canvas camping tent Canvas Tent With Stove | Free Shipping | No Sales Tax
SKU: 69821800904
canvas camping tent

canvas camping tent Canvas Tent With Stove | Free Shipping | No Sales Tax

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Description

canvas camping tent Canvas Tent With Stove | Free Shipping | No Sales TaxCANVAS TENTS WITH STOVE FREE SHIPPING Enjoy fast, free shipping on all orders when you shop at Wall Tent Shop! SHIPS IN 1 2 DAYS All orders from Wall Tent Shop ship out within 1 2 business days after the order is placed. NO SALES TAX Experience more savings at Wall Tent Shop! Save 6 9% on your order with no sales tax!* HIGH QUALITY TENTS We take great pride in the quality of our products and only offer the highest quality possible. FREE BACK DOOR OR

CANVAS TENTS WITH STOVE

FREE SHIPPING

Enjoy fast, free shipping on all orders when you shop at Wall Tent Shop!

SHIPS IN 1-2 DAYS

All orders from Wall Tent Shop ship out within 1-2 business days after the order is placed.

NO SALES TAX

Experience more savings at Wall Tent Shop! Save 6-9% on your order with no sales tax!*

HIGH-QUALITY TENTS

We take great pride in the quality of our products and only offer the highest quality possible.

FREE BACK DOOR OR BACK WINDOW

Choose between a free back food or a back window!

*Items shipped to an Idaho address must pay Idaho sales tax.

WALL TENT WITH STOVE SHOP PRICES ARE THE LOWEST, WITH FREE SHIPPING, FREE BACK DOOR OR BACK WINDOW, AND HIGH QUALITY.

CANVAS TENT WITH STOVE FOR SALE is the Wilderness tent model, and either the Wilderness Stove or the Camp Stove. Both stove models are available in 3 sizes to accommodate any size of wall tents with stove. Stoves are available in standard and deluxe packages.

CANVAS TENT WITH WOOD STOVE and Stove Jack available in both the Wilderness and Montana Canvas tent models.

Wilderness Tent Options

  • STANDARD FLY covers the entire roof of the canvas tent with stove and has a 1-foot overhang on each side to force any rain or snow 1 foot away from the roof.
  • EXTENDED FLYS are an 8¹ extension to the front of a normal fly.
  • VINYL EAVE CORNERS are designed to cut a slit in the vinyl to continue your tent frame through the vinyl and then connect to your extended fly or porch o cook shack frame.
  • FLOOR: 18 oz vinyl. Most other tent companies only have a 12-oz vinyl. Our vinyl is 50% thicker. Loose vinyl floor.
  • SEWN-IN SCREEN DOOR: Screen covers the entire width of the canvas tent with stove. Some companies only provide a 5'-6¹ wide screen area.

    Only 2 variations of screen doors are available:

    • Front screen door, 2 side windows, and back window.
    • Front and back screen door, 2 side windows, and back door.
  • WINDOWS are 30 inches x 30 inches with mesh screens. The Canvas Flap covers the window when not in use.
  • PORCH: Extension of the roof and walls of the tent. The front is open. Separate extension with 12-inch overlap. Includes ropes, tensioners.
  • COOK SHACK: Extension of roof, walls, front enclosed with a flap and zipper door. Cook Shack provides a totally enclosed area for storage and cooking in wall tents with stove. Separate extension with 8-12 inch overlap of the roof of the canvas tent with wood stove.

PRICE COMPARISON COMPETITOR CHART

Tent & Stove

Price

Comparison

SALES TAX

FREE S&H

8x10

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

10x12

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

12x14

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

Wilderness

NO

YES

$1300

$1350

$1650

Competitors




Davis YES NO NA $1682
$2024
Kwik Kamp YES NO $1595
$1812
$2089
Beckel YES NO $1340 $1380 $1765
WhiteDuck YES YES W/ Frame $2319 W/ Frame $2669 W/ Frame $3060


SALES TAX

FREE S&H

14x16

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

16x20

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

16x24

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

Wilderness NO Yes

$1950

$2360

$2560

Competitors




Davis YES NO $2301
$2723
$3102
Kwik Kamp YES NO $2360
$2772
$3064
Beckel YES NO $2074 $2274 $2514
WhiteDuck YES YES W/ Frame $3660 W/ Frame $4699 W/ Frame $5609

Davis price for 10 x 12 is a 10 x 15, 12 x 14 is a 12 x 15, & 14 x 16 is a 14 x 15, 16 x 24 is 16 x 25.

