Scan barcode
A review by inthebelljar
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place by Janelle Shane
5.0
This goes right onto my Favorites shelf.
AIs and robots are a huge favorite topic of mine (both fictional ones and real life ones), so it probably isn't a huge surprise that I enjoyed this book so much (and especially when considering I follow Janelle Shane's blog already and have notifications turned on for updates). But You Look Like a Thing and I Love You is just such a hilarious and yet understandable exploration of modern day artificial intelligence, that I feel like you don't have to be weirdly enamored with artificial life like me to enjoy it (though it doesn't hurt to be).
The explanations are written clearly and Shane uses delightful hypothetical or real examples to clarify any unfamiliar concepts. The author also includes adorably wonderful little doodles (like the one on the cover) to accompany explanations, relevant real life stories, and just to be very fun and cute.
After reading this, I feel like I understand AIs and neural networks better than before, and I also had a great time laughing at neural network generated Buzzfeed article titles (for example, 27 christmas ornaments every college twentysomething knows and 24 times australia was the absolute worst). It was also helpful to learn more about the limitations of AIs in modern times (especially when many companies like to oversell what they can do), and ways to spot AIs from humans and vice versa. A huge portion of this book really does cover the limitations of our current technology, which I often think gets overlooked; Shane takes the time to point out that AIs can pick up on our intentional and unintentional biases as well, which can affect what output we get back from what many consider an impartial source.
It may get a bit repetitive at times for such a slim book as some other reviewers have mentioned, but I really didn't mind too much.
Overall, I just thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you have any interest in artificial intelligence, I would recommend this. You can get a preview of some of what you'll see in the book on her twitter or on her blog, AI Weirdness,.
(As a side note, it was great to have a book unrelated to gender be so great about acknowledging and respecting all genders :). )
AIs and robots are a huge favorite topic of mine (both fictional ones and real life ones), so it probably isn't a huge surprise that I enjoyed this book so much (and especially when considering I follow Janelle Shane's blog already and have notifications turned on for updates). But You Look Like a Thing and I Love You is just such a hilarious and yet understandable exploration of modern day artificial intelligence, that I feel like you don't have to be weirdly enamored with artificial life like me to enjoy it (though it doesn't hurt to be).
The explanations are written clearly and Shane uses delightful hypothetical or real examples to clarify any unfamiliar concepts. The author also includes adorably wonderful little doodles (like the one on the cover) to accompany explanations, relevant real life stories, and just to be very fun and cute.
After reading this, I feel like I understand AIs and neural networks better than before, and I also had a great time laughing at neural network generated Buzzfeed article titles (for example, 27 christmas ornaments every college twentysomething knows and 24 times australia was the absolute worst). It was also helpful to learn more about the limitations of AIs in modern times (especially when many companies like to oversell what they can do), and ways to spot AIs from humans and vice versa. A huge portion of this book really does cover the limitations of our current technology, which I often think gets overlooked; Shane takes the time to point out that AIs can pick up on our intentional and unintentional biases as well, which can affect what output we get back from what many consider an impartial source.
It may get a bit repetitive at times for such a slim book as some other reviewers have mentioned, but I really didn't mind too much.
Overall, I just thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you have any interest in artificial intelligence, I would recommend this. You can get a preview of some of what you'll see in the book on her twitter or on her blog, AI Weirdness,.
(As a side note, it was great to have a book unrelated to gender be so great about acknowledging and respecting all genders :). )