Muse in the machine

What Hacker News says

1. velcrovanMay 2026
   David Gelernter describes a theory of consciousness and creativity that explains why this works in his book “The Muse in the Machine”. I recommend it to everyone.
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2. velcrovanJul 2025
   I’m once again begging people to read David Gelernter’s 1994 book “The Muse in the Machine”. I’m surprised to see no mention of it in Gwern’s post, it’s the exact book he should be reaching for on this topic.

   In examining the possibility of genuinely creative computing, Gelernter discovers and defends a model of cognition that explains so much about the human experience of creativity, including daydreaming, dreaming, everyday “aha” moments, and the evolution of human approaches to spirituality.

   https://uranos.ch/research/references/Gelernter_1994/Muse%20...

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3. velcrovanJan 2023
   I still have not read anything on this topic (models of human thought, creativity and emotional affect) so clear and interesting as David Gelernter’s “The Muse in the Machine” (1994).
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4. velcrovanJul 2018
   If you're reading the Jaynes book, you should absolutely follow it up with "The Muse in the Machine" by David Gelernter. (Gelernter also happens to be one of the surviving unabomber victims)
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5. dwringerOct 2017
   If someone only has familiarity with AI from reading passing news stories, it is reasonable to think they would have such a perception of the field. I think your diagnosis of the downvoters might be correct, but "not even wrong" seems a bit extreme. AFAIK somebody out there is probably trying to do a research paper on simulated neurotransmitters as we speak. More interesting would be if anyone had links to existing research in that area. It may not be high-efficiency or high-performance technology, but as a learning tool for exploring theoretical models I think it could be very beneficial.

   The topic reminds me of a book I read (and was fascinated by at the time), The Muse in the Machine by David Gelernter. It seems he has moved away from AI research and into political punditry, however, and recently made headlines denying that the moon landing ever happened. Nevertheless, that book contained a lot of exposition around the idea of creating AI with simulated emotion. This is simultaneously in line with the idea of simulating neurotransmitter function, but also has parallels with more general mathematical techniques that are in widespread use. Thus, the book (and perhaps the idea itself) are a bit dated, but I don't think it makes them less relevant.

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6. dwringerFeb 2017
   I'm only familiar with one of his works, "The Muse in the Machine", which is a bit dated now but provides an excellent informal discussion of the relationship between human and computerized intelligence. It seems he has published on some [even] more controversial topics since then, but I can easily recommend the title I mentioned to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject.
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