
Why Machines Learn
The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rene Ruiz
About this listen
A rich, narrative explanation of the mathematics that has brought us machine learning and the ongoing explosion of artificial intelligence
Machine learning systems are making life-altering decisions for us: approving mortgage loans, determining whether a tumor is cancerous, or deciding whether someone gets bail. They now influence developments and discoveries in chemistry, biology, and physics—the study of genomes, extra-solar planets, even the intricacies of quantum systems. And all this before large language models such as ChatGPT came on the scene.
We are living through a revolution in machine learning-powered AI that shows no signs of slowing down. This technology is based on relatively simple mathematical ideas, some of which go back centuries, including linear algebra and calculus, the stuff of seventeenth and eighteenth-century mathematics. It took the birth and advancement of computer science and the kindling of 1990s computer chips designed for video games to ignite the explosion of AI that we see today. In this enlightening book, Anil Ananthaswamy explains the fundamental math behind machine learning, while suggesting intriguing links between artificial and natural intelligence. Might the same math underpin them both?
As Ananthaswamy resonantly concludes, to make safe and effective use of artificial intelligence, we need to understand its profound capabilities and limitations, the clues to which lie in the math that makes machine learning possible.
*This audiobook contains a PDF of equations, graphs, and illustrations.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2024 Anil Ananthaswamy (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Everything Is Predictable
- How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World
- By: Tom Chivers
- Narrated by: Tom Chivers
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At its simplest, Bayes’s theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. But in Everything Is Predictable, Tom Chivers lays out how it affects every aspect of our lives. He explains why highly accurate screening tests can lead to false positives and how a failure to account for it in court has put innocent people in jail. A cornerstone of rational thought, many argue that Bayes’s theorem is a description of almost everything. But who was the man who lent his name to this theorem?
-
-
I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.
- By Alessandro Fadini on 06-28-24
By: Tom Chivers
-
Bernoulli's Fallacy
- Statistical Illogic and the Crisis of Modern Science
- By: Aubrey Clayton
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aubrey Clayton traces the history of how statistics went astray, beginning with the groundbreaking work of the 17th-century mathematician Jacob Bernoulli and winding through gambling, astronomy, and genetics. Clayton recounts the feuds among rival schools of statistics, exploring the surprisingly human problems that gave rise to the discipline and the all-too-human shortcomings that derailed it.
-
-
Rigorously Bayesian
- By Anonymous User on 01-25-22
By: Aubrey Clayton
-
A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence
- What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going
- By: Michael Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Glen McCready
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Oxford's leading AI researcher comes a fun and accessible tour through the history and future of one of the most cutting edge and misunderstood field in science: artificial intelligence.
-
-
very basic.
- By Placeholder on 11-11-21
-
AI Snake Oil
- What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
- By: Sayash Kapoor, Arvind Narayanan
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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, 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.
-
-
Basic level information nothing new here
- By Al on 10-09-24
By: Sayash Kapoor, and others
-
Through Two Doors at Once
- The Elegant Experiment That Captures the Enigma of Our Quantum Reality
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself - and continues to almost 200 years later. Through Two Doors at Once celebrates the elegant simplicity of an iconic experiment and its profound reach. With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world, through history and down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. It is the most fantastic voyage you can take.
-
-
Excellent exposition of the conundrum
- By GLYNN A on 08-14-18
-
The Nvidia Way
- Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
- By: Tae Kim
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.
-
-
Don’t Buy This Book Be Forewarned
- By Susan Hess on 12-25-24
By: Tae Kim
-
Everything Is Predictable
- How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World
- By: Tom Chivers
- Narrated by: Tom Chivers
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At its simplest, Bayes’s theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. But in Everything Is Predictable, Tom Chivers lays out how it affects every aspect of our lives. He explains why highly accurate screening tests can lead to false positives and how a failure to account for it in court has put innocent people in jail. A cornerstone of rational thought, many argue that Bayes’s theorem is a description of almost everything. But who was the man who lent his name to this theorem?
-
-
I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.
- By Alessandro Fadini on 06-28-24
By: Tom Chivers
-
Bernoulli's Fallacy
- Statistical Illogic and the Crisis of Modern Science
- By: Aubrey Clayton
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aubrey Clayton traces the history of how statistics went astray, beginning with the groundbreaking work of the 17th-century mathematician Jacob Bernoulli and winding through gambling, astronomy, and genetics. Clayton recounts the feuds among rival schools of statistics, exploring the surprisingly human problems that gave rise to the discipline and the all-too-human shortcomings that derailed it.
