Welcome to AI

A Human Guide to Artificial Intelligence

By: David L. Shrier

Narrated by: Roger Davis

A fascinating guide to the rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence and how this powerful technology will impact our lives, our careers, and our world.

Artificial intelligence is driving workforce disruption on a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution.

In schools and universities AI technology has forced a reevaluation of the way students are taught and assessed. Meanwhile, ChatGPT has become a cultural phenomenon, reaching a hundred million users and attracting a reputed $1 trillion investor interest in its parent company, OpenAI.

The race to dominate the generative AI market is accelerating at breakneck speed, inspiring breathless headlines and immense public interest.

Welcome to AI provides a rare view into a frontier area of computer science that will change everything about how you live and work. Listen to this book and better understand how to succeed in the AI-enabled future.

©2023 Visionary Future LLC (P)2024 Ascent Audio

A strong overview of AI and its impact.

This is a strong overview of AI and how it’s impacting the world we live in as well as the aspects we must be attentive to as AI continues to evolve. The book provides a simplified way to understand some of the key concepts which is helpful to not only understand, but to converse about it with others.

Unsurprising and even a bit depressing

Even considering how very little I know about AI (I've used ChatGPT a few times), I found very little new or surprising in these 5+ hours (I listened to this whole book at 1.25× speed).

It all even sounds foreboding and depressing, that AI will dominate everything and there will be nothing left for us to do (if we can even afford to frolic on the beach or eat).

This book could have at least made it sound good, telling us about all the "Jetsons" things AI will do for us at home and work, but nope. Just straight up we're being replaced, like the ancient world's slingshot marksmen in a modern guided missile world.

I wish we could just shove all of AI back into the genie bottle it came from, but I do know enough about AI to know that's impossible.

Anyway, I'd say spend your 5+ hours another way. Even if it really is AI you insist on hearing about before you absolutely need to... (did the French and Polish really need to practice hearing German bombs falling... in 1938 or 1937? I think they got plenty of practice at that in 1939 and 1940 and 1941!)... find other material.

Dear Author, I can say you did a great job reading and performing this material, you have a great voice for it, but I'd also say please go back to MIT or wherever and find more interesting, substantive, juicy material to report! Frankly and honestly, this material was boring and I would have fallen asleep while listening had I not been multi-tasking other activities. I'm sure there's much better material you could find to report on.