Generative AI For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

This book breaks down complex AI concepts without watering them down. Pam Baker manages to stay beginner-friendly without being basic, no small feat. As someone studying AI and communication, I appreciated how well it connects the tech to real-world use cases, ethics, and the future of work.

Easy read to understand AI.

For over twenty years Wiley's "For Dummies" series has been my go to source for learning about new fields ranging from philosophy to neuroscience, so I am happy to report that Pam Baker's "Generative AI for Dummies" is a wonderful introduction for anyone who wants to understand the hype behind the rush to use tools like ChatGPT.Not only does the book contain numerous practical examples of how to use generative AI (also called GenAI) in the real world, but it addresses both its promise and its shortcomings. Most important it includes several key ideas that are sometimes neglected:1. GenAI does not actually understand anything we tell it. *2. GenAI generates prediction, it does NOT create.3. GenAI can make mistakes and this goes beyond intentional deep fakes. It doesn't know if it's telling you something that's not true. It can even generate faults false references so you must fact check everything. (Note: it can even generate false references so you have to look them up!)4. GenAI will create more jobs than it eliminates, but if you don't learn how to use it you could lose your job to someone does.Throughout "Generative AI for Dummies" Baker reminds us that GenAI PREDICTs what we want to know and it does this by processing huge amounts of data. Its ability to process data obviously outstrips human abilities, but human creativity remains essential to making meaningful use out of the results.Overall "Generative AI for Dummies" is a wonderful introduction to this emerging field.*I realize that some experts argue that AI does understand, but this gets down to debates about the difference between intelligence and consciousness, which is beyond the scope of this review.

Very informative and easy to read. Especially for people that are not that tech savvy and older.

I bought this to see how an author might approach creating a starter guide to a very complex subject. I expected everything to be dumbed down. Not at all the case. Yes, it provides what "dummies" need. But it's also a treasure trove of insights and advice that I've not seen anywhere else. The author easily demonstrates her command of the subject. Highly recommended.

This book should be called "A list of AI Application Software But We Won't Tell You How to Use It." The book just goes on and on listing different AI apps but rarely explains how to use the apps, except for a few instances I recall where it briefly discusses prompt engineering and another section which discusses how to use AI to write a story about a wizard (or something). I goes on and on endlessly repeating the same things..." you must use AI responsibly, AI is only as good as the data you feed into it, etc etc." I'm paraphrasing here, but to me it just seems to repeat the same statements over and over while not teaching you 1) How to create an AI application and 2) How to use an AI application which is already build (such as chat GPT, etc). It just seemed like a whole lotta nothing to me. The book basically just lists the different AI software that is out there without bothering to exlain how to use it. That's like writing a cookbook and just listing the meals, without telling you how to cook or combine the ingredients. The author herself even admits to using AI to write the book and it sure seems like AI wrote the book since statements appear repetitive ("..you need to be responsible, consider ethics before uisng AI, nothing replaces human talent., etc, etc". If you want a list of AI apps just google it, you don't need to buy this book. Question for the author: WHy not just concentrate on a few apps and explain how to use them? in some kind of depth? This book is a waste of time and money. Full disclosure, I received the book free, thank goodness. I am happy for that.

Great value for the money

I needed a desktop reference book while learning Coursera AI Prompting. The course was great and the Gen AI book helped fill in the gaps. A very good primer.