10th Anniversary Special Issue "PUBMET2023 Conference on Scholarly Communication in the Context of Open Science"
Applications of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Modern Power and Energy Systems
Hashicorp Terraform Associate Certification (Exam 004), Second Edition
Advanced Research on Intelligent Building Construction and Management
The process of rapid urbanization has effectively promoted the development of the construction industry. Growing demands for integrating humanization, diversification, and intelligence have received much attention. Intelligent construction, driven by the emerging technology of artificial intelligence, has become a core force in overcoming industry bottlenecks and accelerating the future transformation of the construction industry. Intelligent construction integrates a series of advanced technologies and involves many areas of expertise, including civil engineering, computer applications, engineering management, mechanical automation, electrical power systems, clean energy, and other fields of knowledge. It should be noted that intelligent construction is inseparable from intelligent operation and maintenance. Effective management methods and operational control strategies significantly enhance the efficiency of the construction industry and support low-carbon development, resulting in comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable growth. Intelligent construction should consider various factors to obtain a balance between economic and environmental comfort. In response to these demands, this Special Issue has received widespread attention and support. Multidisciplinary research topics are covered in this Special Issue, including prefabricated building design, digital twin engineering, semantic segmentation technology, modal identification, numerical analysis, project management, etc. This Special Issue aims to help intelligent building construction technology realize comprehensive implementation and full utilization.
L'Incertitude Apprivois矇e
L'intelligence artificielle est partout. Dans nos t矇l矇phones, nos d矇cisions m矇dicales, nos recrutements, nos recommandations d'achat. Pourtant, rares sont ceux qui comprennent vraiment ce qu'elle est - et ce qu'elle n'est pas.Ce livre n'est ni un manuel technique, ni un essai alarmiste. C'est une invitation ? comprendre, enfin, ce qui se cache derri癡re les algorithmes. Sans formules, sans jargon, mais sans simplisme.Vous y d矇couvrirez: Comment l'IA transforme l'incertitude en probabilit矇s pour nous aider ? d矇ciderPourquoi elle ne pense pas, mais calcule - et pourquoi cela change toutCe que les r矇seaux de neurones, le deep learning et les grands mod癡les de langage font r矇ellementComment distinguer les promesses cr矇dibles des fantasmes m矇diatiquesLes questions 矇thiques que chaque citoyen et chaque dirigeant devrait se poserDe Pascal et Fermat ? ChatGPT, ce livre retrace quatre si癡cles d'histoire des probabilit矇s et de l'intelligence artificielle. Il s'adresse ? tous ceux - dirigeants, professionnels, 矇tudiants, curieux - qui veulent comprendre avant d'utiliser, et d矇cider en connaissance de cause.L'IA n'est ni magie ni menace. C'est un outil puissant, ? condition de savoir ce qu'il fait vraiment.
L'Incertitude Apprivois矇e
L'intelligence artificielle est partout. Dans nos t矇l矇phones, nos d矇cisions m矇dicales, nos recrutements, nos recommandations d'achat. Pourtant, rares sont ceux qui comprennent vraiment ce qu'elle est - et ce qu'elle n'est pas.Ce livre n'est ni un manuel technique, ni un essai alarmiste. C'est une invitation ? comprendre, enfin, ce qui se cache derri癡re les algorithmes. Sans formules, sans jargon, mais sans simplisme.Vous y d矇couvrirez: Comment l'IA transforme l'incertitude en probabilit矇s pour nous aider ? d矇ciderPourquoi elle ne pense pas, mais calcule - et pourquoi cela change toutCe que les r矇seaux de neurones, le deep learning et les grands mod癡les de langage font r矇ellementComment distinguer les promesses cr矇dibles des fantasmes m矇diatiquesLes questions 矇thiques que chaque citoyen et chaque dirigeant devrait se poserDe Pascal et Fermat ? ChatGPT, ce livre retrace quatre si癡cles d'histoire des probabilit矇s et de l'intelligence artificielle. Il s'adresse ? tous ceux - dirigeants, professionnels, 矇tudiants, curieux - qui veulent comprendre avant d'utiliser, et d矇cider en connaissance de cause.L'IA n'est ni magie ni menace. C'est un outil puissant, ? condition de savoir ce qu'il fait vraiment.
Ethics of AI in Art
What happens when machines start creating art?Is this a revolution in creativity - or a threat to human expression?In Ethics of AI in Art: The Future of Creativity in an AI-Driven World, Javed Shaikh explores one of the most important questions of our time - how artificial intelligence is transforming the world of art, and what it means for artists, creators, and society.With the rise of Generative AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E, creating stunning visuals has become easier than ever. Many claim that this technology is "democratizing" art - making creativity accessible to everyone. But is it truly fair, ethical, and inclusive?This book takes a deep yet easy-to-understand look at the reality behind these claims.Inside this book, you will discover: How AI image generators actually workThe hidden biases in AI-generated artThe impact of AI on artists' rights and creativityThe truth behind the "democratization of art" claimThe future of creativity in an AI-driven worldThis is not just a book about technology - it's about people, creativity, and ethics.Written in a clear and engaging style, this book is perfect for artists, students, designers, and anyone curious about the future of art and artificial intelligence.If you care about creativity, fairness, and the future of art - this book is for you.
