Machines of Loving Grace Author John Markoff in Conversation with the Museum's John Hollar

As robots are increasingly integrated into modern society—on the battlefield and the road, in business, education, and health—those who design the machines have a stark choice to make. They can design systems to enhance the quality of human work and life-or they can design systems that replace humans entirely. Both approaches will reshape the modern world. In MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots, Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times reporter John Markoff, explores this issue and searches for an answer to one of the most important questions of our age: will these robots help us . . . or will they replace us?

Markoff, who was the first reporter to describe the World Wide Web, travels across the country, from the brain trusts in Palo Alto and Silicon Valley to the expanding tech corridor between Boston—home of MIT—and New York, the latest incubator for future tech development, and evaluates the present state of the A.I. versus I.A. debate. He goes deep inside the science fiction worlds of Battlestar Galactica, Terminator, and the Jetsons, which are fast becoming a reality, and talks to the insiders—scientists, entrepreneurs, ethicists, hackers and others—who are shaping the future. The result is an incisive and chilling look at our lives today—and what may come tomorrow.

Museum CEO John Hollar will moderate a captivating conversation with John Markoff on the evolution of our relationship with robots and the profound changes the future might hold. Please join us.

Kepler's Books will be onsite selling copies of John Markoff's book before and after the program.

We are very pleased that KQED Radio will be recording the program for broadcast on Wednesday, September 2 at 8pm.

And, finally, CSPAN's Book TV will be onsite recording this program for future broadcast.