REVIEW: The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want by Emily M. Bender (3 stars)

 I enjoyed this book as an audio book - and it did a fair job of covering the risks of falling for the "AI is inevitable" nonsense.  The authors do a great job of pointing out the real issues of using LLMs as a "one size fits all" in law, medicine, health management, journalism, art, academia, scientific research and other areas.  LLMs need to have better transparency and more "human in the middle" (a term I was waiting for them to use).  They authors do a good job explaining the topics but miss an opportunity to describe things like "Value Sensitive Design" and "Human Centered-AI." 

They mention that about 16 oz of water is used for every LLM prompt - but fail to dig deeper into the real impact on people in areas where data centers are demanding use priority over limited aquifer resources.  There is a quote about how some tech billionaire mentions that AI will be used to analyze x-rays and images.  While the authors mention that studies show medical imaging jobs are predicted to be one of the faster growing fields, they fail to tie together the two thoughts:  the tech bros WANT that business.  They want to take over that field and push people out.  The reality is that we need the "human in the middle" to ensure quality.  Recent studies of doctors lose the skills of reading imaging when they become dependent on AI, just like humans miss out on critical thinking tasks required in generating meeting notes or writing their own assignments.

The recommendations provided by the authors are not novel - and they are covered in other works on the topic I have read.  They also mention Cory Doctorow a lot, and it seems he supports an idea I have been trying to float whenever I talk about AI:  more task or topic specific small language models are needed. 

AI is hurting a lot of people's jobs and churning out garbage that nobody wants to read or look at.  Demand better from your employers, schools and companies that provide you software that you use for your day-to-day.  The authors tell people to opt out when they can - from using AI (even facial recognition at airports) - and mercilessly mock and call out bad AI generated content.

Not included in this book is my recommendation:  demand that businesses do better and provide transparency about the amount of natural resources consumed for every session, whether it is your search on Google, or using Co-Pilot to polish some copy in your memo.  This should be transparent and visible to end users, system managers (ie, in enterprise or academic settings) and aggregate impact should be visible to the entire world.  Companies all got on the green bandwagon over the last several decades and promised to improve their greenouse gas emissions and energy consumption but AI is leading them all in the opposite direction. 

People over profits, always!

REVIEW: The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want by Emily M. Bender

RATING: 3 stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman (4 stars)

Jennifer Ackerman’s "What an Owl Knows" is a compelling exploration of owl biology, behavior, and conservation. I’m so glad I switched from print to audiobook—Ackerman narrates it herself and does her level best to imitate the owl calls she describes throughout the book. It adds a layer of charm and immersion that print couldn’t offer.

The book focuses heavily on conservation efforts like banding, census tracking, and public education. Ackerman emphasizes the ecological value of owls and how dispelling harmful superstitions can protect them. In Serbia, for example, urban owl colonies are now protected by the community after extensive education campaigns. She also discusses the legal and practical challenges of caring for owls. In the U.S., people can get licenses to care for owls for educational or raptor use, but the government wildlife agency still “owns” and can “recall” the owl at any time. In England, it’s legal to sell bred owls, and after the Harry Potter films, demand surged. Many people adopted owls and later abandoned them, leading to the creation of owl-specific rescues for these human-habituated birds.

Ackerman touches on owl territoriality, migration, nesting, and mating habits. She mentions cannibalism among owl chicks—stronger siblings eating weaker ones, or a parent feeding a dead owlet to its siblings—but doesn’t go into survival odds. My bird expert friend, who has two owls, told me that the chances of a baby owl surviving its first year are incredibly low. For red-tailed hawks, it’s even worse: only one in five make it to their second year.

She also talks about training owls, including their use in the Harry Potter films, and compares their trainability to cats. My owl expert friend describes owls as “cat software, bird hardware,” which feels exactly right.

While listening to the book, I learned that in the jungles of Indonesia, people use owl hoots to communicate across distances. That night, I heard owl hooting outside my window, along with a strange whistle. Half-asleep, I thought it was human ne’er-do-wells using owl calls as code. I shouted out the window, “NICE TRY! There are no owls in this neighborhood!” As I did so, I woke up fully and realized—those were actual owls. I recorded the sounds and sent them to my owl expert friend, who confirmed it was a Great Horned Owl parent and baby, probably out hunting together.

Ackerman also weaves in folklore, like Athena’s association with owls and the Egyptian hieroglyph for the letter “M” being an owl. Throughout the book, she’s clear about what it means to rescue and care for owls, and how little we truly understand about how birds think. It’s a fascinating read that whets my appetite for more information about birds. 

REVIEW: What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman 

RATING: 4 stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.

REVIEW: We'll Prescribe You Another Cat (We'll Prescribe You a Cat, #2) by Syou Ishida (3 stars)

 I loved the first book, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, for its whimsical yet emotionally resonant storytelling. Unfortunately, the sequel didn’t quite live up to that promise. While the concept remains charming—a mysterious cat named Dr. Nikké prescribing feline companions to help humans navigate emotional challenges—the execution this time felt uneven and occasionally tone-deaf.

Much of the book’s attention is oddly focused on documenting cat poop and butt-sniffing, which detracts from the emotional depth of the stories. One quote from Dr. Nikké stood out for the wrong reasons:

“It’s no bad thing to be choosey about your cat, whether it be about its appearance or breed...”

This framing misses a valuable opportunity to promote fostering and rescue. Instead, it implies cats are interchangeable based on aesthetics or breed preference, which felt unsettling.

The first story arc had potential—a young woman with a distant, emotionally unavailable boyfriend is prescribed three purebred cats with distinct personalities. I expected a message about choosing companions (human or feline) based on emotional compatibility rather than looks, but the theme was never fully developed.

The second story, about an elderly man and his grandchild, was confusing but seemed to culminate in a shared mission to help neighbors find lost cats. The third story, featuring a jealous younger sister and a disconnected household, was more compelling. The prescribed munchkin cat helped bridge emotional gaps and reinvigorate family bonds.

The final story, centered on the older brother (a shelter worker), introduces a strange twist: Dr. Nikké appears in human form, borrowing the brother’s appearance. This creates confusion for the sister, but oddly, the brother doesn’t notice the resemblance. The mechanics of Dr. Nikké’s magical transformation are murky—he’s lethargic and locked in a pen, yet somehow projecting himself into the clinic. Is he dying? Exhausted? The ambiguity feels less magical and more inconsistent.

Overall, the book has moments of charm and insight, but it lacks the emotional clarity and thematic cohesion of the first volume. I’d love to see future installments embrace the realities of animal rescue and deepen the emotional arcs of the human characters.

REVIEW: We'll Prescribe You Another Cat (We'll Prescribe You a Cat, #2) by Syou Ishida 

RATING: 3 stars

© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.