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- Looking for e-books on a particular topic or for a particular ebook title? Below you will find our e-book collections. Select a collection and search there. This is the best way to do a subject search for e-books in the online library.
New E-books
Ai by
The phrase "artificial intelligence," or AI, brings to mind interactions with computers that speak to people with human-like voices such as Jarvis in the Iron Man movies. AI is much more than that--which is both exciting and terrifying! AI is used in health care, education, and even in our houses. Alexa and Google Home products are artificial intelligence! In this book, readers find out all this and more, including the history of AI and what its future may be. Both the positives and negatives are explored in the comprehensive text.
ISBN: 9781538277393Publication Date: 2022-07-30
AI for Diversity by
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly impacting many aspects of people's lives across the globe, from relatively mundane technology to more advanced digital systems that can make their own decisions. While AI has great potential, it also holds great peril depending on how it is designed and used. AI for Diversity questions how AI technology can lead to inclusion or exclusion for diverse groups in society. The way data is selected, trained, used, and embedded into societies can have unfortunate consequences unless we critically investigate the dangers of systems left unchecked, and can lead to misogynistic, homophobic, racist, ageist, transphobic, or ableist outcomes. This book encourages the reader to take a step back to see how AI is impacting diverse groups of people and how diversity-awareness strategies can impact AI.
ISBN: 9781032074443Publication Date: 2023-01-27
Conversational AI by
"Do you want to learn how to creat your own virtual agent? If so, have I got the book for you!" - Thomas Joseph Heiman Design, develop, and deploy human-like AI solutions that chat with your customers, solve their problems, and streamline your support services. Creating Virtual Assistants: Chatbots that work teaches you to create the kind of AI-enabled chatbots that are revolutionizing the customer service industry. You'll learn to build effective conversational AI that can automate common inquiries and easily address your customers' most common problems. In Creating Virtual Assistants, you will learn how to: Pick the right virtual assistant type and channel for your needs Write dialog with intentional tone and specificity Train a virtual assistant classifier from the ground up Create question-and-direct-response assistants Design and optimize a process flow for web and voice Test your assistant's accuracy and plan out improvements This engaging and entertaining book delivers the essential technical and creative skills for designing successful virtual assistants, from coding process flows and training machine learning, to improving your written dialog. about the technology Virtual assistants multiply the effectiveness of customer-facing communication. Great chatbots automate common tasks like gathering information, responding to questions, and improving product selections so human staff can work on more challenging problems. These powerful tools range from event classifiers that can act on an email message to conversational assistants that actually talk to your users! about the book Creating Virtual Assistants is a hands-on guide to building custom virtual assistants for a wide variety of use cases. You'll dive right into developing an assistant capable of identifying top user requests and making a suitable response for each request type. Once you've got the basics, you'll master a multi-step process flow that can be easily adapted for both text and voice assistants. You'll learn how to hone your assistant by writing better dialog, training and improving its underlying machine learning, and spotting issues like abandonment and underperformance. By the time you're done, you'll be ready to deploy anything from a simple chatbot to a complex call center tool. about the reader For software developers. Examples in Watson Assistant and in Python. about the author Andrew R. Freed is a Master Inventor and Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM. He's the co-host of the AI Zen podcast. Andrew has extensive experience deploying high-volume virtual assistants and has been working in AI solutions since 2012.