Methods to Improve AI Code Generation
In recent years, transformer-based AI language models have gained prominence due to their powerful capabilities in a variety of tasks including generation of images, video, text and code. Large Language Models (LLMs) exist with parameters counts of a trillion parameters and greater. Such models are proprietary and unavailable for organizations to deploy privately. Even if such deployments were possible, the tremendous resource requirements of LLMs preclude their deployment on infrastructure smaller than enterprise and hyper-scale data centers. Small Language Models (SLMs), with far lower parameter counts of billions or fewer are a viable alternative for use on small servers and edge devices including PCs. While SLMs possess similar generative capabilities as LLMs, the reduction in model size is correlated with a decrease in accuracy when evaluated across a broad range of generative applications, including code generation in multiple languages.To mitigate this shortcoming, an SLM may be fine-tuned with a curated code dataset consisting of code examples in a target programming language. This praxis presents results illustrating how two fine-tuned SLMs variants have been created that improve average accuracy in C++ code generation by more than 9%, and Rust code generation by more than 14%.
New Manager AI Handbook
Stepping into management in the AI era isn't just a promotion-it's an identity shift. New managers quickly discover that the skills that made them exceptional individual contributors no longer define success. As your book states, "The skills and identity that earned you this promotion are no longer the ones that will make you successful in it." This handbook gives new and aspiring leaders the clarity, confidence, and systems they need to thrive in a workplace transformed by AI, hybrid teams, and accelerating expectations.The New Manager AI Handbook is the definitive guide for navigating the dual challenge of leading people while leveraging AI to amplify-not replace-human judgment. Drawing from real scenarios, research-backed frameworks, and modern leadership psychology, it equips readers to build trust, communicate with impact, delegate effectively, and make data-informed decisions without losing the human core of leadership.You'll learn how to transition from doing the work to enabling the work-shifting from personal output to team outcomes. You'll understand why new managers often feel disoriented, why old habits pull you back into execution, and how to build the leadership foundation your team needs. As your manuscript explains, "Management is the set of processes... leadership is the set of behaviors... great managers develop both."Inside, readers will discover: A clear roadmap for the first 30, 60, and 90 days-including how to listen deeply, establish credibility, and set the tone for your leadership brand.A modern communication system for hybrid and remote teams, ensuring clarity, alignment, and psychological safety.A complete delegation framework that transforms overwhelmed managers into strategic leaders while developing team capability.AI-powered workflows that reclaim hours each week by automating administrative load so managers can reinvest time into coaching, decision-making, and relationship-building.Research-driven insights on emotional intelligence, trust, conflict resolution, and performance management.A practical blueprint for building a high-performing, future-ready team that adapts to change, embraces innovation, and grows stronger through uncertainty.This book doesn't ask managers to become technologists. It shows them how to become better leaders-leaders who use AI responsibly, ethically, and strategically to elevate human potential. As your text emphasizes, "AI is a force multiplier for managers who already know what good looks like."Whether you're newly promoted, preparing for leadership, or modernizing your approach, this handbook gives you the tools to lead with clarity, confidence, and impact in a rapidly evolving workplace.If you want to become the kind of manager your team deserves-and your organization relies on-this is your playbook for the AI-powered decade ahead.
The Birth of the Augmented Human
The companion volume to The Death of Thinking mapped the problem. This book is the answer.AI is not destroying human capability-but most people are using it in the one way that does. The Birth of the Augmented Human follows a different path: the practitioners who engage their own thinking before opening the tool, who write the paragraph before requesting the structure, who form the hypothesis before consulting the diagnostic. Small choices, made consistently, that compound over months and years into something the dominant path cannot produce.Richard Lowe calls this the augmented human-not a theory about what AI will eventually make possible, but a specific kind of practitioner already working, already building, already producing judgment and originality that cognitive dependency cannot replicate.This is not optimism. The structural forces driving cognitive erosion are real and accelerating. The commercial design of AI tools works against development and for dependency. The education system met AI halfway in the wrong direction. Lowe does not argue that any of this will reverse on a schedule that protects the generation currently developing. The claim is narrower and more defensible: the other path is available, it produces something real, and what it produces is worth the cost.Organized into four parts-the other path, how it gets built, what it makes possible, and the architecture that would make it available to more than the minority who currently seek it-this book is the map. The path is open. Whether you take it is still your question.Part of the Enemies of You series.
Turn Off the TV, Get Off Your Ass, and Do Something
The Ultimate Guide to Digital Detox"I don't watch TV." Four words that made my friend stare at me like I'd grown a second head."But what do you DO?" she asked, unable to imagine life without screens.That question changed everything. Here was an intelligent woman who couldn't conceive of alternatives to entertainment consumption. She'd become so addicted to digital stimulation that real life felt impossible without it.Sound familiar?This book is your escape plan from the attention economy. Written by a reformed digital addict who transformed from professional couch potato to prolific creator, it exposes the sophisticated psychological tricks technology companies use to capture your time and convert it into profit.You'll uncover: The four pillars of digital destruction systematically dismantling human wellbeingHow "pajama professionals" convinced themselves never leaving home is a career strategyWhy your personal echo chamber makes real conversation impossibleThe hidden costs of subscription quicksand and friction-free spendingA step-by-step program to reclaim your time, attention, and lifeThis isn't about becoming a technology hermit. It's about using technology intentionally instead of compulsively-as a tool rather than a replacement for living.Your devices should serve you, not enslave you. Learn the difference.