-
-
Rigorously Bayesian
- By Anonymous User on 01-25-22
By: Aubrey Clayton
-
A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence
- What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going
- By: Michael Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Glen McCready
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Oxford's leading AI researcher comes a fun and accessible tour through the history and future of one of the most cutting edge and misunderstood field in science: artificial intelligence.
-
-
very basic.
- By Placeholder on 11-11-21
-
AI Snake Oil
- What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
- By: Sayash Kapoor, Arvind Narayanan
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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, 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.
-
-
Basic level information nothing new here
- By Al on 10-09-24
By: Sayash Kapoor, and others
-
Through Two Doors at Once
- The Elegant Experiment That Captures the Enigma of Our Quantum Reality
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself - and continues to almost 200 years later. Through Two Doors at Once celebrates the elegant simplicity of an iconic experiment and its profound reach. With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world, through history and down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. It is the most fantastic voyage you can take.
-
-
Excellent exposition of the conundrum
- By GLYNN A on 08-14-18
-
The Nvidia Way
- Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
- By: Tae Kim
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.
-
-
Don’t Buy This Book Be Forewarned
- By Susan Hess on 12-25-24
By: Tae Kim
-
The Man from the Future
- The Visionary Life of John von Neumann
- By: Ananyo Bhattacharya
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Nuclear weapons and self-replicating spacecrafts. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable, yet largely overlooked, man: John von Neumann.
-
-
Good book, very odd narration
- By Ben Wiener on 04-10-22
-
Becoming a Data Head
- How to Think, Speak, and Understand Data Science, Statistics, and Machine Learning
- By: Alex J. Gutman, Jordan Goldmeier
- Narrated by: Brian Arens
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Becoming a Data Head is a complete guide for data science in the workplace: covering everything from the personalities you’ll work with to the math behind the algorithms. The authors have spent years in data trenches and sought to create a fun, approachable, and eminently bingeable book. Anyone can become a Data Head—an active participant in data science, statistics, and machine learning. Whether you're a business professional, engineer, executive, or aspiring data scientist, this book is for you.
-
-
The best data science manual ever written
- By Jordan on 08-29-24
By: Alex J. Gutman, and others
-
A Brief History of Intelligence
- Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
- By: Max S. Bennett
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.
-
-
Flawed fundamental assumptions, good function rvw
- By Duane Leet on 06-01-24
By: Max S. Bennett
-
Co-Intelligence
- Living and Working with AI
- By: Ethan Mollick
- Narrated by: Ethan Mollick
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Something new entered our world in November 2022—the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human thinking. Through his writing, speaking, and teaching, Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI.
-
-
great intro book marred by poor narration
- By Amazon Customer on 04-14-24
By: Ethan Mollick
-
The Alignment Problem
- Machine Learning and Human Values
- By: Brian Christian
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess black and white defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And autonomous vehicles on our streets can injure or kill.
-
-
Required reading for any AI course
- By ehan ferguson on 11-16-20
By: Brian Christian
-
Superagency
- What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future
- By: Reid Hoffman, Greg Beato
- Narrated by: Scott Wallace
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superagency offers a roadmap for using AI inclusively and adaptively to improve our lives and create positive change. While acknowledging challenges like disinformation and potential job changes, the book focuses on AI’s immense potential to increase individual agency and create better outcomes for society as a whole. Imagine AI tutors personalizing education for each child, researchers rapidly discovering cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and AI advisors empowering people to navigate complex systems and achieve their goals.
-
-
Reid & Greg See a positive future for AI & Humans
- By T. Gallina on 04-10-25
By: Reid Hoffman, and others
-
The Master Algorithm
- How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World
- By: Pedro Domingos
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the aegis of machine learning in our data-driven machine age, computers are programming themselves and learning about - and solving - an extraordinary range of problems, from the mundane to the most daunting. Today it is machine learning programs that enable Amazon and Netflix to predict what users will like, Apple to power Siri's ability to understand voices, and Google to pilot cars.
