New book offers full lifecycle, story-backed best practices for launching and scaling successful and responsible AI programs
SYDNEY; SAN FRANCISCO — March 16, 2021 — Appen Limited (ASX:APX), the leading provider of high-quality training data for leading companies that develop machine learning, speech recognition, and computer vision algorithms, today announced a new book, Real World AI: A Practical Guide for Responsible Machine Learning, authored by Wilson Pang, Appen CTO, and Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger, director of product management at Blue Shield of California and former Appen VP of AI and data. Available now on Amazon.com, Real World AI lays out a human-centric, responsible approach to deploying AI using tried and tested knowledge from industry leaders. This practical guide to deploying AI lays out a human-first, responsible approach that has seen more than three times the success rate when compared to the industry average.
When AI works, companies are able to delight customers, but when AI fails, it can result in a devastating waste of time, money and even reputation. According to industry analysts, deploying AI initiatives to production is a treacherous process, with over 80% of initiatives never making it past pilot stage. However, organizations working on AI projects now have a new tool they can leverage to deploy AI with confidence. Real World AI highlights learnings from global enterprises and startups, and it features personal experiences from dozens of people who have worked on global AI deployments that impact billions of people every day, both from a technologist and from a business perspective.
“When it comes to AI projects, having large amounts of data and annotating it isn’t the only critical ingredient,” said Wilson Pang. “You and your team have to pick the right problem to solve, account for multiple variables around bias, and approach the problem with high-quality data. This is the first book that provides practical advice for achieving AI success through the lens of responsible AI.”
In Real World AI, Pang and Rochwerger walk through an approach to AI that can give businesses confidence to move forward. The authors provide:
- Examples of AI strategies that succeeded and failed
- Practical guidance on developing a successful AI strategy
- Advice and examples on identifying the “Goldilocks” problem to solve
- Requirements for ensuring responsible AI, with a focus on data and governance
- Insights into the AI journey – from pilot to maturity
“Building AI is hard. Every team pioneering AI has faced challenges trying to launch working scalable projects, and most pilots never made it to production or served customers particularly well,” said Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger. “In Real World AI, we share our stories to help companies optimize their AI journey by avoiding common mistakes, focusing on the right problem, and building a responsible, data-driven AI strategy that will lead to success.”
Praise for Real World AI
Tom Taulli, columnist, Forbes.com; author of Artificial Intelligence Basics
“Building an effective and responsible AI system, which drives strong ROI, is far from easy. But if companies want to thrive and remain competitive, they will need to find ways to be successful. There is really no alternative. But the good news is that this book provides a solid roadmap, which is backed up with real-world use cases and actionable advice.”
Maribel Lopez, Analyst, Speaker, Author of The Right Time Experiences, Principal of Lopez Research
“This book will help business leaders tie AI and Machine Learning to real world business problems. Alyssa and Wilson have a unique ability to break it down for all of us in a way that we can all realize the benefits of AI in our everyday lives and underscores the importance of the quality of data in all that we do. This is a hands-on guide that talks to business leaders in business terms.”
Availability
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About Wilson Pang, Appen CTO
Wilson is responsible for Appen’s products and technology. He has over nineteen years’ experience in software engineering and data science. Prior to joining Appen, Wilson was chief data officer of Ctrip in China, the second-largest online travel agency in the world, where he led data engineers, analysts, data product managers, and scientists to improve user experience and increase operational efficiency. Before that, he was senior director of engineering at eBay, providing leadership in various domains, including data service and solutions, search science, marketing technology, and billing systems. Prior to eBay, he worked as an architect at IBM, building technology solutions for various enterprise clients.
About Alyssa Simpson Rochwerger, Director of Product Management, Blue Shield of California
Alyssa has held numerous product leadership roles for machine learning organizations. She served as VP of Product for Figure Eight (acquired by Appen), VP of AI and data at Appen, and director of product at IBM Watson. She recently left the space to pursue her dream of using technology to improve healthcare. Currently, she serves as Director of Product at Blue Shield of California, where she is happily surrounded by lots of data, many hard problems, and nothing but opportunities to make a positive impact. She is thrilled to pursue the mission of providing access to high-quality, affordable healthcare that is worthy of our families and friends. Learn more on www.alyssasimpsonrochwerger.com
About Appen Limited
Appen collects and labels images, text, speech, audio, and video used to build and continuously improve the world’s most innovative artificial intelligence systems. With expertise in more than 235 languages, a global crowd of over 1 million skilled contractors, and the industry’s most advanced AI-assisted data annotation platform, Appen solutions provide the quality, security, and speed required by leaders in technology, automotive, financial services, retail, manufacturing, and governments worldwide. Founded in 1996, Appen has customers and offices around the world.
