This book, published in 2021, explains in an accessible way what everyone should know about AI: What can AI do, and what can it not do? What types exist, and how do they differ? What are AI’s strengths and weaknesses? And finally: How does intelligence actually make its way into AI applications? The book is available in both German and English.

Title: “How Artificial Intelligence Becomes Intelligent”
Author: Hans Rudolf Straub
Publisher: ZIM-Verlag, St. Gallen
Edition: August 2021
86 pages / 21 × 15 cm / 19 illustrations
Price: CHF/Euro 19.–

Word comprehension and concept representation in humans and machines, including an example on diagnostic coding: How do we recognize the meaning of words and other signals? Hans Rudolf Straub explores how semantics works — in both humans and machines. Philosophical and technical aspects of the interpretation process are examined, making it clear why information is far more than just bits and bytes.

The author explains the interaction between words, concepts, and objects, and highlights the fundamental difference between signal transmission — for example, in a telephone network — and the processing of information during interpretation. The book is intended for medical informatics professionals, coding specialists, and anyone interested in language.

Title: “The Interpreting System”
Author: Hans Rudolf Straub
Publisher: ZIM-Verlag, St. Gallen
Edition: August 2015
176 pages / 21 × 15 cm / 13 tables / 62 illustrations
Price: CHF/Euro 22.–