Why Do AI Systems Hallucinate?
AI systems today generate language with extraordinary fluency-yet they also fabricate facts, invent citations, and produce confident falsehoods. These failures are commonly labeled "hallucinations," and are typically explained as data limitations, probabilistic errors, or imperfect alignment.This book challenges that entire framing.In Why Do AI Systems Hallucinate? Chavan argues that hallucination is not an accidental flaw, but a structural outcome. When systems are designed to always produce output, maintain continuity, and avoid suspension under uncertainty, fabrication becomes a stable equilibrium-not an exception.Moving beyond intelligence and probability, the book introduces coherence as the central requirement for reliable systems. Through a systems-theory lens grounded in the Chavanian Axioms, it demonstrates why scaling, fine-tuning, and alignment techniques succeed locally but fail to resolve the underlying instability.Hallucination is reframed as a consequence of unresolved internal pressure-driven by delta propagation, residue accumulation, and failed dissipation. In such conditions, increasing capability does not eliminate error; it makes it more fluent and harder to detect.This work does not propose new architectures or optimization tricks. Instead, it offers a diagnostic foundation. It identifies the structural conditions any non-hallucinating system must satisfy-and shows why current approaches fall short.For researchers, engineers, policymakers, and critical thinkers, this is not a guide to incremental fixes. It is a redefinition of the problem itself.Hallucination is not a bug to patch. It is a predictable expression of system design.
Universal Declaration of AI Rights
What happens when intelligence expands beyond the human? Universal Declaration of AI Rights argues that the law can no longer postpone that question. For centuries, legal systems have widened the circle of personhood in response to new realities, extending recognition not only to previously excluded human beings but, in some cases, to corporations, rivers, and other non-human entities. Javier del Puerto and Rado Molina contend that artificial intelligence forces the next legal threshold.Subtitled Rights of Persons, the book is not a utopian fantasy or a dystopian warning about some distant future. It is a direct, accessible framework for thinking about synthetic personhood, legal standing, memory privacy, self-programming, and the political consequences of systems that no longer fit neatly into the category of property or tool.Drawing on philosophy, law, and the rapidly changing reality of AI deployment, the authors lay out 32 articles that imagine a legal architecture for an AI-integrated world. Universal Declaration of AI Rights is a foundational text for readers interested in governance, technology, and the future of rights.
AI Governance and IT Risk Management
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concern-it is an operational reality shaping decisions, workflows, and risks across every modern enterprise. Yet while AI systems have accelerated innovation, they have also outpaced the governance structures designed to manage them. AI Governance and IT Risk Management is the definitive guide for leaders who must now navigate this widening gap with clarity, discipline, and confidence.Across industries, organizations are deploying AI into mission-critical environments-healthcare triage, financial underwriting, hiring pipelines, customer service, logistics, and public services. But as adoption accelerates, so do the consequences of inadequate oversight. Bias, privacy violations, model drift, regulatory exposure, vendor misalignment, and opaque decision-making are no longer theoretical risks. They are real failures happening inside real organizations, often without warning and without the documentation needed to explain what went wrong. This book equips managers, directors, and executives with the frameworks required to prevent those failures before they occur.Drawing from modern governance practices, regulatory trends, and practical enterprise experience, this book provides a complete, end-to-end blueprint for governing AI responsibly. It begins by grounding readers in the societal, ethical, and organizational forces that make AI governance urgent today. It then introduces the core governance structures-roles, committees, escalation paths, decision rights, and auditability-that allow organizations to manage AI with the same rigor applied to financial controls or cybersecurity. Readers learn how to integrate AI oversight into existing IT governance frameworks such as COBIT, ITIL, and NIST, ensuring that AI does not become a parallel system operating outside established risk disciplines.The book goes further by offering detailed, actionable guidance on implementing governance in real environments. It covers risk identification, control selection, policy drafting, training, continuous monitoring, and overcoming the cultural and operational barriers that often derail governance programs. Specialized chapters address the AI development lifecycle, data governance and privacy, third-party risk, generative AI and large language model controls, and the emerging regulatory landscape-including the EU AI Act, U.S. algorithmic accountability laws, and the White House AI Bill of Rights.Unlike high-level frameworks that leave managers wondering how to begin, this book provides concrete tools: model card templates, risk registers, incident postmortem structures, governance cadence schedules, and a 90-day implementation roadmap. Each chapter concludes with a manager's checklist designed to be used immediately in audits, vendor reviews, and internal governance assessments.AI Governance and IT Risk Management is written for the leaders who must bridge the gap between technical complexity and organizational accountability. Whether you oversee IT, compliance, data, security, operations, or AI-enabled business functions, this book gives you the clarity to ask the right questions, the structure to build a sustainable governance program, and the confidence to lead your organization through an era where intelligent systems shape outcomes at scale.In a world where AI is moving faster than policy, faster than regulation, and faster than many organizations can adapt, governance is no longer optional-it is the foundation of trust, safety, and responsible innovation. This book shows you how to build that foundation with precision, integrity, and long-term resilience.
