Rating: 
Summary: An excellent introduction to Artificial Intelligence.
Review: Although a major purpose of the book is to examine the present status of computer capabilities available
compared to what was projected in this classic movie, there
is a more important side-effect. Stork has persuaded some
of the top computer science experts to describe, in understandable language, the major fields of Artificial
Intelligence, without the usual hype. It is the best book
I have read that informs the lay public so well. The desciption of the state-of-the-art in computer
science ought to be sufficiently exciting to induce some
high level producer to make a sequel of this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: HAL is obnoxious, funny and very interesting.
Review: I always enjoyed HAL's obnoxious
selfconfidence. His insistence that
- No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information.
That they are foolproof and incapable
of error -
is funny, absurd, very human, proud and down right crazy.
But at the same time intriguing.
The book look at the issues and technologies
that would be critical if we were to build HAL.
And the book let us in on some of HAL's secrets.
In the process it just all becomes even more intriguing.
An excellent book for anyone
interested in artificial intelligence, cognition
and Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction.
A must have book!-Simon
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but...
Review: I found "Hal's Legacy" to be an insightful and compelling look at the future of supercomputing, as well as the increasing role of computers in our lives today. It asks top scientists and social visionaries the question: How close or far are we to creating the HAL envisioned by Kubrick and Clarke in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey?" I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: An insightful look at the future of supercomputing
Review: I found "Hal's Legacy" to be an insightful and compelling look at the future of supercomputing, as well as the increasing role of computers in our lives today. It asks top scientists and social visionaries the question: How close or far are we to creating the HAL envisioned by Kubrick and Clarke in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey?" I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: HAL is based on real research...
Review: I have only one word for this book: COOL! For science-fiction aficionados everywhere, HAL's Legacy is a review, in 1997 when HAL was supposed to be created, the state of the technology (artificial intelligence, natural language processing, speech processing, etc.) from premier Sci-Fi writer Arthur C. Clarke and leading computer scientists in the area of AI (and other areas) like Marvin Minsky. Are we there yet? Is HAL really possible? It includes deep analysis of specific scenes in the movie and tying it in with the different premises presented in the articles/chapters in the book. This is one book absolute die-hard sci-fi fans should have, especially if you are working in the high tech sector.
Rating:
Summary: HAL is based on real research...
Review: I have only one word for this book: COOL! For science-fiction aficionados everywhere, HAL's Legacy is a review, in 1997 when HAL was supposed to be created, the state of the technology (artificial intelligence, natural language processing, speech processing, etc.) from premier Sci-Fi writer Arthur C. Clarke and leading computer scientists in the area of AI (and other areas) like Marvin Minsky. Are we there yet? Is HAL really possible? It includes deep analysis of specific scenes in the movie and tying it in with the different premises presented in the articles/chapters in the book. This is one book absolute die-hard sci-fi fans should have, especially if you are working in the high tech sector.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but...
Review: I was very distracted by the poor editing of this book. Not only was it riddled with spelling errors but I also found misplaced words which changed the meaning of an entire sentence. On top of that, the book started falling apart before I was even done reading it. However, getting by these symptoms of a quickly thrown together book, the content was very enjoyable. Specifically reading from some of the top minds in the industry. Although a few of the authors obviously clipped out previously written material and slapped the word 'HAL' in a few places to keep with the theme.
Rating:
Summary: Accessible, entertaining overview of AI research
Review: Most of us know of HAL, the famous (some would insist, infamous) supercomputer of Kubrick's sci-fi opus "2001: A Space Odyssey." In this book, editor David Stork uses HAL as a hypothetical reference point to present differing views on how the science of artificial intelligence might some day approximate the higher-order thinking of HAL. The writers represent diverse fields -- from philosophy to engineering to communications. That is a plus, for many similar efforts are too heavily biased in the highly technical "hard" science perspectives. Another admirable feature of this book is that the authors all write in a fairly straightforward, easy to understand style. One gets the impression that they were all forewarned not to "get too technical" with the readers. The result is an enjoyable overview of where artificial intelligence research has brought us, and where it might go. Interestingly, not all chapters are optimistic. Indeed, several conclude that we may be a very long way off from a computer like HAL, and one asserts that such replication of human thought (and emotion) would be an impossible task. This is a welcome chage of pace from the often "gushy" optimistic meanderings presented in books about pioneering technology. And finally, even if you didn't like (or didn't see) "2001," the book still informs and entertains.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for people into technology or computing
Review: Most of us know of HAL, the famous (some would insist, infamous) supercomputer of Kubrick's sci-fi opus "2001: A Space Odyssey." In this book, editor David Stork uses HAL as a hypothetical reference point to present differing views on how the science of artificial intelligence might some day approximate the higher-order thinking of HAL. The writers represent diverse fields -- from philosophy to engineering to communications. That is a plus, for many similar efforts are too heavily biased in the highly technical "hard" science perspectives. Another admirable feature of this book is that the authors all write in a fairly straightforward, easy to understand style. One gets the impression that they were all forewarned not to "get too technical" with the readers. The result is an enjoyable overview of where artificial intelligence research has brought us, and where it might go. Interestingly, not all chapters are optimistic. Indeed, several conclude that we may be a very long way off from a computer like HAL, and one asserts that such replication of human thought (and emotion) would be an impossible task. This is a welcome chage of pace from the often "gushy" optimistic meanderings presented in books about pioneering technology. And finally, even if you didn't like (or didn't see) "2001," the book still informs and entertains.
Rating:
Summary: Accessible, entertaining overview of AI research
Review: Most of us know of HAL, the famous (some would insist, infamous) supercomputer of Kubrick's sci-fi opus "2001: A Space Odyssey." In this book, editor David Stork uses HAL as a hypothetical reference point to present differing views on how the science of artificial intelligence might some day approximate the higher-order thinking of HAL. The writers represent diverse fields -- from philosophy to engineering to communications. That is a plus, for many similar efforts are too heavily biased in the highly technical "hard" science perspectives. Another admirable feature of this book is that the authors all write in a fairly straightforward, easy to understand style. One gets the impression that they were all forewarned not to "get too technical" with the readers. The result is an enjoyable overview of where artificial intelligence research has brought us, and where it might go. Interestingly, not all chapters are optimistic. Indeed, several conclude that we may be a very long way off from a computer like HAL, and one asserts that such replication of human thought (and emotion) would be an impossible task. This is a welcome chage of pace from the often "gushy" optimistic meanderings presented in books about pioneering technology. And finally, even if you didn't like (or didn't see) "2001," the book still informs and entertains.
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