--- product_id: 628626565 title: "AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference" price: "NT$701" currency: TWD in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tw/products/628626565-ai-snake-oil-what-artificial-intelligence-can-do-what-it store_origin: TW region: Taiwan --- # AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference **Price:** NT$701 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference - **How much does it cost?** NT$701 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tw](https://www.desertcart.tw/products/628626565-ai-snake-oil-what-artificial-intelligence-can-do-what-it) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description From two of TIME ’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know about AI―and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and products Confused about AI and worried about what it means for your future and the future of the world? You’re not alone. AI is everywhere―and few things are surrounded by so much hype, misinformation, and misunderstanding. In AI Snake Oil, computer scientists Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor cut through the confusion to give you an essential understanding of how AI works and why it often doesn’t, where it might be useful or harmful, and when you should suspect that companies are using AI hype to sell AI snake oil―products that don’t work, and probably never will. While acknowledging the potential of some AI, such as ChatGPT, AI Snake Oil uncovers rampant misleading claims about the capabilities of AI and describes the serious harms AI is already causing in how it’s being built, marketed, and used in areas such as education, medicine, hiring, banking, insurance, and criminal justice. The book explains the crucial differences between types of AI, why organizations are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can’t fix social media, why AI isn’t an existential risk, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. The book also warns of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies. By revealing AI’s limits and real risks, AI Snake Oil will help you make better decisions about whether and how to use AI at work and home. Review: Must read for understanding AI - AI is not always an outstanding performer, the book demystifies the overhyped performances helping to develop a grounded understanding and judicious applications of AI. A must read for anyone interested in AI. Eagerly waiting for the follow up version that is likely to focus on the other side, Possibilities with AI :The Last Invention, that will continue to derive us like invention of a wheel. Review: Interesting read. - Shares some interesting examples. I recommend it. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #83,734 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #38 in Computer Science Books | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 581 Reviews | ## Images ![AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51d1tC2Y0YL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Must read for understanding AI *by M***M on 26 November 2025* AI is not always an outstanding performer, the book demystifies the overhyped performances helping to develop a grounded understanding and judicious applications of AI. A must read for anyone interested in AI. Eagerly waiting for the follow up version that is likely to focus on the other side, Possibilities with AI :The Last Invention, that will continue to derive us like invention of a wheel. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Interesting read. *by A***D on 18 July 2025* Shares some interesting examples. I recommend it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An important and interesting book ! *by J***D on 9 November 2024* This is a different book and convey a different message - AI is not a panacea! The book contains many examples of the false claims and failures of AI. When almost everyone is going in a direction the authors have chosen to go in a different direction which is a bit risky. Companies and individuals are riding on the wave / hype of AI and making windfall gains - from course sellers, marketing professionals and professional scientists. In fact, many hardware (laptop) companies have started selling AI laptops! There few points I want to make about the book. Here are those. 1. Authors make a case that predictions are not possible! This is quite opposite to what hard science (physics) tells us - everything is 100 % predictable if you the initial conditions and laws of dynamics (even in case of quantum mechanics). Authors may need to change their views about prediction. 2. Authors are right that due to lack of a common definition of AI anything can be called an AI and that is a big problem. 3. Authors selectively give examples of cases where AI did not work. This should not consider different from the case of weight loss products or fairness creams in India. 4. AI companies and individuals are not honest this is also a claim but it should not surprise us. It is hard problem to crack that why people should not be dishonest when being dishonest really helps. Look the case of research publications - there are examples of papers being retracted from the prestigious journals. Paid publications are common. 5. I 100 % agree that big tech companies are trying to make profit out of the hype being created - particularly "existential risks" of AI. This book at least makes people aware that all that is yellow and shiny is not gold. I think a detail investigation is needed to look into the marketing material being sold as research work. One of its examples is technical report of GPT4. There is nothing for researchers in that 100+ pages documents. Apart from that benchmarks and performance matrices being used by researchers are cherry picked and completely useless of real-life validation of the models. ## Frequently Bought Together - AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference - Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI - Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Maths Behind Modern AI --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tw/products/628626565-ai-snake-oil-what-artificial-intelligence-can-do-what-it](https://www.desertcart.tw/products/628626565-ai-snake-oil-what-artificial-intelligence-can-do-what-it) --- *Product available on Desertcart Taiwan* *Store origin: TW* *Last updated: 2026-06-07*