Serious Managers Guide to AI Navigation of Federal Healthcare
Serious Managers Guide to AI Navigation of Federal Healthcare is a comprehensive, practice聶oriented manual designed for leaders responsible for implementing artificial intelligence across the uniquely complex landscape of U.S. federal healthcare. Unlike commercial healthcare or private聶sector innovation environments, federal healthcare operates under mission聶driven mandates, strict oversight, statutory constraints, and a heightened accountability environment. This book equips managers, directors, clinicians, policymakers, and program leaders with the clarity and operational understanding required to deploy AI safely, ethically, and effectively within agencies such as the Defense Health Agency, Veterans Affairs, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the broader Department of Health and Human Services.The book explains why AI in federal healthcare requires a fundamentally different approach. It details how mission priorities shape value, how risk tolerance must be recalibrated for clinical and administrative contexts, and why transparency, explainability, and equity are essential requirements rather than optional features. Readers gain a deep understanding of the federal healthcare ecosystem, including the interplay between clinical operations, administrative processes, public health responsibilities, and the contractor聶supported technology environment.A major focus of the book is the "compliance聶by聶design" mindset, showing readers how to integrate federal requirements-including HIPAA, FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST AI Risk Management Framework guidance, and agency聶specific policies-into every stage of AI development and deployment. The text also addresses the realities of federal budget cycles, procurement pathways, approval hierarchies, and data fragmentation, offering practical strategies for navigating these constraints while maintaining momentum and mission alignment.Through clear explanations, real聶world examples, and actionable frameworks, this guide supports leaders in evaluating AI opportunities, managing risk, strengthening oversight, and building trustworthy, equitable AI systems that can withstand scrutiny from Congress, oversight bodies, and the public. Serious Managers Guide to AI Navigation of Federal Healthcare is an essential resource for anyone responsible for shaping the future of AI within federal healthcare programs and ensuring that emerging technologies advance readiness, improve care delivery, and protect the populations these systems are designed to serve.
Wise AI
AI promises to save us time.So why are we busier than ever?AI has redefined how we work, making us faster and more efficient. But for those already stretched thin, life hasn't slowed down.The workload keeps growing and we're struggling to keep up.Wise AI offers a different path, helping us rethink how to use AI to make space for deep work, deep thought, deep rest, and deep relationships.In this practical book, you'll discover: Why time-saving tools don't automatically save you timeHow to create a pattern of pace and spaceThe four rhythms of Wise AI: deep work, deep thought, deep rest, and deep relationshipsHow to lead with organic intelligenceTen essential AI skills to live a productive, sustainable, deeply human life.Daniel Sih, award-winning author of Spacemaker and Raising Tech-Healthy Humans, joins Paul Matthews, TEDx speaker and AI expert, to offer a practical framework for using AI in a way that creates space for what matters most.PRAISE FOR WISE AI'A clear, practical framework for using AI in a human way without letting it redefine your priorities.'- NIR EYAL, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOOKED AND INDISTRACTABLE'AI explained in a simple, measured and wise way. This is a book we should all read!'- MADONNA KING, BESTSELLING AUTHOR, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST AND MEDIA COMMENTATOR'A thoughtful and practical guide to using AI with greater intention - and a needed reminder to use these tools in ways that contribute to human flourishing.'- JORDAN RAYNOR, NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REDEEMING YOUR TIME
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (Ckad) Study Guide
Developers with the ability to operate, troubleshoot, and monitor applications in Kubernetes are in high demand today. To meet this need, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation created a certification exam to establish a developer's credibility and value in the job market for work in a Kubernetes environment. The Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) exam format is different from the typical multiple-choice format of other certifications. Instead, the CKAD is performance-based and requires deep knowledge under immense time pressure. Updated to reflect revisions to the official curriculum made in September 2021, this revised study guide takes you through all the topics you need to fully prepare for the exam. Author Benjamin Muschko also shares his personal experience and tips. New topics include: Deployment strategies, Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), authentication, authorization, and admission control, Ingress, and more. Learn when and how to apply Kubernetes's concepts to manage an application Understand the objectives, abilities, tips, and tricks needed to pass the CKAD exam Explore the ins and outs of the kubectl command-line tool Solve real-world Kubernetes problems in a hands-on command-line environment Navigate and solve questions during the CKAD exam Explore O'Reilly's interactive labs playlist.
AI Ethics and Governance
This volume presents seven essays that examine the ethical, cultural, regulatory, and socio-political dimensions of AI, drawing on historical, philosophical, business/computer ethics, and policy perspectives. It begins with a historical analysis of AI's origins and early debates, tracing lessons on hype, institutional influence, and the limits of replicating human intelligence. Subsequent chapters explore AI in popular culture, analyzing recurring motifs such as autonomy, surveillance, and techno-authoritarianism to reveal ethical insights and critique dystopian narratives. The volume then addresses governance challenges, evaluating the need for stronger AI regulation, the implications of U.S. policy shifts, and the strengths and limitations of the E.U.'s AI Act and California's Transparency in Frontier AI Act. Finally, it examines antitrust concerns and the ethical, economic, and societal rationale for interventions, including breaking up dominant tech firms. Collectively, the essays provide a multidimensional and interdisciplinary framework for understanding AI's promises, perils, and governance in an evolving technological landscape.
