Cambridge Business Association
The Executive Guide to Artificial Intelligence
Book

The Executive Guide to Artificial Intelligence

How to Identify and Implement Applications for AI in Your Organization

Andrew Burgess
Palgrave Macmillan, 2017
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Scientific
  • Overview
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

This overview of artificial intelligence (AI) by disruptive technology expert Andrew Burgess demystifies AI and explains a lot of its specialized vocabulary. Aptly named an “executive guide,” it is exceptionally clear and will be useful to anyone who wants a handle on AI. The introduction addresses business issues and the book’s framework offers a useful bridge to the more dense, more technical tomes on the market. Most businesspeople can learn all they need from Burgess, though his style can be somewhat intrusive. He loves abbreviations and some of the interviews seem like filler – but he delivers clear explanations of things that need explaining. getAbstract recommends Burgess’s breakdown of the past, present and likely future of AI to anyone interested in how technology is changing business as well as to investors, executives, entrepreneurs and students.

Summary

A Real Look at Artificial Intelligence  

Artificial intelligence (AI) applies computer systems to tasks that once required human intelligence. A long-standing debate within the AI community asks if AI should augment the human mind or replace the work it does. Either way, AI and automation will fundamentally reshape the workforce.

AI can develop its abilities through supervised or unsupervised learning. In supervised learning, which is more common, people train AI systems using data and guide the system through making distinctions – like between pictures that show dogs and pictures that don’t. In unsupervised learning, systems start with data that mean nothing to them and identify patterns on their own.

AI isn’t a hypothetical development that might appear sometime in the future. Businesses utilize AI today, and it transforms how they work. Many consumers experience AI today in the form of virtual helpers like Siri or Alexa. 

An “AI Framework”

AI has eight core capabilities. In this framework, four capabilities focus on capturing information and four focus on figuring...

About the Author

Management consultant, author and speaker Andrew Burgess is an expert on disruptive technology. The Global Sourcing Association chose him as the 2017 Automation Champion of the World. A former CTO, he advises companies on AI and co-authored of The Rise of Legal Services Outsourcing.  

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