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18 reviews for:
T-Minus AI: Humanity's Countdown to Artificial Intelligence and the New Pursuit of Global Power
Michael Kanaan
3.63 AVERAGE
18 reviews for:
T-Minus AI: Humanity's Countdown to Artificial Intelligence and the New Pursuit of Global Power
Michael Kanaan
3.63 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Skip first 8 chapters. Summarizes headlines without great depth. Intro only level book
medium-paced
This is a great introductory book for someone who doesn’t have any knowledge about AI. For someone with a bit more technical background, some points may be known already, but the author’s explanation brings another perspective which I liked.
Overall is a well written book.
Overall is a well written book.
Thank you to Netgalley and BenBella Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I was quite pleasantly surprised that I did, because non-fiction is a genre that I rarely like.
The narrator was able to explain many complex or complicated ideas in a simple way that was easy to understand and very informative, I liked the way that the book first goes through important concepts and jumps right into the intricate history of AI - how it has affected the world and continues to do so, and how various countries in the world today are racing to wield this power.
The beginning of this book was a bit broad and unspecified, and it took a while for it to actually get into the stream of artificial intelligence itself. However, I liked the way that the book was written that someone who knew absolutely nothing about the subject could easily understand what was being said and get a better sense of some of the advances happening in the world today, which are spoken of quite frequently in the news as well.
Overall, this book proved to be a somewhat thought-provoking and highly interesting read. I would definitely recommend it to others who either like non-fiction, or if you are like me and enjoy reading about science in the future and artificial intelligence in general.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I was quite pleasantly surprised that I did, because non-fiction is a genre that I rarely like.
The narrator was able to explain many complex or complicated ideas in a simple way that was easy to understand and very informative, I liked the way that the book first goes through important concepts and jumps right into the intricate history of AI - how it has affected the world and continues to do so, and how various countries in the world today are racing to wield this power.
The beginning of this book was a bit broad and unspecified, and it took a while for it to actually get into the stream of artificial intelligence itself. However, I liked the way that the book was written that someone who knew absolutely nothing about the subject could easily understand what was being said and get a better sense of some of the advances happening in the world today, which are spoken of quite frequently in the news as well.
Overall, this book proved to be a somewhat thought-provoking and highly interesting read. I would definitely recommend it to others who either like non-fiction, or if you are like me and enjoy reading about science in the future and artificial intelligence in general.
A solid enough overview of what AI is and isn't. The first half was a high-level summary of the evolution of AI while the second half focused more on its impact on modern society. Unfortunately, partly due to the nature of the topic, the content will be outdated within a year.
If you follow the tech industry to any extent, I can't imagine much of what's written here will come as a surprise to you, but for someone who needs a primer on the subject, I would whole-heartedly recommend it. The writing is easy to read and follow, and the choices made on what to focus on vs what to leave out were handled very well.
If you follow the tech industry to any extent, I can't imagine much of what's written here will come as a surprise to you, but for someone who needs a primer on the subject, I would whole-heartedly recommend it. The writing is easy to read and follow, and the choices made on what to focus on vs what to leave out were handled very well.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I found out about this new book (released two months ago) on a Facebook page book page for US Air Force Academy alumni.
The author Michael Kanaan and I were cadets at the Academy at the same time. Although we didn't know each other, when I saw him announce pre-orders for his new book about artificial intelligence in the early summer of 2020, I wanted to support his work and learn more about A.I.
As an Air Force officer, I'm very familiar with military style writing at the executive level. When I opened this book I expected to see dense writing packed with militaristic jargon, strung together in uninteresting ways, in the style of anything I ever read that came out of any Air Force professional military education (PME). I expected pedantic, dry, and somewhat dull.
I'm happy to report that is not the case with T-Minus AI.
Kanaan successfully takes the complicated subject of AI and makes it understandable for those of us who do not live and breath the technical facets of it on a daily basis.
The book has a logical flow. It takes readers from the development of the concept of AI, through its early precursors, how modern AI works and is trained, then finally to the impact AI is having on nations around the world. It was clearly written for the AI uninitiated (most people) to demonstrate the importance of the technology now and in the future.
I also thought he did a very good job of including technical descriptions of AI and computing without turning it into a white paper about AI. Like many of my fellow Academy alumni (and me), Kanaan occasionally geeks out with numbers. Sometimes this was in the context of AI or describing the details of a historical event. I mention this because I know this may discourage some people from reading the book, because it may come off as too technical, too mathy.
I personally enjoyed the inclusion of the numbers. They provided great context on just how difficult it is for the human mind to comprehend giga, terra, and petabytes of data that flash by our eyes in nanoseconds nearly everyday of our lives these days, when we use our smartphones or uses the internet for our daily activities
As someone who travels to Asia fairly often (I have family in Singapore), and is actively learning Mandarin Chinese, the information about China's reach and influence in AI research, development, and implementation was eye-opening, and a bit chilling. I felt as if I were back at the Academy reading a required book for MSS100. It was that informative and insightful, making me wonder what if anything the US is REALLY doing to counter the Chinese.