Beckel price for a 8’ x 10’ is a 9’ x 9’ 4-foot sidewall, 10’ x 12’ is a 9’ x 12’ 4-foot sidewall, 12’ x 14’ is a 12’ x 15’, 14’ x 16’ is a 15’ x 15’, 16’ x 20’ is a 15’ x 21’, 16’ x 20’ is a 18’ x 21’.

NOTE: Fire 10’ x 12’ with front screen door, side windows, and back window. Different features from the standard Wilderness canvas tent with stove. See photos above in photo section.

Wilderness canvas wall tents with stove are the same tent models we also sell as glamping tents, hot tents, and winter tents. Our Wilderness tent is very high quality and the most reinforced canvas wall tent available. That is why we use it on all canvas tent models.

THE 10’ X 12’ FIRE-TREATED TENT WITH FRONT SCREEN DOOR HAS THE FOLLOWING MODIFICATIONS TO OUR STANDARD WILDERNESS TENTS.

Photos of modifications are at the top of the page in the photo section of our standard Wilderness tents. Modification photos are at the end.

WILDERNESS IS THE STRONGEST AND MOST REINFORCED TENT AVAILABLE.

Canvas Tent With Stove Models Available

Canvas Tents With Wood Stove Options

  1. Tent Only: Wilderness or Montana Canvas
  2. Tent and Angle Kit to Make Frame
  3. Tent and Complete Frame
  4. Tent,Tarp Fly, Stove, Angle Kit to Make Frame
  5. Tent,Tarp Fly, Stove, Complete Frame

Standard Stove Package for Canvas Tent With Stove

  • Stove
  • Warming tray/shelf
  • Nesting pipe
  • Damper
  • Rain Cap/Spark Arrestor (most other stoves only have a wire mesh spark arrestor)

Deluxe Stove Package for Canvas Tents With Wood Stove

  • Standard Package PLUS...
  • Grate (most other company stove deluxe packages do not have a grate)
  • 3-gallon stainless steel water tank.

Wall Tents With Stove Recommendations

  • 8’ x 10’, 10’ x 12’ Wilderness 3 or Yukon 3
  • 1’2 x 14’, 14’ x 16’ Wilderness 4 or Yukon 4
  • 16’ x 20’, 16’ x 24’ Wilderness 5 or Yukon 5

Canvas Tent With Stove Upgrade Recommendations

12’ x 14’ or 14’ x 16’. If you could ever find yourself in very cold conditions, a Wilderness 5 or Yukon 5 is recommended. Wilderness 5 is 30% larger than Wilderness 4.

Some other companies in their 12’ x 14’ package have a small stove that will not adequately heat a 12 x 14 tent.

We have a medium-sized stove in our package that will easily heat a 12’ x 14’ or a 14’ x 16’.

6' Side Wall Option Available

  • 6' side walls provide much more headroom and usable space in your canvas tent with stove. 6' walls allow a person to get next to a wall without hitting their head against rafters or canvas roof.
  • Some companies only have 4' 7" sidewalls, which severely restricts how much space you can actually use.
  • Strongly recommend you ask your suppliers the finished height of side walls before purchasing, so you will not be surprised or disappointed upon delivery.
  • 6-foot option only available on FIRE, water, and mildew-treated canvas tents with wood stoves.

Wilderness Canvas Tent Standard Features

Your canvas tent with wood stove will include $200 worth of free options for some other tent companies.

