Outsmarting AI: Power, Profit, and Leadership in the Age of Machines

by Brennan Pursell, Joshua Walker

Overview

From factories to smartphones, Artificial Intelligence is already taking over. Outsmarting AI is not a how-to guide on making AI work, but making it work for YOU to boost profits and productivity.

Each development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology brings about apprehension and panic for the future of society and for business. We’re bombarded with stories about the impending human-less workplace; it is no longer a question if man can be replaced by machine in certain tasks, but when.

However, AI was not manufactured to destroy life as we know it. These emerging technologies were developed and are constantly updating with a particular goal in mind: optimization. AI feeds on data and information to improve outputs and increase potential. With this enhanced productivity, profit and productivity will be sure to follow.

Written by Brennan Pursell, a business consultant and professor who hates jargon, and Joshua Walker, an AI pioneer with 18 years of experience in solutions and applications, Outsmarting AI is the first plain-English how-to guide on adapting AI for the non-coding proficient business leader.

This book will help readers to

• Cut through the fog of AI hype
• See exactly what AI can actually do for people in business
• Identify the areas of their organization in most need of AI tools
• Prepare and control their data – AI is useless without it
• Adopt AI and develop the right culture to support it
• Track the productivity boost, cost savings, and increased profits
• Manage and minimize the threat of crippling lawsuits

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538136256
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/15/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Brennan Pursell, MBA, PhD is Professor of Business and History at DeSales University and the founding director of the Applied AI Program. He teaches a wide range of courses in the undergraduate and MBA programs and provides consulting services to businesses large and small. Outsmarting AI is his fifth book. He lives with his family in the greater New York metropolitan area.

Joshua Walker, considered a pioneer in the emerging field of law and computer science, is the co-founder of both CodeX (Stanford Center for Legal Informatics) and Lex Machina—one of the first practical legal AI companies, regularly used by many of the Fortune 500, law firms, and all three branches of the US government. He is also the author of “On Legal AI” and is seeking to help architect the next generation of AI tools for regular folks. He and his family are based in San Francisco, California.

Editorial Reviews

If you're looking for an insightful book on AI, this one is it.

Siraj Raval

Outsmarting AI is a one-stop-shop for understanding and applying artificial intelligence. It is, or very soon will, impact every business in every industry; thus, it is incumbent on every decision maker to learn then navigate accordingly. Trying to decipher AI truth from fiction is difficult given the myriad, and often conflicting, schools of thought on the subject. Brennan Pursell and Joshua Walker masterfully articulate in easy-to-understand language the intricate aspects of various subjects that make up what we call artificial intelligence. It’s absolutely a must-read for astute leaders and those wishing to affect future change.

Rollan Roberts II

Entrepreneurs and executives alike need to get smart fast about AI, one of the hottest and most misused terms in today’s business and investing environment. This is especially true for organizations trying to use AI for real-time customer insights in building recurring-revenue businesses. Pursell and Walker’s accessible, engaging book provides a great overview of what Artificial Intelligence is and isn’t, how it can and should be used, and the important ethical considerations that can never be made by a computer.

Robbie K. Baxter

Outsmarting AI is a compelling and fun guide to putting AI to work for your business, employees and customers.

Jennifer Mazzon

Pursell (DeSales Univ.) and Walker (Stanford Univ., Center for Legal Informatics) provide advice on applying artificial intelligence (AI) in the business world, meanwhile dispelling the myth that AI has so far created applications only in narrow areas, e.g., playing chess. Chapters 1–3 tackle widely held AI myths, present key ideas to help businesses develop suitable AI applications, explain what AI can and cannot do, and discuss how to acquire and develop AI applications that will lead to higher profits. Chapter 4 addresses how to estimate and control costs. Chapter 5, on "AI governance," describes a specific platform (EDEN) suitable for developing business applications. The final chapter presents two EDEN case studies. One implementation, Lex Machina, was built at Stanford as open source software (OSS). The use case was to gain better control of federal intellectual property case law data. System developers used EDEN's attributes: Empirical data were drawn from federal patent litigation; the Design targeted primary users—judges, attorneys and concerned citizens; the system was architected to Evolve, constantly improving the accuracy and scope of legal event classification; and complex outputs were Netted by AI weighting protocols. This very informative and readable book is suitable for business school students and faculty, especially those aspiring to leadership through increased profits and productivity. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.

Choice Reviews

Pursell (DeSales Univ.) and Walker (Stanford Univ., Center for Legal Informatics) provide advice on applying artificial intelligence (AI) in the business world, meanwhile dispelling the myth that AI has so far created applications only in narrow areas, e.g., playing chess. Chapters 1–3 tackle widely held AI myths, present key ideas to help businesses develop suitable AI applications, explain what AI can and cannot do, and discuss how to acquire and develop AI applications that will lead to higher profits. Chapter 4 addresses how to estimate and control costs. Chapter 5, on "AI governance," describes a specific platform (EDEN) suitable for developing business applications. The final chapter presents two EDEN case studies. One implementation, Lex Machina, was built at Stanford as open source software (OSS). The use case was to gain better control of federal intellectual property case law data. System developers used EDEN's attributes: Empirical data were drawn from federal patent litigation; the Design targeted primary users—judges, attorneys and concerned citizens; the system was architected to Evolve, constantly improving the accuracy and scope of legal event classification; and complex outputs were Netted by AI weighting protocols. This very informative and readable book is suitable for business school students and faculty, especially those aspiring to leadership through increased profits and productivity. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.

Choice

Pursell (DeSales Univ.) and Walker (Stanford Univ., Center for Legal Informatics) provide advice on applying artificial intelligence (AI) in the business world, meanwhile dispelling the myth that AI has so far created applications only in narrow areas, e.g., playing chess. Chapters 1–3 tackle widely held AI myths, present key ideas to help businesses develop suitable AI applications, explain what AI can and cannot do, and discuss how to acquire and develop AI applications that will lead to higher profits. Chapter 4 addresses how to estimate and control costs. Chapter 5, on "AI governance," describes a specific platform (EDEN) suitable for developing business applications. The final chapter presents two EDEN case studies. One implementation, Lex Machina, was built at Stanford as open source software (OSS). The use case was to gain better control of federal intellectual property case law data. System developers used EDEN's attributes: Empirical data were drawn from federal patent litigation; the Design targeted primary users—judges, attorneys and concerned citizens; the system was architected to Evolve, constantly improving the accuracy and scope of legal event classification; and complex outputs were Netted by AI weighting protocols. This very informative and readable book is suitable for business school students and faculty, especially those aspiring to leadership through increased profits and productivity. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.

CHOICE

07/01/2020

Pursell (business & humanities, DeSales Univ., PA; The Spanish Match; History in His Hands) breaks down the myths associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), talks generally about AI implementation, and makes suggestions about the application of AI in businesses and everyday life. This book is written not solely for the technologically minded, thus the text is not heavy with AI language, but is more accessible because of its rather compact (with just six chapters) nature. However, the work could have benefited from real-world examples of AI implementation showing how the misconceptions have been conquered rather than just theoretical examples. VERDICT Recommended for general readers curious about AI, and business owners interested in implementing AI to realize a ROI (return on investment). A great addition to collections in which Alex Castrounis's AI for People and Business circulates well.—Adesh Rampat, Miami

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