Kanaan combined math, science, engineering, history, and even a little philosophy into this book. These are a few of my favorite things. I wish this book would have come out sooner, so I could have had a firmer grasp on AI before I included aspects of it in my first fiction book, but now I'm even more informed to write my next two books.
Bottom line: if you, like many people, know nothing about AI outside of what you have seen or read in science fiction media; if you are interested in how AI is connected to nearly every facet of your life right now; or if you are interested in the potential long-term impacts of the technology in the context of military strategy or domestic uses, T-Minus AI is a must read.
5-Stars
The author Michael Kanaan and I were cadets at the Academy at the same time. Although we didn't know each other, when I saw him announce pre-orders for his new book about artificial intelligence in the early summer of 2020, I wanted to support his work and learn more about A.I.
As an Air Force officer, I'm very familiar with military style writing at the executive level. When I opened this book I expected to see dense writing packed with militaristic jargon, strung together in uninteresting ways, in the style of anything I ever read that came out of any Air Force professional military education (PME). I expected pedantic, dry, and somewhat dull.
I'm happy to report that is not the case with T-Minus AI.
Kanaan successfully takes the complicated subject of AI and makes it understandable for those of us who do not live and breath the technical facets of it on a daily basis.
The book has a logical flow. It takes readers from the development of the concept of AI, through its early precursors, how modern AI works and is trained, then finally to the impact AI is having on nations around the world. It was clearly written for the AI uninitiated (most people) to demonstrate the importance of the technology now and in the future.
I also thought he did a very good job of including technical descriptions of AI and computing without turning it into a white paper about AI. Like many of my fellow Academy alumni (and me), Kanaan occasionally geeks out with numbers. Sometimes this was in the context of AI or describing the details of a historical event. I mention this because I know this may discourage some people from reading the book, because it may come off as too technical, too mathy.
I personally enjoyed the inclusion of the numbers. They provided great context on just how difficult it is for the human mind to comprehend giga, terra, and petabytes of data that flash by our eyes in nanoseconds nearly everyday of our lives these days, when we use our smartphones or uses the internet for our daily activities
As someone who travels to Asia fairly often (I have family in Singapore), and is actively learning Mandarin Chinese, the information about China's reach and influence in AI research, development, and implementation was eye-opening, and a bit chilling. I felt as if I were back at the Academy reading a required book for MSS100. It was that informative and insightful, making me wonder what if anything the US is REALLY doing to counter the Chinese.
Kanaan combined math, science, engineering, history, and even a little philosophy into this book. These are a few of my favorite things. I wish this book would have come out sooner, so I could have had a firmer grasp on AI before I included aspects of it in my first fiction book, but now I'm even more informed to write my next two books.
Bottom line: if you, like many people, know nothing about AI outside of what you have seen or read in science fiction media; if you are interested in how AI is connected to nearly every facet of your life right now; or if you are interested in the potential long-term impacts of the technology in the context of military strategy or domestic uses, T-Minus AI is a must read.
5-Stars
Just like the space race in the 1950s, there is now intense geopolitical competition and rivalry between countries attempting to be the first to truly harness the power of AI. With the vast circumstances AI can be used in it is a powerful weapon to have in your arsenal, especially if you have discovered how it can improve prospects, national security and how it can be utilised militarily. Wielded as a weapon AI has the potential to become deadly and with China, Russia and The United States already playing a game of cat and mouse using AI against each other the possibility of it taking over many aspects of life in the near future is not so far-fetched. Michael Kanaan is an authority in the field of artificial intelligence and writes in easily comprehensible and accessible prose with no waffle. What makes this book particularly special is the fact that anyone could pick it up and understand it; Kanaan makes an often complex topic seem simple.
In T-Minus AI Kanaan explains the history of AI and how it has evolved over the last few decades, the benefits of utilising AI in everyday life and the negative connotations of it, in great detail. The implications of it evolving so much that it creates problems for mankind is a concern many people have, including scientists in the field right through to laypeople. It is structured in a readable manner and begins by describing the development of AI, the different types of it and exactly how global superpowers have used it to their benefit so far. This is a captivating and well-researched book which presents the history, present and future of AI in an eminently engaging fashion and explains the social, economic and political implications as well as the interplay between them. This is a must-read for anyone interested in what our outlook may be in the not too distant future. Many thanks to BenBella for an ARC.
In T-Minus AI Kanaan explains the history of AI and how it has evolved over the last few decades, the benefits of utilising AI in everyday life and the negative connotations of it, in great detail. The implications of it evolving so much that it creates problems for mankind is a concern many people have, including scientists in the field right through to laypeople. It is structured in a readable manner and begins by describing the development of AI, the different types of it and exactly how global superpowers have used it to their benefit so far. This is a captivating and well-researched book which presents the history, present and future of AI in an eminently engaging fashion and explains the social, economic and political implications as well as the interplay between them. This is a must-read for anyone interested in what our outlook may be in the not too distant future. Many thanks to BenBella for an ARC.
I kept bracing myself for this book to become too technical to understand but it never did. It stayed interesting and engaging the whole time. I learned a lot about how AI works but more importantly, why it matters and how it's shaping the world. If you realize you need to get smart about the topic but have kind of been dreading the process, this is the book for you!