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Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI
How AI can positively impact so many aspects of our daily lives, from health and wellness to work, education, and home life.AI is a powerful general-purpose technology that is reshaping the modern economy, but misperceptions about AI stand in the way of harnessing it for the betterment of humanity. In Thrive, Ravi Bapna and Anindya Ghose counter the backlash by showcasing how AI is positively influencing the aspects of our daily lives that we care most our health and wellness, relationships, education, the workplace, and domestic life. In the process the authors help explain the underlying technology and give people the agency they need to shape the debate around how we should regulate AI to maximize its benefits and minimize its risks.Bringing over two decades of experience with cutting-edge research, consulting, executive coaching, and advising to bear on the subject, Bapna and Ghose demystify the technology of AI itself. They offer a novel “House of AI” framework that encompasses traditional analytics, generative AI, and fair and ethical deployment of AI. Using examples from everyday life they showcase how the modern AI-powered ecosystem fundamentally improves the emotional, physical, and material well-being of regular people across the globe. Thrive’s mission is to educate the public about AI, shape realistic expectations and foster informed discussions about a fast-emerging AI shaped society.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published October 8, 2024
10 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 25, 2025
Artificial Intelligence is complex, misunderstood, and often maligned. Authors Ravi Bapna and Anindya Ghose explore how this technology can not only improve our lives but allow us to flourish.
The Media is quick to focus on examples of bias and plagiarism by A.I. models. Industry experts often warn of the replacement of humans and job loss by new A.I. capabilities. Hollywood would have us believe that A.I. will enslave or eradicate humanity at its first opportunity. While admitting that any technology can be dangerous (don’t make toast from the bathtub!), Bapna and Ghose take a distinctly positive view on A.I., exploring both the current capabilities and use cases, as well as the potential of A.I. to improve our lives.
If you are looking for a deep dive into coding machine learning algorithms and building A.I. models, this is not the book you are looking for. However, this work does go deep enough to demystify the fundamental capabilities of machine learning. You’ll learn how machine learning uses similarity or distance to classify, group, and cluster. You learn that today’s computers can process massive numbers of dimensions and the power this brings to A.I. You’ll get the basics of large language processing and how these models use attention mapping to mathematically build meaning from language. You will read about the four pillars of analytics – descriptive, predictive, causal, and prescriptive.
This book uses a surprisingly human approach to understand machine learning. Use cases are unexpectedly personal, such as online dating, human connections, mobile heath, and home automation. By using ordinary and familiar situations, the book becomes very approachable. And removing the confusion, bias, and fear around artificial intelligence allows us to take positive steps in its evolution. We can engage in discourse and debate around the proper use and guardrails of this technology. And most importantly, we can begin to leverage the tools to thrive in this rapidly changing world.
The Media is quick to focus on examples of bias and plagiarism by A.I. models. Industry experts often warn of the replacement of humans and job loss by new A.I. capabilities. Hollywood would have us believe that A.I. will enslave or eradicate humanity at its first opportunity. While admitting that any technology can be dangerous (don’t make toast from the bathtub!), Bapna and Ghose take a distinctly positive view on A.I., exploring both the current capabilities and use cases, as well as the potential of A.I. to improve our lives.
If you are looking for a deep dive into coding machine learning algorithms and building A.I. models, this is not the book you are looking for. However, this work does go deep enough to demystify the fundamental capabilities of machine learning. You’ll learn how machine learning uses similarity or distance to classify, group, and cluster. You learn that today’s computers can process massive numbers of dimensions and the power this brings to A.I. You’ll get the basics of large language processing and how these models use attention mapping to mathematically build meaning from language. You will read about the four pillars of analytics – descriptive, predictive, causal, and prescriptive.
This book uses a surprisingly human approach to understand machine learning. Use cases are unexpectedly personal, such as online dating, human connections, mobile heath, and home automation. By using ordinary and familiar situations, the book becomes very approachable. And removing the confusion, bias, and fear around artificial intelligence allows us to take positive steps in its evolution. We can engage in discourse and debate around the proper use and guardrails of this technology. And most importantly, we can begin to leverage the tools to thrive in this rapidly changing world.
July 21, 2025
The book is a collection of the most pertinent topics related to AI. It doesn't offer perspectives on how to do so or what might be the challenges in the unit of analysis (which isn't explicitly spelled out - for there could be very different issues in consumer-level adoption versus business-level adoption). Additionally, the authors haven't presented any of their work or contributions that would have enhanced the discussions on this key topic. Suitable for a senior-level professional who hasn't been introduced to the field of AI yet (which seems to be a dwindling species soon!).
October 21, 2025
The book shows that AI touches nearly every aspect of life: love, trust, health, education, work, homes, and organizations. AI is neither inherently utopian nor dystopian. Its benefits—efficiency, personalization, fairness, well-being—can only be realized if society addresses risks such as bias, cheating, privacy, and overreliance. Ultimately, AI should be seen as a partner: a tool that humans must guide with strong data, thoughtful design, and ethical governance to enhance both prosperity and human fulfillment.
December 7, 2024
It's cute. It's the kind of book you'd recommend to your mom or your grandpa to tell them about AI (some images would have been great for that purpose). If you know anything about AI already, you won't learn anything new.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews