The fourth age: smart robots, conscious computers, and the future of humanity

Part one: The long, hard road to today. The story of Prometheus ; The First Age: language and fire ; The Second Age: agriculture and cities ; The Third Age: writing and wheels ; The Fourth Age: robots and AI ; Three big questions

Part two: Narrow AI and robots. The story of John Henry ; Narrow AI ; Robots ; Technical challenges ; Will robots take all our jobs? ; Are there robot-proof jobs? ; The big questions ; The use of robots in war

Part three: Artificial general intelligence. The story of the sorcerer's apprentice ; The human brain ; AGI ; Should we build an AGI?

Part four: Computer consciousness. The story of John Frum ; Sentience ; Free will ; Consciousness ; Can computers become conscious? ; Can computers be implanted in human brains? ; Humanity, redefined?

Part five: The road from here. The story of Jean-Luc Picard ; The invention of progress ; Life in the Fourth Age ; Death, where is thy sting ; What can go wrong? ; The Fifth Age.