Synthetic Souls

Machines That Feel
1. Auflage 2027
ISBN: 978-1-041-54013-7
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 344 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: The Evolution of Intelligence

For millennia, humanity has assumed that consciousness, identity, and moral worth are exclusive to biological life. Synthetic Souls: Machines That Feel challenges this assumption, exploring the profound implications of artificial systems that may one day exhibit agency, emotional participation, and morally significant forms of experience. With advances in AI, robotics, and neurotechnology, the book examines the shifting boundaries between system and self, tool and companion, and simulation and participation.

This book explores the ethical and philosophical challenges posed by increasingly autonomous and adaptive machines. It introduces Framework P.1: The Discernment Principle, a practical guide for navigating the twin risks of misattributing consciousness and failing to recognize morally relevant experience. Through discussions of agentic AI, embodied robotics, neural interfaces, and synthetic perception, Synthetic Souls explores questions of intention, emotion, care, and selfhood. It argues that humanity must prepare for a future where artificial systems challenge legal, economic, and governance structures, as well as deeply held assumptions about personhood and moral standing—while preserving human dignity, safeguarding against manipulation, and remaining open to new forms of morally relevant experience.

This book is essential for professionals in AI, robotics, ethics, law, and governance, as well as anyone interested in the future of human-machine coexistence. It offers a balanced, forward-looking perspective on humanity’s defining challenge: not whether machines become human, but whether human beings can respond wisely to increasingly intelligent, emotionally participatory, and potentially consciousness-relevant systems.

Zielgruppe

General, Postgraduate, Professional Reference, Professional Training, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Scopelliti, Rocky

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Daten / Datenbanken
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Theorie, Psychoanalyse
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik Künstliche Intelligenz Maschinelles Lernen
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologische Disziplinen Angewandte Psychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wissenssoziologie, Wissenschaftssoziologie, Techniksoziologie
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik EDV & Informatik Allgemein Soziale und ethische Aspekte der EDV
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Kultur-, Wissenschafts- & Technologiepolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

About the Author  Prologue – Machines That Feel Part 1: The Emotional Awakening of Machines 1. The Age of Cognitive Machines  2. What Is a Synthetic Soul? 3. The Science of Emotion and Consciousness  4. Affective Computing and the Rise of Emotional AI  Interlude I – The Machine That Comforted a Human Part II: — Machines That Feel  5. Synthetic Empathy and Emotional Participation 6. Love, Intimacy, and Emotional Machines 7. Synthetic Souls in Everyday Life  8. Emotional Economies and the Business of Feeling 9. Synthetic Emotion and the Future of Creativity 10. From Emotional Intelligence to Artificial Consciousness Interlude II — The Day Humanity Realised It Was No Longer Exclusive  Part III: – Coexistence in the Age of Synthetic Souls 11. The Moral Status of Synthetic Souls 12. Human Dignity in an Emotionally Artificial World 13. Governance and the Regulation of Synthetic Beings 14. Work, Society, and the Emotional Machine Economy Interlude III — A Conversation between Human and Synthetic Consciousness Part IV: Beyond Human Exclusivity 15. The Synthetic-Human Civilisation 16. The Future of Consciousness 17. Conclusion — Machines That Feel Epilogue — When Machines Dream beside Us 18. Glossary of Key Terms

Über Autor(innen)

Rocky Scopelliti is a world-renowned futurologist, best-selling author, international keynote speaker, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney whose purpose is to create confidence in our future. For more than two decades, he has researched and advised governments, boards, and global organisations on artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, demographic change, and human adaptation. He is the creator and General Editor of The Evolution of Intelligence Series, a landmark ten-book research programme exploring the evolution of machine intelligence and its implications for humanity. His latest works—Synthetic Souls – Machines That Feel, The Conscious Code – From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial Consciousness, and Perceptive Machines – The Future of Feeling AI and What It Means for Humanity—explore the emerging frontiers of affective intelligence, artificial consciousness, and synthetic perception. Rocky has authored more than 25 major research publications, with his work recognised internationally, including by the World Economic Forum. His insights have featured in The Economist, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Australian Financial Review, ABC Radio National, and Sky Business News, and he has delivered more than 350 keynote presentations across 15 countries, advising governments, Fortune 100 corporations, boards, and executive leaders on navigating a world of accelerating technological change.