Nothing signals technological hipness more than sprinkling conversations with references to artificial intelligence (AI). In “You Look Like a Thing and I Love You,” Janell Shane briskly dismantles this pretension with anecdote, humor, and just enough hard science to educate.
The title is the result of a typical experiment – a pickup line generated by an AI (although I think I might have used it back in the day). Using the term AI really signals you’re probably talking about science fiction – Data or C3PO. The more accurate nomenclature is machine learning, with the emphasis on learning.
Shane throws ponds of cold water on our AI fantasies, then triggers trepidations about real possibilities, and repetitively provides examples of how hard the most basic human tasks are for even sophisticated machines. Narrow challenges (chess) are trivial compared to dealing with messy, irrational reality, not to mention humans.
For farmers, her explanation of why our data is coveted by industry will surprise, and certainly prompt more uneasiness.
Those of us hoping for widespread labor-eliminating robotics get a sobering but realistic update. While the book is short, it could have used a better editor, and illustrations of nonsense from AI training efforts run on too long.
Still, readers walk away with a usable grasp of this technology now (powerful but limited) and where it may be going near-term (significant knowledge-worker replacement). Sample her work at aiweirdness.com. Kindle version is fine, but some illustrations are far better on tablet.
