Elon Musk

I listened to the audio version of this book.
I wanted to understand how a libertarian, environmental champion, and technology visionary became an eccentric, detached dictator with no sense of reality.

I find the book sad’not because of Elon’s tough childhood. I believe you can’t keep blaming your actions on past experiences. Yes, there’s baggage, but at some point, you are responsible for your present-day decisions.

What makes it truly sad is the inconsistency. When he succeeds, it’s glorified as something he achieved in spite of his past. When he fails or behaves badly, it’s excused because of his past. His success is celebrated, and his failures are framed as necessary steps toward that success.

© 2026 Sindhuja Cheema Enzinger. All Rights Reserved.

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.