Plant Intelligence, AI and Non-Human Personhood: James Bridle Explores our Planet’s Countless ‘Ways of Being’

“What would it mean to build artificial intelligence and other machines that were more like octopuses, more like fungi, or more like forests?” asks James Bridle in their new book, “Ways of Being.” From computers made of crabs, to theories of plant memory, to the legal push for an elephant’s personhood, “Ways of Being” looks beyond human intelligence to examine how our technology could better encompass the Earth’s complexity. Exploring different forms of intelligence — and all we don’t know about our world — Bridle argues that we can develop partnerships with non-threatening AI, rethink our computers, reform our politics and even save our shared planet.