nicovivi's review against another edition
4.0
it was very slow buildinf at first, to go over all the history behind the building of AI as we know (or not know) of today. it reminded me a lot about my grduate work in neuroscience and some of the lectures that i had discussing about connectome and where neuroscience as a whole was growing in parelle to what AI and what we know how we know things are being researched. i am happy to say that I am not only part of what makes AI (or I guess, AGI) is going to soon become but also will be able to see what would come of AI and all the ethical questions that are mentioned in this book to come alive right before my eyes. very interesting read.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
3.0
I should note that I am not computer tech person. I usually say at least twice a week, why can't my computer do what I want it to do as opposed to what I accidently told it to do.
I enjoyed this book. It was the non-fiction selection in My Book Box for March. Dormehl writes about computers for the layman, and the concepts are easily grasped. He raises questions and even gives some answers. At times, the book is non-linear but it is never confusing.
I enjoyed this book. It was the non-fiction selection in My Book Box for March. Dormehl writes about computers for the layman, and the concepts are easily grasped. He raises questions and even gives some answers. At times, the book is non-linear but it is never confusing.
direads's review
3.0
The subject matter of this book is really interesting. Multiple times, I remarked out loud or read something to my boyfriend.
The writing, however, left something to be desired. I don't like when a writer brings himself into the piece. If it's not about you, I don't want your first person. It was more than that, though, the way he referred back to other chapters felt jumpy. He over explained somethings and chose unrelatable examples at the extremes in others.
The writing, however, left something to be desired. I don't like when a writer brings himself into the piece. If it's not about you, I don't want your first person. It was more than that, though, the way he referred back to other chapters felt jumpy. He over explained somethings and chose unrelatable examples at the extremes in others.
soubhagya's review
3.0
Thinking Machine tries to capture the innovation and progress happening in the field of Artificial Intelligence. It is targeted for laymen and is easy to read.
The author starts the book brilliantly by capturing the history of AI, initial enthusiasm followed by the dull period and then the rise of AI and deep learning. One chapter is dedicated for neural networks and deep learning. The author does a great job in explaining the concepts of symbolic AI and deep learning.
But after chapter 2, the content is collection of AI related news stories only. If you are a regular news reader, then you won't find anything of value from the rest of the book. The author tries to discuss some issues with current AI system e.g. creativity of AI systems, stupidity of AI systems etc. and issues coming due to progress of AI e.g. job security of humans and singularity etc. He could have certainly done better with those topics.
The author starts the book brilliantly by capturing the history of AI, initial enthusiasm followed by the dull period and then the rise of AI and deep learning. One chapter is dedicated for neural networks and deep learning. The author does a great job in explaining the concepts of symbolic AI and deep learning.
But after chapter 2, the content is collection of AI related news stories only. If you are a regular news reader, then you won't find anything of value from the rest of the book. The author tries to discuss some issues with current AI system e.g. creativity of AI systems, stupidity of AI systems etc. and issues coming due to progress of AI e.g. job security of humans and singularity etc. He could have certainly done better with those topics.
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