Computers that are more intelligent than humans are not only possible, but inevitable and will be here sooner than most people think, according to the new book written by Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert Charles Simon. Will Computers Revolt: Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence predicts that in just a few years, computers will become the dominant intelligence on our planet, ushering in a technological juggernaut that, to some extent, has already begun. To get there, however, Simon argues that AI must be able to develop an understanding of the real world. Noting that most AI programs have been developed to solve specific problems, he contends, "Since they have no real world context, I believe Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) – the ability of any intelligent agent to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human can – will necessarily emerge within the context of robotics, which is the only technology based on real-world interactions. It will then be transferred to most other areas of computation."

Welcome, dear readers, to the first iteration of Engadget's newest series, Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories. Consciousness and free will have long been the hallmarks of human intelligence, what sets us apart from "lower" forms of life. But as artificial intelligences grow increasingly advanced, the gap between biological and mechanical minds continues to shrink. Although machines can't currently express free will, Charles J. Simon argues in his book "Will Computers Revolt? Preparing for the future of artificial intelligence," doesn't mean they won't be able to in the near future.