[.ca] On Intelligence (ISBN 0805074562)

An Intelligent and Readable Book on Intelligence:
Jeff Hawkins is the founder of Palm Computer, and the inventor of the Palm Pilot and Treo. After making his fortune, Hawkins turned his attention to neuroscience. Given that history, I was afraid that this book was only published because Hawkins is rich, successful and presumed smart. In fact, Hawkins is smart. More importantly, he has some very good ideas about how the brain works, and he presents them in a clear and concise way. This is an excellent book. Hawkins presents a theory of how the brain makes predictions. Questions that are easily solved are solved at a lower level. If they cannot be solved, they move up to the next level -- something like. I'll let Hawkins explain it. He does a much better job. "On Intelligence" could easily have been titled "How the Mind Works." In fact, that title is taken by another wonderful scientist and writer, Steven Pinker. The two books have very little in common after that. I highly recommend both.

Not a book on AI but a good theory of how the brain works:
I read MCT's review and while I agree I think he missed the point and don't agree with the rating. The book is not on artificial intelligence but a theory on how the brain manifests intelligence. I found the basic premise a useful place to start thinking about the process. Complexity which grows out of the application of simple repeatable patterns is a much more believable evolutionary process and worth looking into as a theory. It got me thinking which is what any good book should do.

you can do better:
If you're looking for a nice introduction to AI, look somewhere else. This book is nothing more than an outdated opinion paper. Many of his arguments are based on his work from the 80s! If you have a technical background, this book will bore you. The majority of facts/data are the authors resume, which he inserts as frequently as possible.