Non-fiction book reviews part 11 - AI for kids, Taylor Swift and rituals

This is part eleven in a series of non-fiction book reviews, based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. Today I'm reviewing kids books about AI,  Taylor Swift and cooking  for camping. I feel like all I'm showing you about myself with this collection is that I'm eclectic! All books are from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Welcome to AI  What is Artificial Intelligence and How Will it Change Our Lives? by Matthew Dugal (release date 4 June 2024)

The description:

The most complete guide to AI for youngsters, covering everything from Ancient Greece to ChatGPT. In this fun, simple, and vibrant non-fiction book, technoscience expert Matthieu Dugal, creator of documentary AI: To be or not to be, shares the epic history of artificial intelligence and gives answers to the biggest head-scratchers: How does AI already help us, at home and at school? Which robots from your favorite movies may soon be in the real world? What are avatars? Which inventors are creating new technologies? How do algorithms work?…and why can’t AI cook pasta and drain it at the right time?

We can’t see it, and yet this technology is everywhere: it’s in computers, cars, and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. And it’s already making decisions for us, for better, and sometimes for worse… This fascinating guide delves deep into how these decisions are made behind the scenes, putting tricky ideas into easy-to-understand terms. Keep kids’ attention with colorful illustrations and easy-to-understand, well-researched facts to prepare them for an exciting AI-centric future.

My thoughts: 

This book does what it says on the back - it provides a brief history of computing, explains algorithms fairly thoroughly and talks broadly about technology and  how it affects our lives. It avoids anything scary or controversial, like whether we are all going to loose our jobs, and skims over the depth of self-enforcing bias that is one of the many issues with AI - and avoiding these topics is probably appropriate for the age group this book is aimed at. It does address some of the limitations of current AI technology. This book manages to be thorough and not all that interesting, at the same time. I would give it to a child who was asking questions about these things, as it is a straightforward and well presented book. 

Taylor Swift is Life: A Superfan's Guide to all the Things We  Love about Taylor Swift Katherine Pericone (Releasing 16 July 2024)

I am not a superfan, of Taylor Swift or anyone else. I have been exposed to some Swift superfans, who have shared lots of trivia and fun facts with me. I sat through the Eras tour on Disney+.  I quite like Swift's music, but am fascinated by her fandom. This book is super-cute, illustrated with hand-drawn pictures of Swift in all her iconic costumes. It uses previous interviews for all it's quotes, but actually gives the source and date of these in the text. Does this book have much (any) information that a "superfan" wouldn't already know? Probably not, but it is a well written, prettily presented, really fun wander through Taylor Swift's life and career. 

Everyday Rituals - the liberating power of our routines Peal Katz (Releasing 6  August 2024)

The description (from NetGalley)

It’s in the ordinary that Katz discovers unlimited potential: mundane routine actually sparks incredible imagination. Though it might seem contradictory, ordered rituals actually bring us freedom, creativity, and mental well-being.

This book rubbed me the wrong way from the start. Katz defines rituals as everything - routines, ceremonies, etiquette, customary procedures and habits, and she defines freedom as an intellectual state of mind, and nothing to do with the body. Then she throws in some generalisations -  for example she states as a fact that most adults read at the same place at the same time each day. Also, she talks about a wedding where they didn't follow traditional rituals and no-one knew what to do, which feels like a very reactionary take on a badly organised day. She repeatedly writes about how people lost their rituals during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but doesn't explore the impacts of this with any depth or the new rituals some of us formed.There are lots of anecdotes from (allegedly) real people, reflecting Katz's background as an anthropologist, but I never felt the threads of these interviews coalesce into anything more meaningful.  What this book lacks is a clear purpose. The main point could be a TED talk, and is both summed up in the blurb and not very interesting. There is no call to action to create our own rituals, or examination that some rituals can be very damaging. Disappointing, especially because the cover is so fun. This book was clearly not for me. I can't tell you who it might be for though.