Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins

It has long been thought that the pursuit of artificial intelligence would reach new heights the day a computer defeated a grandmaster at chess. This moment was enshrined in many people’s minds as the time when AI would take a huge step forward in independent thinking.

As it turns out, not so much.

How do we explain this? Well, Garry Kasparov has a few ideas. And as the man once bested by the machine Deep Blue, he has a singular insight into the situation.

Deep Thinking explores the quest to create artificial intelligence and ponders how chess became a red herring rather than the finish line many suspected. Along the way, he explains what makes a great chess player and how playing chess differs from thinking creatively in other ways.

Actually taking us behind the scenes of his battles with Deep Thought and Deep Blue, Kasparov comes off as eminently fair, making no apologies, pulling no punches, and accepting blame for his missteps. He comes off as remarkably genuine, even in the book’s most humbling moments.

A fantastic look at a huge leap forward that turned out to NOT be the huge leap forward intended, Deep Thinking is a fascinating guide to play, thought, and programming.