Why Machines Learn

BOOK SUMMARY

A rich, narrative explanation of the mathematics that has brought us machine learning and the ongoing explosion of artificial intelligence. Now in paperback, with a new afterword.

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 discoveries in chemistry, biology, and physics, from the study of genomes and extrasolar planets to the intricacies of quantum systems.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anil Ananthaswamy is an award-winning science writer and former staff writer for New Scientist. He was a 2019–20 MIT Knight Science Journalism fellow and has been a guest editor for the science writing program at UC Santa Cruz. He writes regularly for New Scientist, Quanta, Scientific American, PNAS Front Matter, and Nature, and has contributed to Nautilus, Matter, The Wall Street Journal, and Discover. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.

PRAISE

“A deep look at the mathematical innovations that made the AI revolution possible. One of the most useful books on AI that I’ve ever read!”
—Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author

“Why Machines Learn takes the reader on an entertaining journey into the mind of a machine and demystifies the underlying mechanisms behind machine learning.”
—Physics World

“A skillful primer makes sense of the mathematics beneath AI’s hood.”
—New Scientist

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Trade paperback
496 pages
Non-fiction
9 in H | 6 in W | 1 in T | 1 lb