  • FREE BACK DOOR OR BACK WINDOW. Free back door or back window included with your canvas tent with stove - your choice. $50 free feature.
  • FREE DOUBLE LAYER OF CANVAS ON RIDGE. Significantly reinforces the ridge. Some tent companies charge $75 to $200 for this feature. Very necessary when using lodge pole frames. The tent roof will tear or rip easily if the lodge pole is not smooth when the pole is being pushed through the ridge pole openings.
  • FREE STORM FLAP/COLORADO DOOR. 8" storm flap with buckle protects front & back door zippers. Helps keep out the wind. A $45 to $60 option on some tents.
  • FREE REINFORCED EAVE WITH WEBBING ENTIRE LENGTH OF EAVE. This free upgrade, included with your canvas tent with stove, is much stronger than eaves with no reinforcement.
  • FREE STEEL D RINGS SEWN INTO WEBBING. Much stronger than tents with metal grommets pressed into canvas eaves.
  • STOVE JACK OPENING. 5 1/2 inches. 6-inch available by cutting out just before the stitched 6-inch pattern. Most stoves require a 5 1/2 inch hole; otherwise, there is too much stove pipe slack, causing the pipe to move excessively during windy conditions. Stove jack is located on the roof in the front left corner of your tent - 30" from the front door and 30" from the top of the sidewall.
  • VINYL SOD CLOTH. 10" vinyl sod cloth sewn onto the bottom of the wall of the canvas tent with stove. Acts as an air seal and keeps the canvas off the ground. Prevents water from wicking up the canvas walls of wall tents with stoves.
  • TENT BAG. Some companies charge $35 for a tent bag. Rolled up inside of tent.
  • RIDGE OPENINGS FOR LODGE POLE. Flaps seal openings when the lodge pole is not used.
  • FRONT ZIPPERED DOOR, YKK #10. The highest quality heavy-duty zipper made.
  • 200 FEET OF ROPE AND 20 TENSIONERS are rolled up inside the tent.
  • 5' SIDEWALLS - provide much more headroom. Not 4' 8" like some tents. 6' Sidewalls are also available as an upgrade. Walls are measured from the outside of the canvas tent with wood stove.
    • WALLS ARE FULL 5' OF CANVAS. Some unusually designed tents have only 4' walls with 18" of vinyl sewn onto the bottom of the tent. The 18" sod cloth cannot be staked down properly, and wind blows under the sod cloth, creating a tent that is difficult to heat in cold weather. Additionally, the sod cloth will flap in the wind, making for a less-than-enjoyable camping experience.
    • Tents must have the canvas walls touching the ground to stake the walls to the ground to prevent wind from blowing under the tent walls.
    • Windows are 30" x 30" and have screens. Not small triangle windows that provide much less ventilation.

*Tent weights and ridge height charts are at the bottom of the page.*

General Information

CANVAS TENT WITH STOVE JACK

The wilderness tent model has a 5.5-inch stove jack opening. If necessary, the tent stove jack opening can be increased by cutting out the 6-inch pattern.

CANVAS HOT TENT WITH STOVE

There are different ways to describe a hot tent with a stove. All standard designs of canvas tents and wall tents with stove meet the definition of a canvas hot tent. Any canvas shelter that can use a wood stove for the purpose of heating. All canvas hot tents with a stove must have a fireproof hot tent stove jack that allows the stove pipe to pass through the roof or sidewall.

CANVAS HOT TENT WITH STOVE JACK

It is best to have the hot tent stove jack go through the roof. A hot tent stove jack going out the side wall does not draw well. Additionally, a stove pipe going out of a hot tent wall should have 2 elbows redirecting the stove pipe directly up for a better draw. When using an elbow on the outside of the hot tent, it is recommended that a metal support be used to prevent the stove pipe from becoming loose and separating.

CANVAS HOT TENT WITH FLOOR

A canvas hot tent with a sewn-in floor is available in the Selkirk spike tent model. All Wilderness tents and Montana canvas tents with stoves have an option for a loose floor that is just laid on the ground. Regardless of which type of canvas hot tent floor you purchase, it is strongly recommended that you have fireproof material below the stove to prevent the floor from melting or catching on fire.

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW DO TENT SHOP PRICES COMPARE WITH OTHER INTERNET TENT COMPANIES?

Our wall tents with stoves are normally the lowest price on the internet, with top-quality construction and outstanding customer service. Order your canvas tent with wood stove with full confidence.

WHAT SIZE OF STOVE IS REQUIRED?

