Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans by Melanie Mitchell. Melanie holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Michigan. Melanie is a professor of computer science at Portland State University. In addition, she is an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.
It is certainly very rare that a book makes an impact like Melanie’s effort. Actually, this is one rare event: I would recommend everyone read her prologue “Terrified” regardless of their life’s path. Yes, this book is that powerful.
Furthermore, Melanie studied with a leading cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter at Michigan and collaborated to create the Copycat program, which makes creative analogies in an idealized world.
Upon finishing the prologue, everyone should certainly continue reading. This is an easy to read, yet deep examination of the current state of artificial intelligence.
In addition, Melanie provides a good history of artificial intelligence (AI), from inception in 1954 to multiple “freezes” in AI funding to the promise of amazing breakthroughs and shocking failures. Every element for better or worse is evenly written. Bravo!
Certainly the most impressive points across each chapter is how Melanie grounds user’s expectations of AI versus the hype. This is both from the consumer to artificial intelligence engineers.