AI snake oil : what Artificial Intelligence can do, what it can't, and how to tell the difference / Arvind Narayanan; Sayash Kapoor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Narayanan, Arvind., Author.

Kapoor, Sayash., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Artificial intelligence.

artificial intelligence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2025.

Summary:

From two of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know about AI--and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and products Confused about AI and worried about what it means for your future and the future of the world? You're not alone. AI is everywhere--and few things are surrounded by so much hype, misinformation, and misunderstanding. In AI Snake Oil, computer scientists Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor cut through the confusion to give you an essential understanding of how AI works and why it often doesn't, where it might be useful or harmful, and when you should suspect that companies are using AI hype to sell AI snake oil--products that don't work, and probably never will. While acknowledging the potential of some AI, such as ChatGPT, AI Snake Oil uncovers rampant misleading claims about the capabilities of AI and describes the serious harms AI is already causing in how it's being built, marketed, and used in areas such as education, medicine, hiring, banking, insurance, and criminal justice. The book explains the crucial differences between types of AI, why organizations are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can't fix social media, why AI isn't an existential risk, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. The book also warns of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies. By revealing AI's limits and real risks, AI Snake Oil will help you make better decisions about whether and how to use AI at work and home.

Contents:

How predictive AI goes wrong

Why can't AI predict the future?

The long road to generative AI

Is advanced AI an existential threat?

Why can't AI fix social media?

Why do myths about AI persist?

Where do we go from here?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed April 9, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Narayanan, Arvind. AI snake oil.

ISBN:

9780691277929

0691277923

OCLC:

1543175255

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license