-
-
Great book, irritating narration
- By N. G. PEPIN on 09-24-15
By: Pedro Domingos
-
Life as No One Knows It
- The Physics of Life's Emergence
- By: Sara Imari Walker
- Narrated by: Sara Imari Walker
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is life? This is among the most difficult open problems in science, right up there with the nature of consciousness and the existence of matter. All the definitions we have fall short. None help us understand how life originates or the full range of possibilities for what life on other planets might look like. In Life as No One Knows It, physicist and astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker argues that solving the origin of life requires radical new thinking and an experimentally testable theory for what life is.
-
-
Fascinating thought patterns
- By John linden on 09-10-24
-
Fertility Technology
- MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- By: Donna J. Drucker
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world.
By: Donna J. Drucker
-
Grunch of Giants
- By: R. Buckminster Fuller
- Narrated by: Andrew Heyl
- Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the appearance of Grunch of Giants, R. Buckminster Fuller consummates his literary canon, his panoramic lifetime survey of all aspects of the responsibility of human beings for their own destiny. This book is a modern allegory - his long-gestated myth-of the villainy of capitalism and the fecklessness of classic economics. For Fuller, the academic discipline of economics is irrelevant since it derives from an invalid assumption of scarcity.
-
-
The book and narrator fit together beautifully.
- By Jazminn Downs on 01-05-25
-
Fundamentals of Data Engineering
- Plan and Build Robust Data Systems
- By: Joe Reis, Matt Housley
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Data engineering has grown rapidly in the past decade, leaving many software engineers, data scientists, and analysts looking for a comprehensive view of this practice. With this practical book, you'll learn how to plan and build systems to serve the needs of your organization and customers by evaluating the best technologies available through the framework of the data engineering lifecycle.
-
-
Great for Hands on Business owners
- By LmL on 08-14-24
By: Joe Reis, and others
-
A Mind for Numbers
- How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)
- By: Barbara Oakley PhD
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to learning effectively - secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they’d known earlier. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Most people think that there’s only one way to do a problem, when in actuality, there are often a number of different solutions - you just need the creativity to see them.
-
-
Not quite what you expect
- By Sean P Ruggier on 07-20-22
Critic reviews
“An inspiring introduction to the mathematics of AI.”—Arthur I. Miller, author of The Artist in the Machine: The World of AI-Powered Creativity
“Some books about the development of neural networks describe the underlying mathematics while others describe the social history. This book presents the mathematics in the context of the social history. It is a masterpiece. The author is very good at explaining the mathematics in a way that makes it available to people with only a rudimentary knowledge of the field, but he is also a very good writer who brings the social history to life.”—Geoffrey Hinton, deep learning pioneer, Turing Award winner, former VP at Google, and Professor Emeritus at University of Toronto
“After just a few minutes of reading Why Machines Learn, you’ll feel your own synaptic weights getting updated. By the end you will have achieved your own version of deep learning—with deep pleasure and insight along the way.”—Steven Strogatz, New York Times bestselling author of Infinite Powers and professor of mathematics at Cornell University
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Through Two Doors at Once
- The Elegant Experiment That Captures the Enigma of Our Quantum Reality
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself - and continues to almost 200 years later. Through Two Doors at Once celebrates the elegant simplicity of an iconic experiment and its profound reach. With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world, through history and down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. It is the most fantastic voyage you can take.
-
-
Excellent exposition of the conundrum
- By GLYNN A on 08-14-18
-
The Man Who Wasn't There
- Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: Rene Ruiz
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Oliver Sacks, a tour of the latest neuroscience of schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, ecstatic epilepsy, Cotard’s syndrome, out-of-body experiences, and other disorders - revealing the awesome power of the human sense of self from a master of science journalism. Anil Ananthaswamy’s extensive in-depth interviews venture into the lives of individuals who offer perspectives that will change how you think about who you are.
-
-
One of the best books I've ever listened to about how the mind may work
- By mark martin on 08-08-15
-
Everything Is Predictable
- How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World
- By: Tom Chivers
- Narrated by: Tom Chivers
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At its simplest, Bayes’s theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. But in Everything Is Predictable, Tom Chivers lays out how it affects every aspect of our lives. He explains why highly accurate screening tests can lead to false positives and how a failure to account for it in court has put innocent people in jail. A cornerstone of rational thought, many argue that Bayes’s theorem is a description of almost everything. But who was the man who lent his name to this theorem?
