The Book Report: Hot Topics

"You look like a thing and I love you" is one of the best pickup lines ever...according to an artificial intelligence trained by the scientist Janelle Shane, creator of the popular blog AI Weirdness. Shane creates silly AIs that learn how to name colors of paint, create the best recipes, and even flirt (badly) with humans--all to understand the technology that governs so much of our human lives. We rely on AI every day, trusting it for matters both big and small, from unlocking our phones to hospital care. But how smart is AI really...? Shane delivers the answer to every AI question you've ever asked, and some you definitely haven't--such as: How can a computer design the perfect sandwich? What does robot-generated Harry Potter fan fiction sound like? And is the world's best Halloween costume really "vampire hog bride"?

Thrilling new discoveries in science and technology are announced almost daily. Cutting-Edge Science and Technology keeps readers at the forefront of new research. Artificial Intelligencecovers a wide variety of topics in the emerging field of machine learning, including facial identification, voice recognition, video games, driverless cars, and robot helpers. High-impact photos and explanatory graphics and charts bring scientific concepts to life. Features include essential facts, a glossary, selected bibliography, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted many industries around the world--banking and finance, pharmaceuticals, automotive, medical technology, manufacturing, and retail. But it has only just begun its odyssey toward cheaper, better, and faster predictions that drive strategic business decisions. When prediction is taken to the max, industries transform, and with such transformation comes disruption. What is at the root of this? The authors explain that the two key decision-making ingredients are prediction and judgment, and we perform both together in our minds, often without realizing it. The rise of AI is shifting prediction from humans to machines, relieving people from this cognitive load while increasing the speed and accuracy of decisions. This sets the stage for a flourishing of new decisions and has profound implications for system-level innovation.

This authoritative reference work provides readers with a complete overview of artificial intelligence (AI), including its historic development and current status, existing and projected AI applications, and present and potential future impact on the United States and the world. Some people believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionize modern life in ways that improve human existence. Others say that the promise of AI is overblown. Still others contend that AI applications could pose a grave threat to the economic security of millions of people by taking their jobs and otherwise rendering them "obsolete"--or, even worse, that AI could actually spell the end of the human race. This volume helps users understand the reasons AI development has both spirited defenders and alarmed critics; explains theories and innovations like Moore's Law, mindcloning, and Technological Singularity that drive AI research and debate; and gives readers the information they need to make their own informed judgment about the promise and peril of this technology.

Uncover everything you need to know about "deepfakes" and what could become the biggest information and communications meltdown in world history. In a world of deepfakes, it will soon be impossible to tell what is real and what isn't. As advances in artificial intelligence, video creation, and online trolling continue, deepfakes pose not only a real threat to democracy -- they threaten to take voter manipulation to unprecedented new heights. This crisis of misinformation which we now face has since been dubbed the "Infocalypse." In DEEPFAKES, investigative journalist Nina Schick uses her expertise from working in the field to reveal shocking examples of deepfakery and explain the dangerous political consequences of the Infocalypse, both in terms of national security and what it means for public trust in politics. This all-too-timely book also unveils what this all means for us as individuals, how deepfakes will be used to intimidate and to silence, for revenge and fraud, and just how truly unprepared governments and tech companies are for what's coming.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us, from music choices to electronics to healthcare. AI refers to machines that are programmed to think and act like humans. Examples of AI include Pandora personalized song lists, robotic vacuum cleaners and self-driving vehicles. Many industries offer careers in AI, including financial services, technology, marketing, agriculture, gaming, and retail. As the need for technology and its problem-solving abilities continues to grow, so does the need for highly-skilled individuals to work in this sector. Careers in Artificial Intelligence provides detailed information and need-to-know information on various careers in artificial intelligence. Each chapter provides a wealth of real-world information including A Day in the Life, Work Environment, Education & Training, Earnings & Advancement, Employment Outlook, Networking Contacts, Areas with the Highest Employment Levels, and Conversations with Real Professionals.

This book gives details on how Ukrainians felt about a previous conflict. In 2014 Ukraine ousted their president due to dissatisfaction with him allying more closely with Russia than the EU. This could provide insight into how Ukrainians feel about Russia as well as offer a glimpse of what war is like for them.

There is a long history of conflict between Ukraine and Russia. This book details a conflict in the 1930s in devastating detail and provides more context for Russian/Ukrainian relations.

