Retired professor evaluates AI-based book recommendations

Retired English professor Vicky Weiss evaluated the process of search engines providing AI-powered book recommendations. Weiss stated that artificial intelligence often falls short in its suggestions and that people often do not fully know what they want.

Artificial Intelligence and the Era of Uncertainty

In this period when artificial intelligence technologies are developing rapidly, even the inventors of the system harbor concerns about the future. Many advertisements and fraudulent activities on the internet highlight the potential of AI tools to manipulate reality.

Search Engines and the Search for Books

Vicky Weiss, a retired university English professor, states that she frequently turns to search engines to find the next book she can enjoy. However, she has noticed that the book recommendations obtained during this process are not always satisfying.

Target Audience and the Limits of Artificial Intelligence

The standard responses offered by artificial intelligence systems show that the rule of knowing the target audience, which has been taught to writing students for years, is not applied sufficiently in the digital world. Although systems sometimes ask the user to narrow down their requests, this does not always provide a sufficient solution.

The Complex Nature of Human Desires

These experiences bring to mind the work written by a Stanford University professor on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The quest story in the work reveals the reality that people mostly do not truly know what they want.