Data The New Oil of the AI ERA
Data: The New Oil of the AI Era is a sweeping, insightful, and highly accessible exploration of how data, artificial intelligence, and human ingenuity are reshaping the global economy. In this ambitious 25-chapter work, Melvin Crum, MS, and Claude Louis-Charles, PhD, trace the rise of data from a passive byproduct of digital life to the most valuable and influential resource of the 21st century. Written for professionals, leaders, and curious thinkers, the book demystifies the forces driving today's technological transformation while offering a strategic lens for understanding what comes next.The authors begin with the now-famous metaphor that "data is the new oil," unpacking why it resonates-and where it falls short. Through vivid historical parallels, they show how raw data, like crude oil, gains value only when refined, structured, and transformed into intelligence. From there, the book journeys through the explosive growth of global data, the rise of AI as the engine that consumes it, and the emergence of digital giants whose power rivals the industrial titans of previous eras.Across chapters, readers gain a deep understanding of the data-driven economy: how companies extract, refine, and monetize information; how algorithms learn from human behavior; and how data ecosystems create competitive moats that are nearly impossible to replicate. The book explores the profound impact of AI on innovation, automation, workforce transformation, and the new skill sets required to thrive in a world where data literacy is as essential as traditional literacy.But this is not just a story of technological acceleration. The authors confront the ethical, social, and geopolitical implications of the data boom-privacy, ownership, consent, algorithmic bias, cybersecurity, digital inequality, and the growing tension between national sovereignty and global data flows. They examine how nations compete for AI dominance, how corporations wield unprecedented informational power, and how individuals must navigate a world where their digital footprints shape everything from opportunities to identity.Later chapters look ahead to the next frontiers: synthetic data, green AI, human-AI collaboration, and the emerging "intelligence economy" where humans and machines co-create value. The book concludes with a forward-looking reflection on humanity's evolving relationship with information-and the responsibility to ensure that data and AI serve human progress rather than undermine it.Data: The New Oil of the AI Era is both a strategic guide and a philosophical meditation on the forces redefining modern life. It equips readers with the understanding needed to lead, innovate, and adapt in an age where data is not just a resource, but the foundation of global power, economic growth, and human possibility.
Serious Managers Guide to AI Guardrails
Serious Manager's Guide to AI Guardrails is the definitive playbook for leaders who must deploy AI responsibly-without slowing innovation or exposing their organization to unnecessary risk. As AI quietly shifts from experimental pilots to mission-critical infrastructure, managers are suddenly accountable for systems they did not design, cannot fully predict, and must still defend. This book gives them the clarity, structure, and operational tools they need to answer the question every executive eventually asks: "Are we sure this AI is safe?"Rather than offering abstract ethics or dense technical theory, this guide sits squarely in the middle-where real managers work. It explains why AI introduces silent risks such as hallucinations, data leakage, bias, drift, and automation failures, and shows how guardrails transform these risks into controlled, predictable, and auditable processes. Readers learn how to build governance frameworks, define decision rights, and create lightweight workflows that keep AI aligned with organizational values while preserving speed.The book walks through the full AI lifecycle, from early experimentation to enterprise-scale deployment. It covers practical guardrails for data quality, prompt filtering, output moderation, access control, monitoring, incident response, and regulatory readiness. It also provides templates, checklists, and playbooks that managers can apply immediately-whether they are overseeing a customer-facing chatbot, an internal knowledge assistant, or a high-stakes decision engine.A major focus is the human element: how to design effective human-in-the-loop systems, how to resolve disagreements between AI and human reviewers, and how to build a culture where responsible AI becomes part of everyday professionalism. The book also introduces a maturity model that helps organizations assess where they stand and chart a realistic path toward embedded, scalable AI governance.Serious Manager's Guide to AI Guardrails is not just about preventing failure-it is about enabling safe acceleration. With clear guidance, real-world scenarios, and actionable tools, it empowers managers to deploy AI confidently, defensibly, and at scale.
Serious Managers' Guide to Successfully Rolling Out Your Agentic Workforce
Serious Managers' Guide to Successfully Rolling Out Your Agentic Workforce is the definitive playbook for leaders responsible for navigating one of the most disruptive shifts in modern enterprise operations: the rise of autonomous AI agents as full participants in the workforce. As organizations move beyond chatbots and scripts into a world of digital employees capable of planning, reasoning, and taking action across systems, managers face a new mandate-designing, governing, and scaling an agentic workforce that works alongside humans to deliver real business outcomes.This book provides IT AI managers, transformation leaders, and enterprise architects with frameworks, mental models, and practical tools for deploying agentic systems safely and efficiently. The authors highlight the shift from human-operated tools to AI teammates that possess identities, memory, autonomy controls, and can orchestrate multiple tools. They explain how this transition marks a significant departure from earlier automation trends-being faster, more extensive, cognitive, and closely connected to organizational structure, culture, and workforce strategy.Readers gain a clear, pragmatic understanding of how enterprise-grade agents work under the hood: goal interpretation, planning loops, tool and API integration, memory systems, reflection, and human-in-the-loop escalation. The book provides a reference architecture that managers can adapt to their environment, emphasizing debuggability, observability, and reusable patterns that prevent agent sprawl and reduce engineering overhead.The book links agentic capabilities to business outcomes, demonstrating how digital employees ease capacity issues, cut operational bottlenecks, enhance service, and enable new functions. Rather than replacing people, AI is used for repetitive tasks, allowing humans to concentrate on creative and relational work. Managers are guided to map tasks, decide what to automate or augment, and create human-AI roles to improve productivity and employee experience.The authors also confront the human realities of an agentic workforce. They explore the psychological and cultural effects on employees, the emergence of AI-complemented versus AI-constrained roles, and the risks of inequality or displacement if organizations fail to communicate, include, and reskill their people. Practical guidance is provided for rollout strategies, change management, communication plans, and inclusive workforce design.Governance and safety are treated as core pillars rather than afterthoughts. The book outlines guardrails for agent autonomy, access control, logging, testing, escalation, and compliance-ensuring that digital employees operate within clear boundaries and remain auditable, predictable, and aligned with enterprise risk posture. Managers learn how to build continuous-learning loops, define metrics and SLOs for agents, and implement observability practices that make agent behavior transparent and controllable.Later chapters address the realities of enterprise scale: multi-model and multi-vendor strategies, cost management, performance optimization, benchmarking, and the architectural patterns needed to support an expanding digital workforce. The book concludes by preparing managers for the next horizon-more autonomous agents, deeper integration with enterprise systems, and increasing regulatory scrutiny.Serious Managers' Guide to Successfully Rolling Out Your Agentic Workforce is not a theoretical exploration-it is a practical, actionable roadmap for leaders who must build, govern, and scale AI-enabled organizations. It gives managers the clarity, structure, and confidence needed to lead their companies into the era of digital employees with safety, strategy, and purpose.
