AI Snake Oil - What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference

In the introduction, the authors present a witty definition of AI “AI is whatever hasn’t been done yet.” This sets the tone of this book, highlighting the existing hype around AI and the misconceptions that exist. Though the definition of AI is still not universally agreed upon, the authors pose three questions to qualify a product or solution as AI, serving as a starting point for this book:

1. Does the task require creative effort or training for a human to perform?
2. Was the behavior of the system directly specified in code by developers, or did it emerge, say, by learning from examples or searching through a database?
3. Does the system make decisions more or less autonomously and possess some degree of flexibility and adaptability to the environment?

The book concentrates primarily on three types of AI: Predictive AI, Generative AI, and Content Moderation AI. So many companies slap the AI label on their products, even when it might not truly apply. Also, the hype around AI taking over jobs or being able to predict the future is far-fetched. With the advent of tools like ChatGPT, AI seems to be everywhere. However, this suddenness is only an illusion. The tech behind ChatGPT has been around for 80 years. It has certainly pushed innovation, but it’s not a single breakthrough that can explain all of the advancements. The perceived suddenness also creates uncertainties and confusion, and many companies are capitalizing on this.

© 2026 Sindhuja Cheema Enzinger. All Rights Reserved.

Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

There are so many things to applaud in this book. Firstly, the very idea of writing a book on the role of females in evolution. Evolution has mostly explained from the male perspective and has been accepted as the norm. But it is a very fundamental fact that without women and their reproductive success, there would not be 8 billion Homo sapiens on this earth today. The author has done a brilliant job of bringing across this message. Her storytelling skills are remarkable.

© 2026 Sindhuja Cheema Enzinger. All Rights Reserved.