  • 8’ x 10’ or a 10’ x 12’ tent requires our Wilderness 3 stove or Camp 3 stove, which is included in the price.
  • 12’ x 14’ or 14’ x 16’ canvas tent with stove requires Wilderness or Camp 4 stove.
  • 16’ x 20’ or 16’ x 24’ tent requires Wilderness 5 or Camp 5 stove

If you expect to be in extreme cold, it is recommended to choose one size larger for the 8’ x 10’ through 14’ x 16’ tents.

CAN A CUSTOMER SWITCH OUT THE WILDERNESS AND CAMP STOVES FOR A DIFFERENT STOVE MODEL?

Yes. The tent has a standard 5 1/2" stove jack with a pattern to cut out to 6" if necessary. The tent will accommodate every stove offered. The total price will be adjusted if the stove you select costs more or less than the wilderness or camp stoves included in the canvas tent with stove package.

WHAT ARE THE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR A CANVAS TENT WITH STOVE?

If using a floor, a stove floor mat is required to prevent coals from possibly falling out of the stove door when opened. The stove floor mat can also be used for wall protection if heavy winds are expected that could billow your tent wall close to the stove.

A fire extinguisher is always recommended when using a canvas tent with wood stove.

Do not overload your wood stove, and have the air intake vent wide open. Your stove will turn red hot, and even the stove pipe will turn red. The stove jack is fireproof, but having a red-hot stove and stove pipe can turn into a dangerous situation.

Always keep your spark arrestor on the top stove pipe. A spark arrestor helps prevent sparks from landing on your roof.

IS THERE HEAT RETENTION IN A CANVAS TENT WITH STOVE?

Yes, as long as the stove is in operation. The tent is semi-sealed to keep the wind from blowing in. The tent stove will quickly heat a tent. Based on outside temperature, a person will learn by experience how much wood is necessary and the amount of air intake is required for a comfortable temperature inside the tent.

When the fire goes out in your stove, the temperature inside the tent will drop quickly, as there is very little insulation in a canvas tent.

VIEW 50 TENT PICTURES from some of our satisfied customers for canvas tent with stove setup ideas and size requirements. Or read more Wilderness Tent testimonials.

SHIPPING BAGS for floors, fly, extended fly, porches, and cook shacks options are not large enough to be used for storage bags.

RECOMMENDATION: ALWAYS KEEP YOUR TENT ROOF AND FLY TAUT SO WATER CAN QUICKLY BE REMOVED FROM YOUR CANVAS TENT WITH WOOD STOVE. Water can collect on the roof in an "eave trough," which is a low area just before the sidewall created by a not-tight roof or loose fly.

The canvas should be very taut on the frame of your wall tent with stove, especially if the canvas tent with stove is going to be set up for an extended period of time, and a fly should always be used. The fly should also be tight to avoid water in the eave trough. Water will eventually go through the fly if saturated for weeks. Canvas saturated in water will rot and mildew regardless of water and mildew protection applied. There is no warranty for eave rot.

FIRE RESISTANT CANVAS: Meets CPAI 84 fire retardant code. If a tent is not specifically treated for fire resistance, it will burn quickly. Fire-resistant canvas will only burn when there is a flame source present on the canvas. When you remove the flame source from the canvas tent with stove, the wall tent will stop burning. However, there is no wall tent made that will not burn.

Discounted Prices

There are discounted prices on the following accessories if ordered with a Wilderness tent, as I am passing on my reduced shipping costs to you. Savings indicated below (-$).

5" Inline spark arrestor $50 (-$22), stove fire mat $35 (-$15), stove heat shield $35 (-$15), rubber caps for frame legs (-$10 ), tent frame bags $28 (-$10), tent coat hangars $35 (-$10), and rebar stakes (-$5 to -$10) per set.

 

Additional General Information

 

Wilderness canvas tent with wood stove jack comes standard with a 5-inch stove jack. Cutting out just before the 6-inch pattern allows a 6-inch stove pipe.

Recommend you read TENT SET UP LOCATIONS before you set up your tent to avoid wind issues that can destroy your canvas tent with stove.

CLICK FLY to read detailed info on fly advantages and recommendations. STATES THAT REQUIRE FIRE-TREATED WALL TENTS WITH STOVE: CA, LA, MI, MA, MN, NJ, and NY.