ISBN: 9781617298837Publication Date: 2021-10-12
Cooking for Geeks by
Why do we cook the way we do? Are you the innovative type, used to expressing your creativity instead of just following recipes? Do you want to learn to be a better cook or curious about the science behind what happens to food as it cooks? More than just a cookbook, Cooking for Geeks applies your curiosity to discovery, inspiration, and invention in the kitchen. Why do we bake some things at 350°F/175°C and others at 375°F/190°C? Why is medium-rare steak so popular? And just how quickly does a pizza cook if we overclock an oven to 1,000 F/540 C? Author and cooking geek Jeff Potter provides the answers to these questions and more, and offers his unique take on recipes -- from the sweet (a patent-violating chocolate chip cookie) to the savory (slow-cooked brisket). This book is an excellent and intriguing resource for anyone who enjoys cooking or wants to experiment in the kitchen. Discover what type of cook you are and calibrate your tools Learn about the important reactions in cooking, such as protein denaturation, Maillard reactions, and caramelization, and how they impact the foods we cook Gain firsthand insights from interviews with researchers, food scientists, knife experts, chefs, writers, and more, including author Harold McGee, TV personality Adam Savage, and chemist Hervé This
ISBN: 9781491928059Publication Date: 2015-11-10
The Exceptions by
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who broke the story, the inspiring account of the sixteen female scientists who forced MIT to publicly admit it had been discriminating against its female faculty for years--sparking a nationwide reckoning with the pervasive sexism in science. In 1999, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted to discriminating against women on its faculty, forcing institutions across the country to confront a problem they had long ignored: the need for more women at the top levels of science. Written by the journalist who broke the story for The Boston Globe, The Exceptions is the untold story of how sixteen highly accomplished women on the MIT faculty came together to do the work that triggered the historic admission. The Exceptions centers on the life of Nancy Hopkins, a reluctant feminist who became the leader of the sixteen and a hero to two generations of women in science. Hired to prestigious universities at the dawn of affirmative action efforts in the 1970s, Dr. Hopkins and her peers embarked on their careers believing that discrimination against women was a thing of the past--that science was, at last, a pure meritocracy. For years they explained away the discrimination they experienced as the exception, not the rule. Only when these few women came together after decades of underpayment and the denial of credit, advancement, and equal resources to do their work did they recognize the relentless pattern: women were often marginalized and minimized, especially as they grew older. Meanwhile, men of similar or lesser ability had their career paths paved and widened. The Exceptions is a powerful yet all-too-familiar story that will resonate with all professional women who experience what those at MIT called "21st-century discrimination"--a subtle and stubborn bias, often unconscious but still damaging. As in bestsellers from Hidden Figures to Lab Girl and Code Girls, we are offered a rare glimpse into the world of high-level scientific research and learn about the extraordinary female scientists whose work has been overlooked throughout history, and how these women courageously fought for fair treatment as they struggled to achieve the recognition they rightfully deserve.
ISBN: 9781982131838Publication Date: 2023-02-28
Good Robot, Bad Robot by
This book explores how robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance human lives but also have unsettling "dark sides." It examines expanding forms of negativity and anxiety about robots, AI, and autonomous vehicles as our human environments are reengineered for intelligent military and security systems and for optimal workplace and domestic operations. It focuses on the impacts of initiatives to make robot interactions more humanlike and less creepy (as with domestic and sex robots). It analyzes the emerging resistances against these entities in the wake of omnipresent AI applications (such as "killer robots" and ubiquitous surveillance). It unpacks efforts by developers to have ethical and social influences on robotics and AI, and confronts the AI hype that is designed to shield the entities from criticism. The book draws from science fiction, dramaturgical, ethical, and legal literatures as well as current research agendas of corporations. Engineers, implementers, and researchers have often encountered users' fears and aggressive actions against intelligent entities, especially in the wake of deaths of humans by robots and autonomous vehicles. The book is an invaluable resource for developers and researchers in the field, as well as curious readers who want to play proactive roles in shaping future technologies.
ISBN: 9783031140129Publication Date: 2022-10-01
Human-Centered AI by
The remarkable progress in algorithms for machine and deep learning have opened the doors to new opportunities, and some dark possibilities. However, a bright future awaits those who build on their working methods by including HCAI strategies of design and testing. As many technology companies and thought leaders have argued, the goal is not to replace people, but to empower them by making design choices that give humans control over technology. In Human-Centered AI, Professor Ben Shneiderman offers an optimistic realist's guide to how artificial intelligence can be used to augment and enhance humans' lives. This project bridges the gap between ethical considerations and practical realities to offer a road map for successful, reliable systems. Digital cameras, communications services, and navigation apps are just the beginning. Shneiderman shows how future applications will support health and wellness, improve education, accelerate business, and connect people in reliable, safe, and trustworthy ways that respect human values, rights, justice, and dignity.