-
-
I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.
- By Alessandro Fadini on 06-28-24
By: Tom Chivers
-
The Self-Assembling Brain
- How Neural Networks Grow Smarter
- By: Peter Robin Hiesinger
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does a neural network become a brain? While neurobiologists investigate how nature accomplishes this feat, computer scientists interested in AI strive to achieve this through technology. The Self-Assembling Brain tells the stories of both fields, exploring the historical and modern approaches taken by the scientists pursuing answers to the quandary: What information is necessary to make an intelligent neural network? As Peter Robin Hiesinger argues, "the information problem" underlies both fields.
-
-
Not sure what to think
- By Andrew T. Doren on 01-05-25
-
The Edge of Physics
- A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this deeply original book, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy sets out in search of the telescopes and detectors that promise to answer the biggest questions in modern cosmology. Why is the universe expanding at an ever faster rate? What is the nature of the "dark matter" that makes up almost a quarter of the universe? Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life? Are there others besides our own?
-
-
Physics ain't for wussies!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-05-10
-
AI and Machine Learning for Coders
- A Programmer's Guide to Artificial Intelligence
- By: Laurence Moroney
- Narrated by: Timothy Howard Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you're looking to make a career move from programmer to AI specialist, this is the ideal place to start. Based on Laurence Moroney's extremely successful AI courses, this introductory book provides a hands-on, code-first approach to help you build confidence while you learn key topics.
-
-
Perfect introduction to machine, learning, and artificial intelligence for any programmer!
- By Luc on 08-11-23
By: Laurence Moroney
-
Through Two Doors at Once
- The Elegant Experiment That Captures the Enigma of Our Quantum Reality
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself - and continues to almost 200 years later. Through Two Doors at Once celebrates the elegant simplicity of an iconic experiment and its profound reach. With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world, through history and down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. It is the most fantastic voyage you can take.
-
-
Excellent exposition of the conundrum
- By GLYNN A on 08-14-18
-
The Man Who Wasn't There
- Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: Rene Ruiz
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Oliver Sacks, a tour of the latest neuroscience of schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, ecstatic epilepsy, Cotard’s syndrome, out-of-body experiences, and other disorders - revealing the awesome power of the human sense of self from a master of science journalism. Anil Ananthaswamy’s extensive in-depth interviews venture into the lives of individuals who offer perspectives that will change how you think about who you are.
-
-
One of the best books I've ever listened to about how the mind may work
- By mark martin on 08-08-15
-
Everything Is Predictable
- How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World
- By: Tom Chivers
- Narrated by: Tom Chivers
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At its simplest, Bayes’s theorem describes the probability of an event, based on prior knowledge of conditions that might be related to the event. But in Everything Is Predictable, Tom Chivers lays out how it affects every aspect of our lives. He explains why highly accurate screening tests can lead to false positives and how a failure to account for it in court has put innocent people in jail. A cornerstone of rational thought, many argue that Bayes’s theorem is a description of almost everything. But who was the man who lent his name to this theorem?
-
-
I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment.
- By Alessandro Fadini on 06-28-24
By: Tom Chivers
-
The Self-Assembling Brain
- How Neural Networks Grow Smarter
- By: Peter Robin Hiesinger
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does a neural network become a brain? While neurobiologists investigate how nature accomplishes this feat, computer scientists interested in AI strive to achieve this through technology. The Self-Assembling Brain tells the stories of both fields, exploring the historical and modern approaches taken by the scientists pursuing answers to the quandary: What information is necessary to make an intelligent neural network? As Peter Robin Hiesinger argues, "the information problem" underlies both fields.
-
-
Not sure what to think
- By Andrew T. Doren on 01-05-25
-
The Edge of Physics
- A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this deeply original book, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy sets out in search of the telescopes and detectors that promise to answer the biggest questions in modern cosmology. Why is the universe expanding at an ever faster rate? What is the nature of the "dark matter" that makes up almost a quarter of the universe? Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life? Are there others besides our own?
-
-
Physics ain't for wussies!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-05-10
-
AI and Machine Learning for Coders
- A Programmer's Guide to Artificial Intelligence
- By: Laurence Moroney
- Narrated by: Timothy Howard Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you're looking to make a career move from programmer to AI specialist, this is the ideal place to start. Based on Laurence Moroney's extremely successful AI courses, this introductory book provides a hands-on, code-first approach to help you build confidence while you learn key topics.
