Mind at Light Speed: a New Kind of Intelligence.

Along with his colleagues at Purdue University, Nolte is working on the next generation of computers, which hold the potential for realizing artificial intelligence. Today, the shift from electron-driven machines to those reliant on photons is well under way. Fiber optics fuels the ever-increasing bandwidth of communication channels. Next, there will be the All-Optical Generation, writes Nolte, in which light will control light and images will become units of information. Toward the end of this century, Nolte predicts, the Quantum Optical Generation will be in full gear, then "quantum effects that defy classical logic will be used to transport (even teleport) quantum information and perform `uncomputable' computations in the wink of an eye." Then, computers will far exceed human limits. These machines will calculate and talk to each other faster that we can talk to them. Nolte concludes by examining the possible impact of these machines on people. Free Pr, 2001, 303 p., hardcover, $26.00.