ISBN: 9780192845290Publication Date: 2022-02-10
On Food and Cooking by
A kitchen classic for over 35 years, and hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn to for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious. For its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee prepared a new, fully revised and updated edition of On Food and Cooking. He has rewritten the text almost completely, expanded it by two-thirds, and commissioned more than 100 new illustrations. As compulsively readable and engaging as ever, the new On Food and Cooking provides countless eye-opening insights into food, its preparation, and its enjoyment. On Food and Cooking pioneered the translation of technical food science into cook-friendly kitchen science and helped birth the inventive culinary movement known as "molecular gastronomy." Though other books have been written about kitchen science, On Food and Cooking remains unmatched in the accuracy, clarity, and thoroughness of its explanations, and the intriguing way in which it blends science with the historical evolution of foods and cooking techniques. Among the major themes addressed throughout the new edition are: · Traditional and modern methods of food production and their influences on food quality · The great diversity of methods by which people in different places and times have prepared the same ingredients · Tips for selecting the best ingredients and preparing them successfully · The particular substances that give foods their flavors, and that give us pleasure · Our evolving knowledge of the health benefits and risks of foods On Food and Cooking is an invaluable and monumental compendium of basic information about ingredients, cooking methods, and the pleasures of eating. It will delight and fascinate anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or wondered about food.
ISBN: 9780684800011Publication Date: 2004-11-23
The Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI by
This volume tackles a quickly-evolving field of inquiry, mapping the existing discourse as part of a general attempt to place current developments in historical context; at the same time, breaking new ground in taking on novel subjects and pursuing fresh approaches.The term "A.I." is used to refer to a broad range of phenomena, from machine learning and data mining to artificial general intelligence. The recent advent of more sophisticated AI systems, which function with partial or full autonomy and are capable of tasks which require learning and'intelligence', presents difficult ethical questions, and has drawn concerns from many quarters about individual and societal welfare, democratic decision-making, moral agency, and the prevention of harm. This work ranges from explorations of normative constraints on specific applications of machinelearning algorithms today - in everyday medical practice, for instance - to reflections on the (potential) status of AI as a form of consciousness with attendant rights and duties and, more generally still, on the conceptual terms and frameworks necessarily to understand tasks requiringintelligence, whether "human" or "A.I."
ISBN: 9780190067397Publication Date: 2020-07-10
Real World AI Ethics for Data Scientists by
In the midst of the 4th industrial revolution, big data is weighed in gold, placing enormous power in the hands of data scientists - the modern AI alchemists. But great power comes with greater responsibility. This book seeks to shape, in a practical, diverse and inclusive way, the ethical compass of those entrusted with big data. Being practical, the book provides seven real world case studies dealing with big data abuse. These cases span a range of topics from the statistical manipulation of research in the Cornell food lab, through the Facebook user data abuse done by Cambridge Analytica, to the abuse of farm animals by AI, in a chapter co-authored by renowned philosophers Peter Singer and Yip Fai Tse. Diverse and inclusive given the global nature of this revolution, the book provides case-by-case commentary on the cases by scholars representing non-western ethical approaches (Buddhist, Jewish, Indigenous and African) as well as western approaches (consequentialism, deontology and virtue). We hope that this book will be a light house for those debating ethical dilemmas in this challenging and ever evolving field.
