There are many people I would like to thank for contributing to this project.
First, thanks to Roger Schank, who got me into AI and who convinced me to leave academia. I started thinking about writing the book after a dinner conversation with Roger in New York City, during which we talked about the excessive hype around AI and how different AI is today than it was in the 1980s.
Several colleagues and friends provided excellent feedback on the manuscript, including Doug Lyon, Alan Reznik, Chris Dressler, Chris McLeod, Bruce Gallagher, Gary Olson, Les Trachtman, Laura Ross, Tom Land, and Wayne Larrison. I also received great feedback from family members Becky Shwartz, Aly and Kevin Turner, and Mike Renzi. My daughters Becky and Aly independently took me to task for the level of technical detail in my earlier drafts, which caused me to rewrite the book and put much of that technical detail on my website.
I’d like to thank my book coach, Robin Colucci, and my development editor, Nathan True, who each did a wonderful job helping me write and structure the book. I would also like to thank the rest of the team at Greenleaf, including project manager Jen Glynn, lead editors Amanda Hughes and Erin Brown, copy editor Claudia Volkman, proofreader Jeffrey Curry, and cover and layout designer Cameron Stein. Also, thanks to Damien Sterling who did a great job on my website. And Rivka Hodgkinson got me started on social media. I enjoyed working with all of you.
Most important, I’m grateful to my wife, Elaine, for her love and support and for patiently putting up with my work habits, and to my daughters, Becky, Aly, and Carly, my son-in-law, Kevin, and my grandsons, Josh and Jack, for their love and inspiration.