INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE THE PROMISE AND PERIL OF AI: What Everyone Needs to Know about Artificial Intelligence’s Potential, Pitfalls, and Power to Stay Informed in an Evolving Technological World

AI is already deciding what you see, what you buy, and who gets hired. Shouldn’t you understand how?

You know AI matters. You see it in the headlines, feel it in the algorithms curating your feed, and hear it in conversations that seem to assume everyone already understands how it works. But nobody actually explained it to you. That is not a gap in your intelligence. That is a gap in the conversation, and this book fills it.

By the time you finish this book, you will:

• Finally understand how AI actually works, without a computer science degree, without jargon, and without having to sit through another conversation where you are not sure what questions to ask
• See clearly how algorithms are already shaping your newsfeed, your shopping, your beliefs, and your opportunities, and feel equipped to recognise it when it happens
• Understand why AI ethics and digital misinformation are not just tech issues but deeply human ones, with consequences that reach into every corner of daily life
• Know how to stay informed, think critically, and maintain control in a world where the technology will keep evolving whether you follow it or not
• Walk away from the AI conversation knowing exactly where you stand, what to believe, what to question, and how to make sense of what comes next

Intelligent Ignorance: The Promise and Peril of AI cuts through the noise, the hype, and the doomsday predictions to give you something far more useful: genuine understanding.

Miles Kenner is a writer, educator, and cultural analyst who has spent years examining how technology, philosophy, and mythology collide in the way we live and think. In this book he brings his trademark clarity and humor to one of the most consequential conversations of our time, making complex ideas click through real-world examples, sharp analysis, and a refreshing refusal to treat AI as either saviour or threat. This is a book about what is already happening, and what you need to understand to navigate it on your own terms.

What this book covers:
What machine learning really is, and what it is not, a clear, jargon-free explanation of the technology behind the headlines so you can finally follow the conversation with genuine understanding rather than educated guessing.
How algorithms shape your world, from your newsfeed and shopping recommendations to hiring decisions and political beliefs, and why the systems influencing your daily choices are rarely as neutral as they appear.

AI ethics and digital misinformation, why these are not niche concerns for tech insiders but urgent human questions about fairness, truth, and power that affect everyone, explained in a way that makes the stakes impossible to ignore.

Book and film analysis, one of the most distinctive features of this book. Kenner examines how decades of fiction and cinema have shaped, distorted, and deepened our understanding of AI, from Frankenstein to Ex Machina, and why the stories we tell about intelligent machines matter as much as the machines themselves.

How to stay informed, skeptical, and in control, practical frameworks for thinking critically about AI, cutting through misinformation, and making sense of new developments as they happen, so you are never again left nodding along without understanding.

This is not a book about fearing the future or worshipping it. It is a book about understanding the forces already reshaping your world, written with the humor, clarity, and intellectual honesty that the subject deserves.

If you are ready to stop feeling lost in the most important conversation of our time, this is where it begins.