The grander history of artificial intelligence (AI), long before the field was named, is one riddled with metaphors for the mind. In this book, Visions of Mind: Architectures for Cognition and Affect, AI metaphors are brought up-to-date with chapters representing most of the contemporary views on how to build an artificial mind. There are papers on nonlinear dynamic systems, psychological modularity, agents, and the value of the free will. Currently popular themes are touched upon by several of the papers, including mental architecture, consciousness, and emotion. "The contributors are from a range of backgrounds…including some of the founders of the field of AI as well as some of the next generation. There is not much in the way of evaluation of the work presented, but that seems not to be the point of this collection. The views expressed are more philosophical in tone, always forward-thinking… "The book gives a good overview of the aspirations and the kind of thinking going on in this increasingly important field. The book succeeds in its intention to reflect the state of the thinking about artificial minds at the start of the 21st Century."
– David Moffat, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK
The editor's preface establishes the goals of the work, along with a brief synopsis of each paper. The preface is a must-read.
– CHOICE, Vol. 43, No. 3 (2006)