You've probably heard the term machine learning before, but are you familiar with machine teaching? Machine learning is what happens behind the scenes when a computer uses input data to form models that can later be used to perform useful functions. But machine teaching is the somewhat less explored part of the process, of how the computer gets its input data to begin with. In the case of visual systems, for example ones that can recognize objects, people need to show objects to a computer so it can learn about them. But there are drawbacks to the ways this is typically done that researchers from the University of Tokyo's Interactive Intelligent Systems Laboratory sought to improve.

In clear, readable language, consultant and researcher Kevin Desouza accomplishes an unlikely feat: explaining artificial intelligence to nonspecialists, in a way that experts will recognize and accept as correct and immediately applicable. Workers in knowledge management are relatively isolated from each other, businesspeople are still unconvinced that artificial intelligence has much to offer, and engineers creating the latest algorithm or device seldom consider its value for businesspeople--Desouza seeks to change all that. He maintains that knowledge will be traded like physical goods, and that businesses must leverage knowledge resources within its organizations to survive in a highly competitive marketplace. Introducing us the concepts and significance of knowledge management, he shows that incorporating artificial intelligence computer-based techniques into business settings can provide truly significant gains in productivity. This book is among the first of its kind to provide a comprehensive one-stop guide to the basics of knowledge management, plus a lucid explanation of A.I., and how to use it in almost all types of organizational settings.

KEVIN C. DESOUZA is Research Associate with the Center for Research in Information Management, University of Illinois, Chicago. He lectures widely on topics in e-commerce, data warehousing, data management, and computer-based training, and has served in various managerial and technical capacities with organizations worldwide.