Artificial Intelligence Is What You Can Do. Book Review: Howard J., Gugger S. (2022) Deep Learning with fastai and PyЕorch: Minimum Formulas, Minimum Code, Maximum Efficiency. St. Petersburg: Piter

Abstract

The book by developer and business analyst Jeremy Howard and data science research engineer Sylvain Gugger, published in 2020 and translated into Russian in 2022, is an attempt to prove to the reader that he or she, regardless of education and profession, is capable of independently accessing one of the iconic technologies of the 21st century ― artificial intelligence (AI) ― and creating products using it to incorporate the latter into their activities. The work provides a thorough analysis of AI trends, reviews the technology stack necessary for effective work in this field, and describes the stages of developing a project with artificial intelligence, from problem formulation and data collection to creating a graphical user interface and placing the application on the server, reveals the most acute problems associated with the increasing use of AI in companies, and updates the thesis on the need for an “ethical” approach when working with artificial intelligence. The book’s central part is devoted to explaining programs implementing one AI mechanism or another (or rather, one neural network architecture or another), as well as the stages and principles of writing a code using which one of the predetermined practical problems is solved. However, for the reader who does not want to immerse himself in programming, the work offers materials about the theory of artificial intelligence, the methods of obtaining maximum usefulness from AI in case you are a customer and not a project executor, about the rules of preventing negative consequences of including artificial intelligence in the firm’s activity, following which is required not only from developers but also from the whole team working on the product, including the directors. Thus, the reviewed book may be helpful for representatives of an unlimited range of professions, positions, and interests.