Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The idea of artificial intelligence--job-killing robots, self-driving cars, and self-managing organizations--captures the imagination, evoking a combination of wonder and dread for those of us who will have to deal with the consequences. But what if it's not quite so complicated? The real job of artificial intelligence, argue these three eminent economists, is to lower the cost of prediction. And once you start talking about costs, you can use some well‐established economics to cut through the hype.
The constant challenge for all managers is to make decisions under uncertainty. And AI contributes by making knowing what's coming in the future cheaper and more certain. But decision making has another component: judgment, which is firmly in the realm of humans, not machines. Making prediction cheaper means that we can make more predictions more accurately and assess them with our better (human) judgment. Once managers can separate tasks into components of prediction and judgment, we can begin to understand how to optimize the interface between humans and machines.
More than just an account of AI's powerful capabilities, Prediction Machines shows managers how they can most effectively leverage AI, disrupting business as usual only where required, and provides businesses with a toolkit to navigate the coming wave of challenges and opportunities.
Synopsis
What does AI mean for your business? Read this book to find out. -- Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google
Artificial intelligence does the seemingly impossible, magically bringing machines to life--driving cars, trading stocks, and teaching children. But facing the sea change that AI will bring can be paralyzing. How should companies set strategies, governments design policies, and people plan their lives for a world so different from what we know? In the face of such uncertainty, many analysts either cower in fear or predict an impossibly sunny future.
But in Prediction Machines, three eminent economists recast the rise of AI as a drop in the cost of prediction. With this single, masterful stroke, they lift the curtain on the AI-is-magic hype and show how basic tools from economics provide clarity about the AI revolution and a basis for action by CEOs, managers, policy makers, investors, and entrepreneurs.
When AI is framed as cheap prediction, its extraordinary potential becomes clear:
- Prediction is at the heart of making decisions under uncertainty. Our businesses and personal lives are riddled with such decisions.
- Prediction tools increase productivity--operating machines, handling documents, communicating with customers.
- Uncertainty constrains strategy. Better prediction creates opportunities for new business structures and strategies to compete.
Penetrating, fun, and always insightful and practical, Prediction Machines follows its inescapable logic to explain how to navigate the changes on the horizon. The impact of AI will be profound, but the economic framework for understanding it is surprisingly simple.
Synopsis
A strategic guide to employing the most-talked-about--and potentially most disruptive--technology of the decade.
- The authors' simple model is easy to understand, and clarifying for busy executives who have heard so much about AI but haven't wrapped their heads around it
- Yet it's hard to put into practice and apply if you're not one of them, so there's good reason to buy the book still
- Despite many books on robots, the book is ahead of the curve in presenting something useful
Audience: This book is targeted at decision‐makers who want to understand how artificial intelligence will affect their business: business leaders, especially those tasked with thinking through strategy and capital allocation decisions.
Announced first printing: 20,000
Laydown goal: 3,500