes and how the ‘bottom-up’ algorithms that run all our AI tech today will never lead to actual consciousness, or sentience in machines.
His arguments do still hold up today, and give an interesting perspective on our current AI bubble that keeps promising AGI is just around the corner.