Artificial Unintelligence

How Computers Misunderstand the World

De: Meredith Broussard

Narrado por: Andrea Emmes

In Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard argues that our collective enthusiasm for applying computer technology to every aspect of life has resulted in a tremendous amount of poorly designed systems. We are so eager to do everything digitally - hiring, driving, paying bills, even choosing romantic partners - that we have stopped demanding that our technology actually work. Broussard, a software developer and journalist, reminds us that there are fundamental limits to what we can (and should) do with technology.

Making a case against technochauvinism - the belief that technology is always the solution - Broussard argues that it's just not true that social problems would inevitably retreat before a digitally enabled Utopia. To prove her point, she undertakes a series of adventures in computer programming. She goes for an alarming ride in a driverless car; uses artificial intelligence to investigate why students can't pass standardized tests; deploys machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic disaster; and attempts to repair the US campaign finance system by building AI software. If we understand the limits of what we can do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we should do with it to make the world better for everyone.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Meredith Broussard (P)2019 Tantor

... liked the narration

Interesting, insider's, personal p.o.v. .. outside of the 'boys club.' Very enjoyable and informative. Just the right combo of technical detail and overview/perspective.
Normally I don't rate the audio reading, but since others have downgraded the narrator I feel I should mention that I actually liked this person's voice. Very unique and a good choice to represent the material.

Comprehensive, easy to digest and practical book.

Well done! I came across this book from Coded Bias, and I must say that this book answered most if not all of the questions I had about AI and other future technologies. The language is contemporary, her logic and arguments about TechnoChauvanists are sound.
I look forward to reading some of the other books written by pioneering women who are in the STEM fields.

Fascinating, great real world examples

Amazingly even the code examples without the benefit of the PDF were fine. This title is really accessible and requires no real technical details understanding. To me it was quite basic and few surprises on the high level, but the detailed discussions on standardised testing and self driving cars were quite interesting, and surprising (less for the successes but more for the failed approaches).

Some excellent points on IT and innovation generally and overall a great listen.

AI versus Political Science

The writer of this piece is a journalist and a professor. Thus the strengths and flaws inherent in the book. On the one hand, she is both talented in expressing the concepts of AI and skilled in explaining these to the average reader in digestible chunks. On the other, this is a lecture in which the writer makes known her own bias (which she uses the narrative framework of DEI to project) and dismisses al opposing views as -ists or -isms, with the commonly repeated phase of Techno-chauvinism. To understand how politics has come to dominate the Tech world and the cultural of control this engenders for fear of being called out by the DEI elect is perhaps an unintended lesson from this book.

An important book reminding us the true age of technology and people

Meredith Broussard’s book, Artificial Intelligence, served best as a reminder of the true age of technology, how it has a long history that doesn’t begin only in the last decade, and how, like any other history, it is important for us to understand in order to grow from it. This book challenges the idea of innovation and technology in the 21st century and I finish this book feeling challenged to explore technology not as a sexy, new-age tool for innovation, but as an unsexy, practical resource that is rooted in helping people.