ISBN: 9781032275062Publication Date: 2023-04-05
Searching Beyond the Stars by
Are we alone in the cosmos? Could we one day live on a different planet? How is life formed? What other secrets does the universe hold? Through profiles of seven remarkable women scientists and their achievements in their respective fields, Searching Beyond the Stars takes us deep into space, looking at once to the distant past and the distant future to capture the awe and intrigue of some of the biggest questions we can possibly ask. Making connections across astronomy, chemistry, physics, history, and more, Nicole Mortillaro draws on her own experience as a woman in STEM to highlight the incredible odds each scientist faces while chasing new discoveries and the ways in which sexism and racism, among other barriers, still affect women scientists to this day. Sidebars filled with fascinating facts take readers behind the science and encourage them to delve deeper. Vibrant illustrations by Amanda Key showcase the wonder of space and the passion and eternal curiosity that drive each scientist in their work unfurling the mysteries of our universe. Scientists Profiled Katherine Johnson, research mathematician and aerospace technologist at NASA. Helped get the first American astronauts into space and safely home again. Lived in Newport News, Virgina. Jill Tarter, radio astronomer and project scientist at NASA. Opened up possibilities for communicating with aliens. Lives in Berkeley, California. Sara Seager, astrophysicist and planetary scientist. Credited with laying the foundation for the field of exoplanet atmospheres and the search for life on exoplanets. Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Sara now lives in Massachusetts. Emily Lakdawalla, planetary scientist, journalist, speaker, and expert science communicator formerly of The Planetary Society. Lives in Los Angeles, California. Tanya Harrison, planetary scientist and geologist. Was on the science operations team for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter analyzing imaging from a geologist's standpoint to see whether we might one day live on Mars. Director of Science Strategy at Planet Labs. Lives in Washington, D.C. Renée Hlozek, astrophysicist and cosmologist. Her work is to imagine, dream, and calculate the mathematical equations that govern and predict the end of the universe. Originally from South Africa, Renée now lives in Toronto, Ontario. Ashley Walker, astrochemist, science communicator, and activist. Co-organizer of #BlackinChem, #BlackInAstro, and #BlackInPhysics to highlight and amplify the voices of Black researchers and scholars in these fields. Lives in Chicago, Illinois. *A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
ISBN: 9781773216256Publication Date: 2022-11-08
Trends, Applications, and Challenges of Chatbot Technology by
Chatbots offer exceptional services to end-users due to various factors, including the ability to respond to customer requests quickly according to their convenience. Given the magnitude of research and interest in chatbots, further study on several vital and evolving concerns including human-bot interaction, chatbot adoption, chatbot architecture, design considerations, and chatbot applications in various domains including education and customer support is necessary. Trends, Applications, and Challenges of Chatbot Technology provides novel research content and reviews of current chatbot technology and sheds light on challenges and open questions as well as possible research directions. Covering key topics such as human-computer interaction, education, customer support, and algorithms, this reference work is ideal for computer scientists, industry professionals, policymakers, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.
ISBN: 9781668462348Publication Date: 2023-02-06
Women in Wildlife Science by
The first book to address the challenges and opportunities for women, especially from underrepresented communities, in wildlife professions. Women in Wildlife Scienceis dedicated to the work of promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in wildlife conservation and management. Editors Carol L. Chambers and Kerry L. Nicholson collaborate with a diverse team of authors to analyze the status and celebrate the achievements of women in wildlife science. They share proven models and propose new methods to increase the inclusion of women in wildlife professions based on an intersectional framework. Centering perspectives from LGBTQ+ people, women of color, and members of other marginalized communities, this is a groundbreaking and vitally important resource. Covering academic and professional spheres, Women in Wildlife Sciencedraws on enlightening personal stories and peer-reviewed scientific literature unavailable anywhere else to explain the challenges women face in the field of wildlife conservation and management. The contributors tackle pivotal issues, from recruitment into academic programs to hiring practices and ways to support career advancement in federal, state, local, tribal, and private sectors. Each chapter includes practical advice and original exercises constructed to help administrators, educators, managers, allies, and mentors move intentions into action. This pragmatic guide will help to ensure a more diverse, just, and equitable future for a workforce dedicated to preserving wildlife and the whole of the natural world.
ISBN: 9781421445038Publication Date: 2022-11-01
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