AI and You

Confused or concerned about AI? Artificial intelligence is already causing massive upheavals in the job market for seekers of their first jobs and for experienced workers as well. Massive investments are being made, even in companies who are laying off experienced workers. States are asked to build, or at least allow to be built, multiple data farms which will greatly increase energy and water costs for everyone, and will probably cause water shortages affecting agriculture and the ability to put out fires. There will be construction jobs for building the data farms, but the data farms are probably going to be operated by tiny staffs. Is AI worth it? In particular, is it worth it to you and your community?

This short book is intended for the reader who wants to answer those questions based on facts, rather than just by hype. It will provide you with the ability to answer intelligently and determine if you should invest, divest, or vote differently.

This book, written by a long-time computer scientist, educator, author, and administrator, aims to reach as wide an audience as is possible, given the importance of this topic. Every chapter after the introduction begins with a paragraph or two describing the main points of the chapter, allowing a reader uninterested in technical details to skip to the next chapter. Each chapter also lists some search words you can use for further reading.

The book is not intended to be a guide to use any particular AI product. We'll discuss some previous AI and computer chip successes and failures, to help guide our discussion. No mathematical or programming knowledge is required.