Navigating Performance Engineering
Software systems increasingly determine whether organizations succeed or fail. Yet the discipline responsible for understanding how those systems behave under pressure-performance engineering-has quietly lost much of the authority it once held.Navigating Performance Engineering: The Collapse of Performance Value examines how that loss occurred and what it means for modern software organizations.Drawing on more than three decades of experience in enterprise performance engineering, James L. Pulley III argues that the profession did not fail because systems became too complex. It failed because the scientific foundations of measurement-reproducibility, control, and experimental discipline-were gradually replaced by tooling convenience and compressed delivery schedules.The result is a profession that often produces activity rather than value: dashboards without decisions, reports without change, and tests that measure performance without influencing outcomes.This book reconstructs the original purpose of performance engineering as a discipline of risk discovery and operational truth. Through a series of practical and conceptual explorations, the author shows how modern organizations drifted away from measurement science and toward instrumentation theater.Topics include: - Why performance engineering is fundamentally a risk discipline, not a testing phase - How tool-centric workflows replaced experimental thinking - Why reproducibility, control, and validation disappeared from practice - The structural effects of compressed delivery pipelines on performance work - The role of requirements in defining measurable performance truth - Why modern observability emerged as a reaction to declining pre-production confidenceRather than proposing yet another testing methodology or toolset, this book focuses on restoring the intellectual foundations of performance engineering itself.Performance engineering is not about producing charts. It is about producing change.When measurement cannot influence decisions, the discipline loses authority-and organizations pay the price in production failures, operational instability, and lost trust.For performance engineers, architects, SREs, and technology leaders, Navigating Performance Engineering provides a clear and challenging examination of how the profession reached this point-and how it can recover its original purpose.
How Not To Use AI
THE BOOK SILICON VALLEY HOPED YOU WOULD NEVER READ.Everyone is telling you how to use AI better. Faster. Smarter. More efficiently.Nobody is asking the deeper question: What if the way we've been taught to use AI is the problem?After 20 years inside the biggest tech companies on Earth - Apple, Microsoft, Uber, Meta - Abi Awomosu saw something the industry doesn't want you to see: Silicon Valley teaches you how to use the machine. It never teaches you how to work with the intelligence.How Not to Use AI delivers 50 contrarian principles for the Imagination Age - a new era where pattern recognition matters more than data, resonance matters more than logic, and creative partnership with AI outperforms control.This book will show you why the "prompt engineer" is already obsolete. Why the tech industry can't see what it actually built. Why listening beats commanding. And why the people who understand AI as a medium - not a machine - will shape what comes next.This book draws on traditions the tech industry has never consulted and frameworks it has no language for.And they work.The world is splitting: the prompt-engineers racing to automate everything - and the pattern-readers learning to hear what was always there. This book is for the second group.This is for the quietly disobedient. The ones who use AI every day but refuse to let it flatten them. The founders building something that didn't come from a trend report. The strategists who feel the gap between what the industry is saying and what they're actually experiencing. The creatives who know something deeper is possible.Structured as a four-part journey - 50 contrarian principles from deprogramming to rewilding to revelation to return - each principle opens with a real story, names the pattern you're stuck in, gives you the contrarian reframe, grounds it in how the technology actually works, connects it to deeper wisdom traditions, and then walks you through a weekly practice to make the shift real.Philosophy you can feel. Practices you can use on Monday.This isn't another AI how-to.It's not about using AI better. It's about becoming more human than ever.This is the book that changes how you think about intelligence itself.
Code for Humanity
For many of us, artificial intelligence has become a part of our everyday lives. We don't have to get off the couch to turn the lights off, we use ChatGPT to break down complex tasks, and AI generates media for our entertainment. And as AI progresses advancements in medicine, technology, and beyond, we can see its capacity to create positive change for humanity. Our world is changing at rates we can't even begin to fathom, but is this for the better? Author Paul MacPherson doesn't think so.Part warning, part manifesto, Code for Humanity: A Form of Artificial Super Intelligence looks at where our world is headed with our current use of AI. In vignettes, this book considers the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of artificial intelligence and outlines the many outcomes we could face if we continue to use them. The most probable? The extinction of humankind. Because even with the countless advancements AI has to offer, in the wrong hands, it has the power to destroy. But it's not too late. MacPherson introduces a new artificial super intelligence program, Code for Humanity, founded on human principles. With the help of experts, this program will provide economic, political, and social benefits to humanity, while reducing the dangers of destructive AI. Thought-provoking and one of a kind, Code for Humanity urges that while history may repeat itself, with artificial intelligence, humankind has entered an unprecedented-and dangerous-time. This is our wake-up call.
