How To Talk To Robots: A Girls’ Guide To a Future Dominated by AI

by Tabitha Goldstaub

’…an essential and fascinating manual for every woman who wants to understand equality within an ever-changing, modern world.’ Scarlett Curtis

‘…[this book] taught me more than any book has ever taught me about AI.’ Chris Evans, Virgin Radio
How To Talk To Robots, is your girls guide to Artificial Intelligence. Entrepreneur Tabitha Goldstaub welcomes you into the AI world with a warm embrace. She brilliantly breaks down the tech-bro barriers offering a straightforward introduction and makes clear the enormous benefits of understanding AI.

If your social feed defines your spending habits or you’ve downloaded the latest filter to see what you’ll look like when you are old or now connect with your doctor using an app, have applied for a job online or used your phone to arrive at work in record time, AI is playing a part in how you live, work and play. We live in an era where machines are taught to learn and act without human intervention and there are infinite possibilities to their applications. The risk of these technologies biasing against you is real, and this book will give you tools to navigate the current and future developments consciously.

As well as explaining the risks Tabitha lays out the awesome benefits AI can offer. From spotting disease to tailoring education and tackling climate change the potential rewards are life-changing.

Starting with a potted history, Tabitha shines a light on the many unsung heroines since the rise of AI in the 1960s. In conversation with Karen Hao she simply demonstrates how the technology works (and sometimes doesn’t work!) and interviews a cross-section of women who use AI in their work today including Jeanette Winterson, Sharmadean Reid, Martha Lane Fox and Hannah Fry. This book doesn’t just present the challenge; Tabitha offers supportive practical advice and shares an extensive list of books, films, courses and more for further exploration.

However it is that you identify with womanhood, wherever you are in life, and whatever you do, this technology is inescapable and now is your time to make sure AI works for you – and not you for it!

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2020

Reviews

[Ricardo Motti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super instructive and easy to understand, gave me a new appreciation about AI. I liked the interviews, but maybe those would be better in a podcast. 😬

[ivereadabook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for both an introduction into the world of AI for those who don’t know it and a deeper look into the ways it is affecting our society. Lots of focus on the problems that arise from the biased data sets we use to teach machines, and how to overcome them. Particularly enjoyed the lengthy interview section and comprehensive list of further reading to look into!

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person that isn't very interested in science, this book really wowed me! It was interesting and eye-opening, would definitely recommend.

[Ophelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this book I felt suspicious and uncomfortable about AI and completely ignorant. This book certainly started my education in a super way and made learning about it interesting. AI can do good but we need more people from all walks of life to understand how it works and deploy it correctly.

[Frankie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entry level, which is fine of course but I hoped it’d get more into some social analysis rather than just providing information about the history and state of AI.

[Taija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Data set, bias, machine learning, stem, training data, algorithm, artificial intelligent… kuulen samoja sanoja päivittäin töissä.

Goldstaubin kirja on hyvin selkeä ja kansantajuinen pintaraapaisu tekoälyn ihmeelliseen maailmaan. Kirja oli selkeän insinöörimäisesti rakennettu, pidin siitä, mutta feminististä twistiä oli omaan makuun ehkä vähän turhan paljon. Välillä mietin onko tämä kirja tekoälystä vai naisten oikeuksista ja tasa-arvosta.

”Live person study demonstrated that out of random sample of 1,000 people in the USA, only 8 per cent could name a famous women in tech. Even when they could, half of those people named Siri or Alexa!”

Pidin myös siitä, miten ajassa kirja oli. Siinä pohditaan miksi Spotify osaa suositella minulle juuri minulle sopivia biisejä, tai Netflix leffoja. Miten iPhone osaa korjata kirjoitustani tai miten Alexa ymmärtää puhetta. Myös kohdennetusta mainonnasta puhutaan paljon. Onko oikeastaan huono asia, että niin monet järjestelmät keräävät meistä tietoa, jos sen avulla meitä voidaan palvella paremmin? Kuten Goldstaub kirjoittaa: ”The key thing to consider here is that it’s not your individual data that is powerful; it’s what happens when your information is put alongside other people’s in order to train the AI System about people like you.”

Kirjassa käydään läpi mm. tekoälyn historiaa, potentiaalisia siihen liittyviä uhkia sekä myös siitä saatavia selkeitä hyötyjä. Goldstaub pohtii training datassa piilevää biasta joka saattaa johtaa eriarvoistumiseen, vastuukysymyksiä esim itseohjautuvien autojen kohdalla sekä tekoälyn mahdollista väärinkäyttöä esim sotilaallisiin tarkoituksiin.