View our Angle kits for information on angle kits and how to easily build a frame in 60-90 minutes using steel conduit available at all hardware stores. $200-$400 savings, dependent on the size of the tent purchased.


WILDERNESS CANVAS IS ARMY DUCK- DOUBLE FILL. The highest quality canvas made. Click the FRAME KIT tab at the main menu bar at the top of the page for detailed information on making your own frame from steel conduit. This can be a great way to reduce the overall cost of your canvas tent with stove.

CANVAS TREATMENTS AVAILABLE. (1) Water and mildew only, marine-grade/boat shrunk or (2) FIRE, water and mildew, marine-grade/boat shrunk.

Fire, water, and mildew-treated tents are the most popular tents we sell.
I tell customers that fire treatment is a form of insurance for your canvas tent with wood stove.

Click CANVAS TENT for wilderness testimonials.

Videos

Watch Wall Tent Shop's owner, Rich, go through some of the standard features on our tents.

Footage of one of our tents:

WEIGHT BY TENT SIZE

Tent

Weights

5' Walls

Water

Mildew

5' Walls

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

6' Wall

Fire, Water,

& Mildew

8x10 40 lb 45 lb 50 lb
10x12 55 lb 65 lb 72 lb
12x14 62 lb 73 lb 80 lb
14x16 74 lb 85 lb 92 lb
16x20 89 lb 111 lb 119 lb
16x24 99 lb 121 lb 130 lb

PEAK HEIGHT BY SIZE

Peak

Heights

Peak with 5' Wall Peak with 6' Wall
8x10 7'9" 8'9"
10x12 8' 9'
12x14 8'4" 9'4"
14x16 8'9" 9'9"
16x20 9'3" 10'3"
16x24 9'3" 10'3"
Shipping Notes
  • Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
  • Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
  • Delivery to the USA:
  1. Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
  • If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
  • We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
  • Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
  • To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
  • Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
SKU: 69821800904