-
-
Perfect introduction to machine, learning, and artificial intelligence for any programmer!
- By Luc on 08-11-23
By: Laurence Moroney
-
The Alignment Problem
- Machine Learning and Human Values
- By: Brian Christian
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess black and white defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And autonomous vehicles on our streets can injure or kill.
-
-
Required reading for any AI course
- By ehan ferguson on 11-16-20
By: Brian Christian
-
Do No Harm: The People Who Amputate Their Perfectly Healthy Limbs, and the Doctors Who Help Them
- By: Anil Ananthaswamy
- Narrated by: Anna Pickard
- Length: 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All his life, David has been afflicted by a strange and uncomfortable feeling: that his leg belongs to somebody else. It's left him angst-ridden, depressed and confused - and after years of torment, the only way he can think to is to get rid of it completely. In this disturbing, award-winning investigation from the science and technology publisher MATTER, acclaimed writer Anil Ananthaswamy delves accompanies one man as he travels the world to get the illicit surgery he craves.
-
-
Very interesting.
- By MomToAGenius on 12-05-23
-
AI Snake Oil
- What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
- By: Sayash Kapoor, Arvind Narayanan
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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, 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.
-
-
Basic level information nothing new here
- By Al on 10-09-24
By: Sayash Kapoor, and others
-
The Impossible Man
- Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius
- By: Patchen Barss
- Narrated by: Jonathan Beville
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When he was six years old, Roger Penrose discovered a sundial in a clearing near his house. Through that machine made of light, shadow, and time, Roger glimpsed a “world behind the world” of transcendently beautiful geometry. It spurred him on a journey to become one of the world’s most influential mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists. Penrose would prove the limitations of general relativity, set a new agenda for theoretical physics, and astound colleagues and admirers with the elegance and beauty of his discoveries.
-
-
Flawed
- By Michael on 01-12-25
By: Patchen Barss
-
Artificial Intelligence
- A Guide for Thinking Humans
- By: Melanie Mitchell
- Narrated by: Abby Craden, Melanie Mitchell, Tony Wolf
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Artificial Intelligence, Mitchell turns to the most urgent questions concerning AI today: How intelligent - really - are the best AI programs? How do they work? What can they actually do, and when do they fail? How humanlike do we expect them to become, and how soon do we need to worry about them surpassing us? Along the way, she introduces the dominant methods of modern AI and machine learning, describing cutting-edge AI programs, their human inventors, and the historical lines of thought that led to recent achievements.
-
-
Start understanding AI right here!
- By Chad M. on 01-26-20
By: Melanie Mitchell
-
Co-Intelligence
- Living and Working with AI
- By: Ethan Mollick
- Narrated by: Ethan Mollick
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Something new entered our world in November 2022—the first general purpose AI that could pass for a human and do the kinds of creative, innovative work that only humans could do previously. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick immediately understood what ChatGPT meant: after millions of years on our own, humans had developed a kind of co-intelligence that could augment, or even replace, human thinking. Through his writing, speaking, and teaching, Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI.
-
-
great intro book marred by poor narration
- By Amazon Customer on 04-14-24
By: Ethan Mollick
-
Deep Learning
- MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- By: John D. Kelleher
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, computer scientist John Kelleher offers an accessible and concise but comprehensive introduction to the fundamental technology at the heart of the artificial intelligence revolution. Kelleher explains some of the basic concepts in deep learning, presents a history of advances in the field, and discusses the current state of the art.
-
-
Yikes
- By Elliot Blanford on 10-27-19
By: John D. Kelleher
-
The Kaggle Book
- Data Analysis and Machine Learning for Competitive Data Science
- By: Konrad Banachewicz, Luca Massaron
- Narrated by: Alex Freeman
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of data enthusiasts from around the world compete on Kaggle, the most famous data science competition platform of them all. Participating in Kaggle competitions is a surefire way to improve your data analysis skills, network with an amazing community of data scientists, and gain valuable experience to help grow your career. The first audiobook of its kind, The Kaggle Book assembles in one place the techniques and skills you'll need for success in competitions, data science projects, and beyond.
