I was disappointed by Flesh and Machines, Rodney Brooks’ rambling discourse on robotics.  Unlike Ray Kurzweil’s thought-provoking The Age of Spiritual Machines or even Hans Moravec’s mind-bending Robot, Brooks seems to have no purpose in this book, except to write one.  The material is familiar and has been covered better elsewhere.

Not that it wasn’t interesting in spots.  Once you get past his drawn-out autobiography, Brooks provides a good overview of the problems researchers face trying to provide robots with the capabilities humans find second-nature.  Vision is a good example; while computer vision is capable of detecting and recognizing human faces from the front, it falls down when confronted by side views or when people wear a hat, shave, even as they age.

Brooks is also interesting when he discusses whether humans are special or just a biomolecular machine.  As you might expect, he sees us as machines interacting with the objects of the world in accordance with physics, but he comes at it in a gentle, considerate manner.  Eventually, he asserts, mankind will accept robots as emotional machines.  Much as we have begun to overcome racial and gender discrimination, we will begin to accept our robots, both emotionally and legally.

Flesh and Machines is a cut below Kurzweil’s and Moravec’s works so start with one of these.  If you enjoy the subject, pick up Flesh and Machines for a pleasant weekend read.