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4.9 ★★★★★
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Verified Purchase
Susan Lane
Omaha, US
★★★★★ 5
A well-written but perhaps too late warning
Format: Kindle
I wavered between 4 stars or 5 but ended up with 5 despite some reservations. The author has put a great deal of work into this book, which includes interviews with and intriguing anecdotes about most of the leading figures in the AI revolution. I did not know, for example, that the term “singularity” was coined as an analogy to the event horizon of a black hole – the point beyond which we cannot see the future. This is not the deepest or most technical book on this topic: that award goes to Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence. It also ignores the short to medium term issue posed by even sub-human AI -- the millions of job losses (hundreds of millions globally) likely to occur in the next 10 to 20 years. It focuses instead on the risks of super-intelligent AI, AI that exceeds – soon by orders of magnitude – human level intelligence. It is nevertheless a superb book for its intended purpose: raising public awareness of the existential risk posed by this development. AI, the author says, is the cuckoo chick in the nest. The AI community built the nest and is now busily feeding this strange chick. Mesmerized by its open mouth, they ignore the mortal danger it poses to their own progeny. Even when they know what will happen in the end, they cannot quite believe it. Only intervention by the non-technical public has any chance at all of short circuiting this process. Against these many good points, I would have liked to hear the author’s take on what I think is the critical question overlooked both by Kurzweilian optimists and AI skeptics. Both the notion that we will somehow “merge” with AI and the notion that AI will eat us alive depend on the assumption that silicon-based intelligence can have conscious awareness. We certainly wouldn’t want to merge with anything that would result in our becoming permanently unconscious, and Barrat repeatedly assumes that AI will be “self-aware,” a state that first requires being “aware,” that is phenomenally conscious. The unasked question is whether AI, as it is currently being developed, can have that capacity. IBM’s Watson may be good at Jeopardy but there is no reason to believe that it knows it is good at Jeopardy, or feels good at being good at it. By contrast, honey bees appear to become depressed when they are shaken. This suggests that there is something fundamentally wrong about the notion that current AI, as it becomes more intelligent, will “automatically” become conscious. The best current theory of consciousness – integrated intelligence theory – suggests that a computer can become conscious but only if it is wired very differently from the ones we currently have. Nevertheless, this is still an excellent book, so in the end I thought the 5 star rating was deserved.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2015
K
Verified Purchase
Ken Silber
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 4
Thought-provoking though not always convincing
Format: Hardcover
I originally posted a version of this review on my blog Quicksilber and am posting it here as well as I think the book merits broad notice: In a small irony, my writing about James Barrat's Our Final Invention has been slowed by a balky Internet connection. In my experience, glitches have become considerably more common as computers have become more powerful and complicated. Perhaps such growing glitchiness suggests artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI) are more likely to get seriously out of control someday, though it might also be a hint that AGI and ASI are going to be harder to achieve than expected by either techno-optimists such as Ray Kurzweil or techno-pessimists such as James Barrat. Barrat's goal in this book is to convince readers that AGI and ASI are likely to occur in the near future (the next couple of decades or so) and, more to the point, likely to be extremely dangerous. In fact, he repeatedly expresses doubt as to whether humanity is going to survive its imminent encounter with a higher intelligence. I find him more convincing in arguing that ASI would carry significant risks than I do in his take on its feasibility and imminence. Barrat aptly points out that building safeguards into AI is a poorly developed area of research (and something few technologists have seen as a priority); that there are strong incentives in national and corporate competition to develop AI quickly rather than safely; and that much relevant research is weapons-related and distinctly not aimed at ensuring the systems will be harmless to humans. The book becomes less convincing when it hypes current or prospective advances and downplays the challenges and uncertainties of actually constructing an AGI, let alone an ASI. (Barrat suggests that once you get AGI, it will quickly morph into ASI, which may or may not be true.) For instance, in one passage, after acknowledging that "brute force" techniques have not replicated everything the human brain does, he states: >>But consider a few of the complex systems today's supercomputers routinely model: weather systems, 3-D nuclear detonations, and molecular dynamics for manufacturing. Does the human brain contain a similar magnitude of complexity, or an order of magnitude higher? According to all indications, it's in the same ballpark.<< Me: To model something and to reproduce it are not the same thing. Simulating weather or nuclear detonations is not equal to creating those real-world phenomena, and similarly a computer containing a detailed model of the brain would not necessarily be thinking like a brain or acting on its thoughts. A big problem for AI, and one that gets little notice in this book, is that nobody has any idea how to program conscious awareness into a machine. That doesn't mean it can never be done, but it does raise doubts about assertions that it will or must occur as more complex circuits get laid down on chips in coming decades. Barrat often refers to AGIs and ASIs as "self aware" and his concerns center on such systems, having awakened, deciding that they have other objectives than the ones humans have programmed into them. One can imagine unconscious "intelligent" agents causing many problems (through glitches or relentless pursuit of some ill-considered programmed objective) but plotting against humanity seems like a job for an entity that knows that it and humans both exist. Interestingly, though, Barrat offers the following dark scenario and sliver of hope: >>I think our Waterloo lies in the foreseeable future, in the AI of tomorrow and the nascent AGI due out in the next decade or two. Our survival, if it is possible, may depend on, among other things, developing AGI with something akin to consciousness and human understanding, even friendliness, built in. That would require, at a minimum, understanding intelligent machines in a fine-grained way, so there'd be no surprises.<< Me: Note that some AI experts, such as Jeff Hawkins, have argued the opposite--that the very lack of human-like desires, such as for power and status, is why AI systems won't turn against their makers. It would be a not-so-small irony if efforts to make AIs more like us make them more dangerous. Our Final Invention is a thought-provoking and valuable book. Even if its alarmism is overstated, as I suspect and hope, there is no denying that the subject Barrat addresses is one in which there is very little that can be said with confidence, and in which the consequences of being wrong are very high indeed.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014