-
-
Absolutely disastrous
- By D B B on 05-16-24
By: Konrad Banachewicz, and others
-
A Brief History of Intelligence
- Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
- By: Max S. Bennett
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.
-
-
Flawed fundamental assumptions, good function rvw
- By Duane Leet on 06-01-24
By: Max S. Bennett
-
Probably the Best Book on Statistics Ever Written
- How to Beat the Odds and Make Better Decisions
- By: Haim Shapira
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book reveals how statistics and probability are fundamental to our everyday lives—from advertisements to public opinion polls, weather forecasts to government policies, scientific research to stock market information. Haim Shapira then presents a myriad of anecdotes, riddles, case studies and practical exercises in his trademark witty voice to guide the listner through the importance of statistics and probability in everyday life.
By: Haim Shapira
-
Becoming a Data Head
- How to Think, Speak, and Understand Data Science, Statistics, and Machine Learning
- By: Alex J. Gutman, Jordan Goldmeier
- Narrated by: Brian Arens
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Becoming a Data Head is a complete guide for data science in the workplace: covering everything from the personalities you’ll work with to the math behind the algorithms. The authors have spent years in data trenches and sought to create a fun, approachable, and eminently bingeable book. Anyone can become a Data Head—an active participant in data science, statistics, and machine learning. Whether you're a business professional, engineer, executive, or aspiring data scientist, this book is for you.
-
-
The best data science manual ever written
- By Jordan on 08-29-24
By: Alex J. Gutman, and others
-
The Deep Learning Revolution
- By: Terrence J. Sejnowski
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The deep-learning revolution has brought us driverless cars, the greatly improved Google Translate, fluent conversations with Siri and Alexa, and enormous profits from automated trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Deep-learning networks can play poker better than professional poker players and defeat a world champion at Go. In this book, Terry Sejnowski explains how deep learning went from being an arcane academic field to a disruptive technology in the information economy.
-
-
Probably the best audio book available on Deep Learning
- By Charlie on 03-01-19
What listeners say about Why Machines Learn
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mike Becich
- 02-16-25
Great history, hard to digest via audiobook
A lot of cool moments in the past century have led to AI’s current state, and this book does a great job capturing those moments with a glimpse into the math behind the breakthroughs. However, if you’ve taken ML/AI courses, you have already encountered a majority of the content in a more applied manner than the high-level proofs included here. An interesting read undoubtedly, but not the groundbreaking guide you might be looking for to understand & reverse-engineer why machines learn for your own career.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sameer D.
- 11-07-24
A great listen, but a physical book is pre appropriate
I enjoyed all the technical details and history. When the times came to look at a pdf, I wish I also had the physical copy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane Doe
- 01-17-25
Great book
Very in-depth. Following the pdf is a must if you want to understand the math, but not if you want the general ideas and the stories behind them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hegerty
- 05-06-25
Great listen, but keep the PDF handy.
There is a lot of math, so pay attention. I found I needed to reference the PDF throughout the book if I really wanted to understand what the chapter was trying to say.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David Jones
- 04-11-25
Superb Introduction to a complex subject
It is clear the author knows his subject and wants to make it accessible to the education layman. The narrator has a pleasant voice and makes listening easy, but this is very much a work that is best accessed with the accompanying PDF open while listening to the narrator. There is much dense information and between the audio book and PDF I have learned so much I did not know, despite working with various AI projects as an enterprise architect the past several years. I highly recommend it to anyone motivated to learn more about machine learning, but this book is not for the casual reader.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve
- 11-04-24
Totally inappropriate for audio
This is a technical book with many equations and graphs. It should never have been converted to audio. It may very well be a fine book to read but it is not suited for listening unless you want to sit in front of a computer and look at the associated pdf file while listening - not for me. Wish I could return.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sean Moubry
- 04-11-25
Buy a physical copy
This is one of the worst-sounding audiobooks I’ve ever heard—truly unlistenable. Even if the audio were tolerable, you’d still want the physical book for its heavy use of math and charts.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James F Ludke
- 12-25-24
Lack of understanding
Not very clear as a beginner! What is the importance to each sequence. Why would I want to know the importance!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ryan L Lohstreter
- 05-06-25
F your supplementary pdf
150 page supplementary pdf that is constantly referenced throughout the book, full of equations and technical pictures. Why make this into an audiobook at all if you need to study the text to understand the book?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!