You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, Janelle Shane
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, Janelle Shane
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You Look Like a Thing and I Love You
How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place

Author: Janelle Shane

Narrator: Xe Sands

Unabridged: 5 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Voracious

Published: 11/05/2019

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

As heard on NPR's "Science Friday," discover the book recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant: an "accessible, informative, and hilarious" introduction to the weird and wonderful world of artificial intelligence (Ryan North).

"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 creates 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 daily lives.

We rely on AI every day for recommendations, for translations, and to put cat ears on our selfie videos. We also trust 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 even drive self-driving cars?

Shane delivers the answers to every AI question you've ever asked, and some you definitely haven't. Like, how can a computer design the perfect sandwich? What does robot-generated Harry Potter fan-fiction look like? And is the world's best Halloween costume really "Vampire Hog Bride"?

In this smart, often hilarious introduction to the most interesting science of our time, Shane shows how these programs learn, fail, and adapt—and how they reflect the best and worst of humanity.

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You is the perfect book for anyone curious about what the robots in our lives are thinking.

"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

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sleepless on November 01, 2019

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in return for my unbiased review! This book provides an excellent summary of AI and how it works. It's written in a funny and easy going style, with absolutely adorable sketches. Seriously, it's worth reading this for the AI doodles......more

Goodreads review by Blair on September 29, 2019

A fun, irreverent guide to the world of artificial intelligence from the woman behind the fantastic AI Weirdness blog. The book's central premise can be summed up in a sentence: artificial intelligence is more widespread than we think... but it's also pretty stupid. Hence the many funny, charming an......more

Goodreads review by Martin on February 23, 2020

Informative on the different things AI gets right and wrong, but also very funny. Great read.......more

Goodreads review by Jerzy on March 11, 2020

YES. THIS. I crack up every time I read Shane's ridiculous tumblr posts about neural-net-generated paint colors and recipes and pie names. So I asked for this book for Christmas, expecting merely a few more silly jokes. Instead, I got an incredibly well-written and thorough (but still funny!) overview......more

Goodreads review by Wreade1872 on June 19, 2020

Four stars plus a bonus star for relevancy. I mean they need to teach this in schools. AI is like the evil genii/devil/monkeyspaw that give you exactly what you ask for but never what you want. So many fascinating and disturbing examples of the types of AI's that are already being used around the wor......more

Quotes

One of the most anticipated books of the fall! - Adam Grant, Ars Technica, Philadelphia Inquirer, Next Big Idea Club, BookPage

"If you're terrified that artificial intelligence is going to take over the world, you clearly haven't asked a computer to write pick-up 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 why 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."—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals

"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!"—Zach Weinersmith, creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and New York Times bestselling author of Soonish

"An incredibly accessible, informative, and hilarious look at how the AIs deciding things around us operate."—Ryan North, New York Times bestselling author of How to Invent Everything

"What better way to explain AI than through examples of what it can and cannot do? Shane is an expert at this and fills the book with hilarious AI experiments as well as a bunch of complementary, charming cartoons. Her writing style is also so approachable that anybody, not just the engineer-minded or the tech-savvy, can understand the often abstract concepts she details."—Ars Technica

"This accessible guide to AI and machine learning cuts through the techno-hype... You Look Like a Thing and I Love You should be essential reading."—Booklist

"AI, AI, AI, that's all you hear... but what is it, really? Why should we care? And why is it driving so much innovation, remaking our world seemingly day by day? Shane is a computer scientist and a great guide."—Philadelphia Inquirer

"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."—Publishers Weekly

"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. Recommended for anyone who wants to better comprehend the strengths and limitations of artificial intelligence, but also for anyone who likes watching computers fail hilariously."—Gretchen McCulloch, New York Times bestselling author of Because Internet

"Janelle Shane has hit the trifecta--the most hilarious, most educational, and overall best explanation of artificial intelligence ever written (and drawn)."—Eric Topol, author of Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again

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