How Computers Think

I'm talking about true "intelligent" machines, sometimes called "hard" AI, or "general intelligence". That is, an artificial intelligence that is intelligent "like us", that is "conscious" or "self aware". This is a subject more discussed by philosophers and pop-culture commentators than by actual researchers in artificial intelligence. Its terms are too loosely-defined, its consequences of too little practical significance to interest most data scientists or software engineers. Philosophers and alarmist journalists might concern themselves with the line between simple maths and a thinking being, but for practical purposes, the current state-of-the-art in AI seems so far away from any truly intelligent machine as to make the question moot. But I think that is a missed opportunity.