D
Verified Purchase
daveyd
Lexington, US
★★★★★ 5
all driven by artificial super intelligence (ASI)
Format: Hardcover
You are peering inside a black hole at a "point" beyond which you cannot see and where no one knows what exists. The point represents a period of time technologically known as Singularity. Even light cannot escape from the point and on the other side it is known only that there is a profound self replicating intelligence greater than our own, all driven by artificial super intelligence (ASI). Physicist Stephen Hawking writes that "In contrast with our intellect, computers double their performance every eighteen months. So the danger is real that they could develop intelligence and take over the world". Computer scientist and professor Vernon Vinge writes that "Within 30 years, we will have the technological means to create super human intelligence. Shortly after the human era will be ended". Our Final Invention is 267 pages of authoritative manuscript that is compelling, fascinating and beyond the fright stage. The book's author on numerous occasions refers to "we" as if there exists a unified collective engaged in artificial general intelligence(AGI) or artificial super intelligence (ASI). The reality is that some 56 nations are currently in different stages of arcane artificial intelligence designs. They include antagonists such as North Korea, Iran and suicide regimes from the Middle East. Russia, China and the U.S. are the biggest players as is Israel. The author believes that super computers fueled by nanotechnology will combine to produce ASI trillions of times more powerful than any human academic or intellectual resources. ASI has the potential to eliminate hunger, poverty, disease and even mortality but disruptions of global economies and politics will be in evidence as balance of powers are shifted. Unemployment dynamics will infect bank tellers, retail clerks, travel agents, loan officers stock brokers.... Computer software designs are so complex, even incomprehensible, that failures are inevitable. The 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima were all designed by highly qualified professionals but with complex infrastructures. Under Singularity as computer speeds double with frequency while human intelligence is unchanged, perhaps the musings of Hawking and Vinge will prove to be prescient. Our Final Invention is 267 pages of a very dark subject which not even a trace of a happy Betty Grable ending is to be found. My time has expired. Perhaps the final words were well expressed by Jaan Tallin, cofounder of Skype: 'A hard-hitting book about the most important topic of this century and possibly beyond---the issue of whether our species can survive. I wish it was science fiction but I know it's not'!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2016
J
Verified Purchase
Jacob Donkin
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
Gripping and Informative, a Must-read
Format: Hardcover
As someone who struggles to finish books in their entirety, I found Our Final Invention by James Barrat highly readable, deeply informative, and utterly gripping. The book contains a powerful message: through competition, distrust, desire and curiosity, humans will inevitably create an artificial intelligence (AI) that rivals or surpasses our own. Thus, it is wise and necessary to invest now in mitigation efforts and potential safeguards -- increased research and advocacy for AI risk and, most importantly, producing friendly AI. Barrat covers a lot of ground, but his main argument is summarized as follows: Currently, we humans regularly utilize narrow AI technology (technology capable of achieving specific, programmed goals through unassisted human computing -- Siri, Google search, IBM's Watson, etc). We are also experimenting with "black box" tools and techniques (programs where inputs and outputs are understood and measurable, but the processes in between aren't -- genetic algorithms/programming and software that writes better software) and artificial neural networking (ANN), as seen through efforts to reverse engineer the human brain. And, below the surface, there is an ongoing race between world powers (driven mainly by national security, defense, and international business interests) and guided by AI developers to develop and achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- human-level artificial intelligence. The problem is that once AGI is achieved it will be very difficult to manage, and may very well result in the manifestation of artificial super intelligence (ASI) -- greater than human-level intelligence. ASI could theoretically become thousands of times smarter than the smartest human being alive. It won't think like us, won't want to be ruled by us, and, most crucially, it won't want to be turned off. In fact, ASI would likely regard us as potential fuel for its quest to duplicate and improve itself exponentially in order to achieve its goals. Throughout the book, Barrat refers to interesting psychological phenomena and concepts (such as the normalcy bias), while drawing on personal experiences, historic events, and interviews with computer programmers, inventors and philosophers, to tactfully illustrate how progress in AI development is dangerously rapid. Adequate checks and balances are not in place to deal with a non-ideal intelligence explosion or hard take-off (AGI quickly leading to ASI). I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about both human beings and the advancement of machines. I suspect that the prominence of AI, as a research field and topic for discussion, will only increase in time (it already has in recent years -- drones, smart technology, Wall Street high frequency trading (HFT), financial modeling), making Our Final Invention a valuable guide or stepping stone for anyone trying to understand our world and the path of the future.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2014
A
Verified Purchase
Ashley Sutton
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
Great book
Format: Hardcover
We love the FGTEEV books!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2026

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