Ukraine, due to its positioning in Europe, has been sought after by those in power for a long time. This book explains the history of Ukraine in that context.

This ebook describes historic tensions between Russia and the Ukraine (and Crimea, a region of Ukraine which has been hotly contested by Russia and which in 2014 was annexed by Russia).

This book takes place after the Crimea crisis and does reporting on Ukraine from the inside by going to the source, Ukrainians, to learn more about them.

The ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine is one of the most bitter conflicts in history, with profound global consequences. In this book, Middle East expert Michael Scott-Baumann succinctly describes its origins and charts its evolution from civil war to the present day. Each chapter offers a lucid explanation of the politics and ends with personal testimony from Palestinians and Israelis whose lives have been impacted by the dispute.

Justice in the Question of Palestine is often framed as a question of law. Yet none of the Israel-Palestinian conflict's most vexing challenges have been resolved by judicial intervention. Occupation law has failed to stem Israel's settlement enterprise. Laws of war have permitted killing and destruction during Israel's military offensives in the Gaza Strip. The Oslo Accord's two-state solution is now dead letter. Justice for Some offers a new approach to understanding the Palestinian struggle for freedom, told through the power and control of international law. Focusing on key junctures--from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza--Noura Erakat shows how the strategic deployment of law has shaped current conditions.

Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members--mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists--The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. He highlights the key episodes in this colonial campaign, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the destruction of Palestine in 1948, from Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the endless and futile peace process.

It is impossible to understand Palestine today without a careful reading of its distant and recent past. But until now there has been no single volume in English that tells the history of the events--from the Ottoman Empire to the mid-twentieth century--that shaped modern Palestine. The first book of its kind, A History of Palestine offers a richly detailed interpretation of this critical region's evolution. Starting with the prebiblical and biblical roots of Palestine, noted historian Gudrun Krämer examines the meanings ascribed to the land in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.

Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby. But "this is not your Bubbie's history book" (Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher). Instead, offering a fresh, 360-degree view, Tishby brings her "passion, humor, and deep intimacy" (Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor) to the subject, creating an accessible and dynamic portrait of a tiny country of outsized relevance. Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, Tishby chronicles her homeland's evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel's creation to the disputes dividing the country today.

Throughout history, men and women have always found ways to control reproduction. In some ancient societies, people turned to herbs or traditional rituals. Others turned to methods that are still used in the twenty-first century, such as abstinence, condoms, and abortions. Legislating access to birth control, sex education, and abortion is also not new. Disputes over contraception, sex education, and abortion continue to roil the nation, leading to controversial legal and political rulings and occasionally violence. As society changes--and as new reproductive technologies expand the possibilities for controlling and initiating pregnancy--Americans will continue to debate reproductive rights for all.

With stories from the front lines, a legal scholar journeys through distinct legal climates to understand precisely why and how the war over abortion is being fought. Drawing on her years of research in El Salvador-one of the few countries to ban abortion without exception-legal scholar Michelle Oberman explores what happens when abortion is a crime. Oberman reveals the practical challenges raised by a thriving black market in abortion drugs, as well as the legal challenges to law enforcement. She describes a system in which doctors and lawyers collaborate in order to identify and prosecute those suspected of abortion-related crimes, and the troubling results of such collaboration- mistaken diagnoses, selective enforcement, and wrongful convictions. A fresh look at the battle over abortion law, Her Body, Our Laws is an invitation to those on all sides of the issue to move beyond the incomplete discourse about legality by understanding how the law actually matters.

Reproductive politics is a term coined in the 1970s to describe contemporary, Roe v. Wade-era power struggles over contraception and abortion, adoption and surrogacy, and other satellite issues. Forty years later, questions of reproductive rights are just as complex - and controversial - as they were then. Covering a substantial range of information in an accessible and lively manner, Solinger orients readers and provides the knowledge necessary to enter into dialogue with this important and continually evolving field.

This anthology assembles two decades of work initiated by SisterSong Women of Color Health Collective, creators of the human rights-based 'reproductive justice' framework to move beyond polarised pro-choice/pro-life debates. Rooted in Black feminism and built on intersecting identities, this revolutionary framework asserts a woman's right to have children, to not have children, and to parent and provide for the children they have.