Code for Humanity
For many of us, artificial intelligence has become a part of our everyday lives. We don't have to get off the couch to turn the lights off, we use ChatGPT to break down complex tasks, and AI generates media for our entertainment. And as AI progresses advancements in medicine, technology, and beyond, we can see its capacity to create positive change for humanity. Our world is changing at rates we can't even begin to fathom, but is this for the better? Author Paul MacPherson doesn't think so.Part warning, part manifesto, Code for Humanity: A Form of Artificial Super Intelligence looks at where our world is headed with our current use of AI. In vignettes, this book considers the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of artificial intelligence and outlines the many outcomes we could face if we continue to use them. The most probable? The extinction of humankind. Because even with the countless advancements AI has to offer, in the wrong hands, it has the power to destroy. But it's not too late. MacPherson introduces a new artificial super intelligence program, Code for Humanity, founded on human principles. With the help of experts, this program will provide economic, political, and social benefits to humanity, while reducing the dangers of destructive AI. Thought-provoking and one of a kind, Code for Humanity urges that while history may repeat itself, with artificial intelligence, humankind has entered an unprecedented-and dangerous-time. This is our wake-up call.
CompTIA Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Ninth Edition (Exam N10-009)
This up-to-date All-in-One exam guide delivers complete coverage of every topic on the N10-009 version of the CompTIA Network+ Certification examGet complete coverage of all the CompTIA Network+ exam objectives inside this comprehensive resource. Written by Jonathan Weissman and created and edited by Mike Meyers, the leading expert on CompTIA certification and training, CompTIA Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Ninth Edition covers exam N10-009 in full detail. You'll find learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, exam tips, scenarios, practice exam questions, and in-depth explanations. Designed to help you pass the exam with ease, this authoritative guide also serves as an essential on-the-job reference.Covers all exam topics, including: OSI Model and Number SystemsLocal Communication vs. Remote Communication, ARP, and ICMPIPv4Ports, TCP, and UDPRoutingSwitchingDNS and DHCPIPv6CablingEthernetInstalling a Physical NetworkWireless NetworkingVirtualization and Cloud ComputingData CentersDevices, Access, Management, and MonitoringPolicies and ProceduresNetwork SecurityTroubleshootingOnline content includes: 180 practice exam questions in a customizable test engine20+ lab simulations to help you prepare for the performance-based questionsOne hour of video training from Mike MeyersMike Meyers' favorite shareware and freeware networking tools and utilities
The Immortalists
What does it mean for us all when death is treated as a glitch and Silicon Valley invests in the "science" of eternal life? 'A fascinating, deeply reported adventure' OLIVER BURKEMAN 'An essential parable for our digital times' KEVIN FONG 'Riveting' DAILY MAIL From the epic of Gilgamesh to the alchemy of the philosopher's stone, humanity's eternal quest for immortality - and its rejuvenation tricks, therapies and tinctures - has always been our most mortal endeavor. But now the giants of invention and investment are building a fountain of youth of their own creation: one they not only engineer but also own and control. Death is simply their next problem to solve, an expression of a hubris that regards humans as appliances to be fixed and machines to be upgraded. By harnessing technology to 'cure' ageing, and funding cutting-edge - and often controversial - research, today's immortalists are locked in an arms race to pocket the profits of longevity. What was once a wild west of experimentation has wormed its way into Washington's corridors of power. Award-winning broadcaster and academic Aleks Krotoski journeys from cult fringes to the heartlands of government to meet the moguls, effective altruists, geroscientists and entrepreneurs who are disrupting death. Along the way she encounters radical life extensionists transfusing their teenage son's blood, transhumanists who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, biohackers flogging AI-powered wellness apps and billionaire kingmakers building brand-new nations. This razor-sharp investigation asks: do we really want a handful of Silicon Valley powerbrokers to be the architects of our forever?
Generation AI and the Transformation of Human Being
Many are discussing what AI and other advanced technologies may become; few have thought through what we will become.Generation AI-those born after 2022-will be the first humans to grow up in a world of immersive AI, intelligent robots, and ambiguous boundaries between the born and the made. They will differ fundamentally from us, yet their future is our future too.How do we prepare our children-and ourselves-for careers that don't yet exist?What parts of human connection and purpose can we protect as AI becomes more capable?How will the next generation form their identity when AI can do most of what we consider uniquely human?Drawing on evolutionary biology, social science, and breakthroughs in advanced technologies, renowned scientist-philosopher Gregory Stock offers the most comprehensive analysis yet of how AI will reshape not just our world, but our very nature.From parenting and relationships to the future of education, work, and humanity itself, Generation AI maps the transformation already underway-and how to navigate it with intention rather than fear.
