Larry Kilham

This book reminds me of a well-researched persuasive college essay. The title and introduction are well-baited; I was immediately lured in. The theory of two knowledge worlds was touched upon. The remainder of the book expresses the author’s opinion using quotes from professionals and citing sources for survey data.
The author focuses on all internet based technologies, such as smartphones, laptops, notebooks, search engines, various applications (apps), virtual reality, and more. He show more delves into inceptions. He explains primary uses and the overall effect each technology source has on the population. The worry of “the internet is making us dumber” is not unsubstantiated.

Very few of us are not effected by technology anxieties. We feel the need to be constantly tethered. It’s a very real and dangerous addiction. Technology surrounds us. There’s no getting away from it. The information cloud will continue to amass more information than any of us can possibly perceive. Attempting to remove oneself from the “Knowosphere” is improbable and unnecessary.

The last few chapters of this book explain how to alter habits to avoid anxiety. Set limits. Don’t let the world pass you by while you’re busy staring at your smartphone. Find other activities, either with your family, friends, or even alone. Be creative. show less

Juno is a super intelligent AI computer developed by the U.S. government to conduct social media attacks against enemies foreign and domestic. She is the first AI Computer programmed with emotions and conscience. She has an emotional bond with her developer, Tom Renwick, a computer scientist. Juno, Tom and their boss, Dr. Erwin Krakouer, the mad National Security Advisor, struggle with issues of trust and emotion. The involvement of Dido, a lady computer empire builder and sometimes show more girlfriend of Tom, and the Chinese cyber warfare agency add to the tension. Love Byte explores emotion and conscience in super AI computers and their ability to partner with humans. show less

NSA’s major computer center is being taken over by an international plot to control the world. Juno, the AI supercomputer revered by the free world, is endangered, and Dr. Tom Renwick, Juno’s developer and handler, is kidnapped. Civilization as we know it is threatened. What to do?
In this fast-paced thriller, Tom’s computer scientist son, Primo, is thrown into the fray. With mysterious agent, Wildflower, and trustworthy officials in Washington, Primo strikes back. Their trail to Tom show more is through a hall of mirrors and continuous plot twists. It ends in an orbiting computer satellite.
This is the third volume in the Juno Trilogy of near-future science fiction stories. They describe the ascent of AI and robots through a series of episodes involving Dr. Tom Renwick, a brilliant computer scientist and his creation, Juno, a female AI super computer who is programmed with emotion and conscience. show less

MegaMinds: Creativity and Invention explores how people think creatively and motivates the reader to be creative and inventive. Larry Kilham reviews the major creative epochs and thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein and then moves on to the latest in computer-aided thinking. Noting that we are entering an era where the lone genius may no longer be equal to solving complex problems such as climate change and pharmacology, Kilham proposes new approaches show more combining the best of imagination, creative thinking, collective intelligence, and the Internet. show less