Women from remarkably diverse religious, social, and political backgrounds made up the rank-and-file of anti-abortion activism. Empowered by the changes wrought by feminism, they founded grassroots groups, developed now-familiar strategies and tactics, and gave voice to the movement's moral and political dimensions. Drawing on oral histories and interviews with prominent figures, Karissa Haugeberg examines American women 's fight against abortion. Throughout, Haugeberg explores important questions such as the ways people fused religious conviction with partisan politics, activists' rationalizations for lethal violence, and how women claimed space within an unshakably patriarchal movement.

As seen in the HBO docuseries THE VOW: A jaw-dropping insider look into the world of the so-called "Hollywood Sex Cult" NXIVM chronicling the rise of enigmatic cult leader, Keith Raniere, from its "Patient Zero," his former girlfriend and test subject for his coercive control techniques. Many have heard of NXIVM and its creator, Keith Raniere, the unassuming Albany man now prosecuted for ensnaring tens of thousands of people in the US, Mexico, Canada and elsewhere, to do his bidding and pay millions of dollars to participate in his self-improvement methodology. But where did Keith Raniere begin? Enter Toni Natalie, Keith's Patient Zero, the first one indoctrinated into Raniere's methodology and the first one to escape.

Ted Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history and one of the most publicized to this day. However, very rarely do we hear from the women he left behind-the ones forgotten as mere footnotes in this tragedy. This updated and expanded reissue of Elizabeth Kendall's 1981 book The Phantom Prince chronicles her intense, six-year relationship with Ted Bundy and its eventual unraveling. Featuring a new introduction and a new afterword by the author, never-before-seen photos, and a new chapter from the author's daughter, Molly, this gripping account presents a remarkable examination of obsession, intrigue, and the darkness that love can mask.

InThe Perfect Father,New York Timesbestselling author John Glatt reveals the tragedy of the Watts family, whose seemingly perfect lives played out on social media--but the truth would lead to a vicious and heartbreaking murder.

FromNew York Times bestselling true crime author John Glatt comes the devastating story of the Turpins: a seemingly normal family whose dark secrets would shock and captivate the world.

Vancouver student Elisa Lam was last heard from on January 31, 2013, after she checked into L.A.'s Cecil Hotel, a 600-room building with a history of scandal and tragedy. The next day, Elisa vanished. More than a week later came a grim discovery: Elisa's nude body floating in a rooftop water tank. The only clue was a disturbing surveillance video of Elisa, uploaded to YouTube in hopes of public assistance. The video soon went viral and opened up many questions. In this detailed investigation, journalist Jake Anderson sets out to answer them.

Writer Eugene Linden explores the relationship between the actions of business corporations and environmental degradation in this book.

In this book, two physicians investigate the unexpected ways in which human health might be impacted by changing climates.

Gary Ferguson delves into how climate change has lengthened wildfire seasons in the Western United States. Read this if you're interested in understanding how the fires are fought and the ways in which ecosystems are impacted by them.

Rick Van Noy details how different Southern communities are adapting to climate change.

Environmental journalist Benjamin Von Brackel analyzes how nonhuman animals are reacting to changing temperatures.

In Courage to Soar, the official autobiography from four-time Olympic gold-winning and record-setting American gymnast Simone Biles, Simone shares how her faith, family, passion, and perseverance has made her one of the top athletes and gymnasts in the world--and how you too can overcome challenges in your life. Simone Biles' entrance into the world of gymnastics may have started on a field trip in her hometown of Spring, Texas, but her God-given talent, along with drive to succeed no matter the obstacle, are what brought her to the national spotlight during the Olympic Games and have catapulted her ever since--including 25 World Championship medals. But there is more to Simone than her accomplishments.

Based on the true story of the most famous team in the history of American sports: the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Follow from the team's selection process to the ultimate victory over Finland for the gold.

The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany--from the author of Facing the Mountain. For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times--the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.

Discover the astonishing, inspirational, and largely unknown true story of the eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South. Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States, sixteen black men and two black women are torn between boycotting the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to prove them wrong on a global stage? To be better than anyone ever expected? Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide readers through this harrowing and inspiring journey.

The first U.S. Olympic team, a ragtag group of 14 men, mostly Ivy Leaguers caused a swell of national pride while taking home 11 gold medals and paving the way for generations of U.S. Olympians. Author Jim Reisler chronicles the growing American sports scene in the 19th Century, the men of influence who established a modern Olympics, and how a squad of moderately talented Americans, funded independently, competing without the backing of the Amateur Athletic Union or their universities, went off to Athens, anyway. By triumphing in their events, they won not only gold but also the hearts and minds of the world.