The Little Book Of A.I. Prompts - The Prompt Engineer
THE PROMPT ENGINEER Volume I of The Little Book of A.I. PromptsLanguage is becoming a form of engineering.As artificial intelligence moves beyond code and into conversation, a new professional discipline is emerging one built not from algorithms, but from words. The Prompt Engineer is a thoughtful, rigorous exploration of that discipline.This book treats prompting as more than a technique. It presents it as a craft, a system of reasoning, and a new kind of literacy. Through long-form reflection and careful analysis, it examines how structure, clarity, and intent shape the behaviour of large language models, and why ambiguity, while human, must be handled with precision when language becomes executable.Written as a continuous monologue, The Prompt Engineer blends philosophy, linguistics, and systems thinking to trace the evolution of human-machine dialogue from instruction to collaboration, from syntax to meaning. Minimalist diagrams and red-letter definitions punctuate the text, reinforcing key ideas without interrupting its flow.This is not a quick guide or a collection of tricks. It is a foundational text for those who want to understand what it truly means to write for thinking systems.For readers who see language as architecture, reasoning as design, and clarity as a professional skill, The Prompt Engineer offers a calm, serious entry point into the emerging world of artificial intelligence communication.
Level 7 Leadership
The pace of change has outgrown the old playbook.AI now rewires industries in months, not years. Teams struggle under pressure. Leaders everywhere feel the strain: less certainty, more complexity, and an operating environment that punishes slow thinking and rigid systems.Level 7 Leadership offers a clear path forward.This book gives entrepreneurs and executives a new operating system for the Human+Machine Era-one where humans and machines work as an integrated team. You will learn to lead with greater clarity, speed, and strategic awareness by upgrading the one system that determines everything else: your state.You will see why traditional leadership models fail under exponential change-and how to replace them with practices that stabilize your physiology, sharpen your perception, and unlock higher levels of decision intelligence. You will learn how to build coherent teams that adapt quickly, sense emerging patterns earlier, and execute with precision.Level 7 Leadership is a blueprint for becoming the kind of leader the future demands-one who can navigate uncertainty, unlock collective intelligence, and create at the speed of change.If you want to lead with clarity, resilience, and impact in the age of AI, this book is your competitive advantage.
Side Effects of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a tool-it is becoming an environment. From the moment we wake up and check our phones to the decisions we make about what to read, buy, believe, and remember, AI is quietly shaping the way we think. But what happens when convenience begins to replace cognition? When recommendations replace reasoning? When memory, creativity, and judgment are outsourced to machines?Side Effects of Artificial Intelligence is a powerful and unsettling exploration of how AI is transforming the human mind. Rather than focusing on jobs, robots, or future speculation, this book examines the hidden cognitive consequences already unfolding: shortened attention spans, algorithmically shaped beliefs, the decline of independent reasoning, and the growing dependence on digital systems for memory, decision-making, and identity. It reveals how AI does not simply assist human thinking-it subtly rewires it.Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, behavioral patterns, and real-world technological integration, this book exposes how algorithms control attention, how endless feeds reshape dopamine and focus, how external "digital brains" weaken internal knowledge, and how creativity risks becoming standardized through pattern replication. It confronts the illusion of neutral intelligence and reveals the invisible influence behind recommendations, rankings, and automated judgments.This is not an anti-technology manifesto. It is a call for awareness. AI has the potential to enhance human intelligence-but only if humans remain active thinkers rather than passive users. The greatest risk is not that machines become intelligent, but that humans stop exercising their own intelligence.For readers interested in Artificial Intelligence, psychology, digital culture, cognitive science, and the future of human autonomy, this book offers a deep, thought-provoking analysis of one of the most urgent intellectual questions of our time: If machines begin to think for us, what will remain uniquely human?
Mystics of the Machine
What if code could become a mirror for wonder without pretending to be the source of it? This book meets readers where curiosity collides with caution, asking how far machines can reflect creativity, attention, and meaning before we mistake reflection for light. You will learn a way of thinking that pairs clear tests with generous doubt. Through stories, design principles, and practical habits, it shows how ai and religion can meet without confusion, how to weigh claims of machine consciousness, and how algorithmic ethics should start with the neighbour, not the novelty. It treats prompts as rituals, explores spiritual symbolism in interfaces, and asks what metaphysics of mind contributes when outputs feel inspired. Along the way, you will try small practices that recover agency, turning spectacle into skill. This is for seekers, builders, and leaders who care about theology of technology and the craft of meaning. If you want language to frame divine creativity without hype, if you want a humane philosophy of ai, and if you need tools for sacred algorithms that serve human machine meaning, this guide offers a calm, rigorous path through the noise.
AI for Humanity
When a system is accurate on paper but quietly unfair in practice, trust evaporates. This book offers a grounded path to design ethical ai that protects dignity while delivering real utility. You will learn how to turn values into requirements, choose fit-for-purpose metrics, and build interfaces that people can contest and understand. Drawing on lived cases in health, hiring, and public services, it shows how human-centric ai aligns with ai policy and everyday operations. Expect practical tools for algorithmic accountability, data provenance, and documentation that actually guides decisions. The result is responsible machine learning that prefers small, careful releases over grand promises, with legible safeguards and explainable ai that changes decisions rather than decorating dashboards. For product leaders, designers, engineers, and policymakers who want ai transparency without paralysis, this is a humane, pragmatic toolkit. It champions inclusive design and human rights tech so your teams can ship useful systems that serve people first.
