Well, with this one I learned that computers will probably keep getting better and better, but will NOT take over the world. That’s good to know. Lol ......good little book to learn all the ins and outs of artificial intelligence. And the myths. If you’re at all interested in AI, this read is for you.

Understanding computers is hard. Understanding AI is hard. Combine both and you have a recipe for misunderstandings that can affect not just those involved in the industry but society as a whole.

As an example take the trolley problem as it applies to self driving cars. Simply put, how do you decide between multiple inevitable deaths and what are the factors to take into account when you do? Add in the complication that the decision is to be made by computer and you reach the stage where manufacturers may simply take the decision to protect the owners of the cars they make and forget the rest. Wonderful if you're in the car, less helpful if you're not.

Or how about the "Skynet" style scare stories that regularly feature in the media? Are they possible?

Understanding these types of issue is the aim of this book and it gives a balanced, insightful overview of the challenges of AI without descending into tabloid style scaremongering. As such it is recommended as an excellent overview of what is possible, and what is not, in AI.

I loved how the author explained some of the myths that exist on social media and in movies and how the reality is far from what we see depicted in the sources of these myths that surround us. The author used simple terms so everyone can understand the book and even explained a bit of the history of AI and some of the technical terms.

Interesting look at artificial intelligence, but tries too hard

The book was okay. I liked it as a history of AI, and I enjoyed the discussion of narrow artificial intelligence. But I did find the book too technical in a lot of it’s explanations, especially pertaining to types of machine learning. I also found the book tried too hard to convince me that artificial general intelligence was a long way off. Although I know this is not the case, the book does read like the type of book that an artificial general intelligence would write to throw someone off the track. Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the advance reader copy.

This book is a must read if you’re interested in AI at all. It is the perfect mix of information and humour which I enjoyed as it felt less like a textbook. The author explains the types of AI ans the applications of AI in the real world and explains what’s truly happening while taking the fear of “AI taking over the world” away. I really enjoyed how the contents of this book was really important and interesting to learn about while being an enjoyable read.