“Algorithms are opinions embedded in code.”

Pitkä pätkä kirjaa oli täytetty haastattelemalla eri naisia, jotka tavalla tai toisella ovat tekoälyn kanssa tekemisissä. Ei välttämättä hyvä idea, en täysin päässyt sisään siihen kappaleeseen. Myös covid oli saanut oman lukunsa. Sekin oli vähän kaukana tekoälystä, ennemminkin pohdittiin kärsivätkö naiset - joita on enemmistö esim hoiva-alalla - miehiä enemmän pandemiasta.

Itse olisin kaivannut vielä syvemmälle tekoälyn syövereihin menemistä, mutta tämä pintaraapaisukin oli oikein avartava kokemus.

[Adam Sojka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would say this is another of the must reads for the general public. When I started reading this book, I was sceptical. It was meant for people who are not familiar with AI at all, and the beginning of the book indicated a strong marketing of feminism, which is not why I started to read the book. After reading more of the book I realized that it indeed is important to engage more women in AI and not only women but everyone. And this is what the book generally is about appealing mainly to women to take interest in AI and to realize the inevitable change that is coming. You can find in this book explanation of basic AI concepts and what we can expect in the future, the bad and the good and how to prepare for it. All ended with accounts of successful women entrepreneurs and scientists and general advice how to leverage AI.
It wasn't vicious man hating as I feared it would be after reading first pages, but a pleasant reading to encourage reader to dive into the topic of AI and embrace it since in the upcoming decade it is going to change the world tremendously and everyone is going to be affected. And those who manage to get on to the train will be winners and those who will let their indifference and ignorance prevail will lose. The chage is going to happen, with or without you.
And as a bonus, at the end of the book there is a rich list of books to follow on to.

[Sek Sereimony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be decent for people who have limited knowledge to AI and machine learning as who it was intended to write for. However, for a person who is a computer science major and has an interest in machine learning, some of the things in the book bored me. The interview part was especially not entertaining to me. I think it would be better in video form or podcasts form. The only thing I learned from this book was the different organizations and companies started by women in the UK and hearing about the experiences of women in the UK as well. Even those parts, the interviews were repetitive and just not that great to be honest.

Again, I think it’s my fault for picking this book up knowing that it wasn’t intended for people like me. It still gives me a little bit of inspiration as a female in tech.

[LoveMaryKill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good primer and encouragement to learn basics about AI. It is talking about risks and chances with very interesting examples. The strongest part of the book is the history of AI and programming from the perspective of female scientists involved in the process. This makes the book totally worth it for me. I like that Tabitha Goldstaub included a big list of podcasts, books, courses and programs in the last chapter, one can read to further educate themselves. However, some parts feel a little repetitive over time, especially the interviews in the end.

[Vesna Jusup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genuinely good to read, tho a bit basic. There are few crucial ideas and thought but going on and on about it makes the meal impression. Still easy read for one day, that allows you to take few smart ideas and think about them further. Yet another book that could have been an article. But with the heart and arguments in a right place.

[Zoya Yasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing, informative, and so very well needed book. Goldstaub manages to explain very complex AI terminology in such an easy to understand and relatable way. My book is filled with scribbles, highlighter and little nuggets of very valuable knowlege. I loved how the book was clearly set out, which made it a very easy read, despite tackling difficult ideas. The interviews really highlighted how women can, and are, engaging in the world of AI. Super inspiring to read if you have an interest in AI, and how it is affecting women, and what we can do about it.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and good for an introduction to the AI world. I really appreciated the women-centred perspective. Nevertheless, I felt wished there would have been more said about AI than just the interviews

[Eliza Marin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daca lucrezi in universul tech (femeie/barbat/viitor profesionist/ robot sau hibrid), citeste cartea asta.

Nu este doar despre fete si cat au contribuit la scriere de cod si robotica, cat este despre oglinda starii actuale ale societatii oglindinte in digital si cum vrem sa arate in viitor.

[Kyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was super interesting however, I did find it would have been easier for me personally with the interviews section if they were in audio format, so maybe I'll look for the audiobook and give that a try.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound

I love this book from start to finish. It really has helped me understand the basics of the tech world that I was fearful of ever exploring. AI is for everyone!

[Tim Pieraccini · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fifth star mostly for the exhaustive list of resources at the end, a daunting but incredibly helpful selection.

[Jade Haydock · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[Jesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit outdated now because of LLMs but still worth reading