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  • You Look Like a Thing and I Love You

  • How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place
  • Written by: Janelle Shane
  • Narrated by: Xe Sands
  • Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)

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You Look Like a Thing and I Love You cover art

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You

Written by: Janelle Shane
Narrated by: Xe Sands
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Publisher's Summary

As heard on NPR's Science Friday, discover the book recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant: an "accessible, informative, and hilarious" introduction to the weird and wonderful world of artificial intelligence (Ryan North).

"You look like a thing and I love you" is one of the best pickup lines ever...according to an artificial intelligence trained by scientist Janelle Shane, creator of the popular blog AI Weirdness. She creates silly AIs that learn how to name paint colors, create the best recipes, and even flirt (badly) with humans — all to understand the technology that governs so much of our daily lives.

We rely on AI every day for recommendations, for translations, and to put cat ears on our selfie videos. We also trust AI with matters of life and death, on the road and in our hospitals. But how smart is AI really...and how does it solve problems, understand humans, and even drive self-driving cars?

Shane delivers the answers to every AI question you've ever asked, and some you definitely haven't. Like, how can a computer design the perfect sandwich? What does robot-generated Harry Potter fan-fiction look like? And is the world's best Halloween costume really "Vampire Hog Bride"?

In this smart, often hilarious introduction to the most interesting science of our time, Shane shows how these programs learn, fail, and adapt — and how they reflect the best and worst of humanity.

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You is the perfect book for anyone curious about what the robots in our lives are thinking.

"I can't think of a better way to learn about artificial intelligence, and I've never had so much fun along the way." (Adam Grant, New York Times best-selling author of Originals)

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

©2019 Janelle Shane (P)2019 Little, Brown & Company

What the critics say

"Janelle Shane makes the kind of neural networks that go viral. Her quirky creations autonomously stumble and grumble... the output of her networks is typically silly and charming in equal measure." (Slate)

"Creative and hilarious." (New York Post)

"Janelle Shane is quickly becoming the internet's neural network queen." (Nerdist)

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What listeners say about You Look Like a Thing and I Love You

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Point well taken

The point is well taken. It is easy to under-eastimate the limitations of AI if you do not consider that human intelligence is more than just being clever.

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Excellent audio book

really funny listening to the AI's outputs. Great lady reading the book too. Amazing content and a nice overview on where we stand with AI. Definitely recommend

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Clear-headed information

This is a great overview.

I especially appreciated the clear-headed and realistic analysis of the present and future of AI and machine learning.

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Terrible as audiobook

They should definitely not have had the narrator read all the detailed binary and testing numbers and sounds written in the book. This is the first time I’ve ever not completed an audiobook.

It is extraordinarily annoying.

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