Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (2nd Edition)

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Summary: AI Explained
Review: I found this book to be an extremely interesting read. It gave a good overall picture of the developing field of AI as well as it's history. It's a great stepping stone for people who are familiar with discrete math & logic to get an idea of what is on the horizon, but it is not the end-all-be-all of intelligent agent design; in an area of science that changes day by day, I think the authors took a brilliant snapshot and laid a good foundation for future learning. I must admit, however, if I had needed to read this book for a course in school, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much. But isn't that the nature of school?

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Summary: Suprem Book in AI
Review: I studied AI using this book, it's great. just check the authors/book web sites and see that it is the most used book in teachin AI! maybe a 2nd edition would be apreciated, as the world of AI is moving very fast.

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Summary: Definitely worth the cost!
Review: It is a rare occation I find myself compelled to keep on reading a textbook beyond what is required by the course for which I am studying. I got the book almost three weeks into the AI course, after having become almost desparate with the math dominated lecture notes. The book explains the same issues in a clear and understandable manner, and makes studying enjoyable. The only minus is the end-of-chapter questions that seem to be unecessarely ambigious - it is often difficult to understand what exactly is required by the question. Other than that, the book is well structured and contains margin-notes which I find to be very helpful. I would gladly recommend it to anyone aspiring to understand AI, as well as for anyone aspiring to understand how good textbooks are writen!

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Summary: A landmark in AI textbooks
Review: The publication of this textbook was a major step forward, not only for the teaching of AI, but for the unified view of the field that this book introduces. Even for experts in the field, there are important insights in almost every chapter. I recommend it to anyone who wants to have an introductory overview of the state of AI. And I recommend it to experts in the field, who will enjoy its unified description of the field. I especially enjoyed the introductory chapter and the chapter on philosophical issues. I have taught from this book three times now, and it has improved my AI class hugely.

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Summary: Excellent resource
Review: It's the best source for AI programming I've seen. I've used this in my own programming. It has an excellent broad range of coverage of topics.

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Summary: Not the best I've ever seen
Review: This book, while covering a lot of range that's needed for college level student, it's confusing in my opinion. It's not that this book is really bad, it's just how it's written. When I took the course with this book the only part that I understand is the pseudocode supplied with it. The reading otherwise is somewhat crypted. Only my prof that time helped me out a lot.

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Summary: First port of call for everything AI
Review: An essential core text for anyone interested in artificial intelligence with a particular emphasis on the practical use and implementation of intelligent agents. Thorough and comprehensive, yet highly suitable as an entry-level text and written with a light touch that actually had me chuckling out loud at a couple of points (believe it or not)!

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Summary: Excellent book for Lecture notes
Review: Have surveyed various AI books for lecturing of AI (Foundation) and found that this is the best book as far as the syllabus is concerned: Introduction, Intelligent Agents (v good), Search, Knowledge Representation, Machine Learning, Planning, NLP and Philosophy of AI. The rich set of examples are also useful and the students enjoyed them. Having said that, specific areas such as NLP, Neural Networks, Machine Vision are better off in specialised book. Would be great if there are references to specific websites for more further details.

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Summary: A must read for all who are interested in this subject
Review: With a light-heartened style, these authors take the reader from the basics to a very good level of knowledge. The reader chooses what level to get to, by means of solving the suggested exercises. Covers the main themes. Obviously aimed to inexperienced readers.

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Summary: Excellent AI Overview for the Starting Practitioner
Review: An excellent starting point for the search of the appropriate AI technique for your specific application. Lots of examples make this book very understandable and let you associate the topic discussed with your own case. I feel lucky to have come across this book in the beginning of my literature survey for my PhD dissertation.