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You Look Like a Thing and I Love You

On sale

23rd July 2020

Price: £12.99

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781472269010

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‘I can’t think of a better way to learn about artificial intelligence, and I’ve never had so much fun along the way’ Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Option B

AI is the technology of the future, but how does it actually work? A hilarious, transporting look under the hood of the technology that’s changing the world – and why it’s dumber than we think

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You is one of the best pickup lines ever . . . according to an artificial intelligence trained by scientist Janelle Shane, creator of the popular blog AI Weirdness. She makes silly AIs that learn how to name paint colors, create the best recipes, and even flirt (badly) with humans – all to understand the technology that governs so much of our human lives.

We rely on AI every day for recommendations, for rust AI with matters of life and death, on the road and in our hospitals. But how smart is AI really . . . and how does it solve problems, understand humans, and drive self-driving cars?

This hilarious introduction to the most interesting science of our time, shows us how these programs learn, fail, and adapt – and how they reflect both the best and the worst of humanity.

Reviews

Slate
Janelle Shane makes the kind of neural networks that go viral. Her quirky creations autonomously stumble and grumble ... the output of her networks is typically silly and charming in equal measure
Publishers Weekly
An accessible primer ... illustrated with charming cartoons, oddball case studies (self-driving cars in Australia were confused by kangaroos), and wry observations about the often-hilarious failures of artificial intelligence to comprehend human contexts
Nerdist
Janelle Shane is quickly becoming the internet's neural network queen
New York Post
Creative and hilarious
BoingBoing
Janelle Shane of A.I. Weirdness is awesome
Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of ORIGINALS
If you're terrified that artificial intelligence is going to take over the world soon, you clearly haven't asked a computer to write pickup lines, name pets, or do anything else social or creative. Janelle Shane has, and she's the perfect tour guide to explain what machine learning can and can't do - and how it's already affecting your life. I can't think of a better way to learn about artificial intelligence, and I've never had so much fun along the way
David Ha, Lead Researcher, Google Brain
Machine learning algorithms are becoming more entrenched in our everyday lives, but they're far from perfect. Janelle Shane takes readers on a light-hearted adventure into the world of machine learning in the wild, examining what these algorithms are really learning - and what they're misunderstanding completely. If you're interested in learning about machine learning and artificial intelligence, trying to understand our robot overlords, or just love weird and interesting science, you can't miss this book
Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools
This book is scary, not because of how smart AI is, but how weird and too often dysfunctional. If Janelle Shane is a real person, and not some kind of writing robot, she demonstrates the superiority of natural intelligence in the task of making a technical topic irresistibly funny and compelling
Zach Weinersmith, creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, New York Times bestselling author of Soonish
While everyone else is making questionable predictions about the future of AI, Janelle Shane cuts through the fog by telling you how AI actually works. And, even better: she makes it fun!
William Poundstone, author of Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
Few recent innovations are so revolutionary as machine learning - and none are so poorly understood by the public, pundits, and policy makers. In You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, Janelle Shane delivers a fun, common-sense guide to the technology that's shaping our future
Annalee Newitz, author of Future of Another Timeline
Janelle Shane's goofy experiments with AI reveal a lot about the future. This book will make you laugh, but you'll also get a crash course in how AI works-and why it's not quite ready to take over the world. A delightful way to learn about the technology that's poised to change our lives
Eric Topol, author of Deep Medicine
Janelle Shane has hit the trifecta - the most hilarious, educational, and overall best explainer of artificial intelligence ever written (and drawn)
Ryan North, New York Times bestselling author of How to Invent Everything
You Look Like a Thing And I Love You is an incredibly accessible, informative, and (this is equally-important) hilarious look at how the AIs deciding things around us operate. They're not magic, and they're not even that mysterious - but in Janelle Shane's hands, they're hysterical
Gretchen McCulloch, New York Times bestselling author of Because Internet
If you're worried about what AI is doing to the world, this book may not exactly reassure you, but it will definitely equip you with greater understanding in a highly readable manner. Shane's sense of humor and enthusiasm for her topic shine through. Recommended for anyone who wants to better understand the strengths and limitations of artificial intelligence, but also for anyone who likes watching computers fail hilariously