Beautiful Particulars

David Weinberger is a best-selling author, international speaker, Harvard researcher, entrepreneur, “marketing guru” (Wall Street Journal), and former philosophy professor. His books include Everyday Chaos, Too Big to Know, Everything Is Miscellaneous, and Small Pieces Loosely Joined. He is also a coauthor of The Cluetrain Manifesto, an international bestseller that has been translated into twelve languages.

“When David Weinberger, one of our best decoders of digital transformation, looks at generative AI, you need to pay attention. His explanation of how large language models can expand human perception is provocative and illuminating. Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT will be jealous.”—Steven Levy, author of Hackers, Crypto, and Facebook: The Insider Story“David Weinberger is a wonderfully engaging writer. If we reflect on how AI operates, he argues, we can gain insights into some of our most intractable philosophical problems. He makes a compelling case. And he does so with tremendous wisdom and wit.”—David Edmonds, author of Death in a Shallow Pond“While most people write about the dangers of slop, David Weinberger writes about the value of the ‘particular,’ both explaining and illustrating it in this marvelous, eye-opening book.”—Esther Dyson, Founder, Health Initiative Coordinating Council; author of In Defense of Limits (forthcoming)“With wit and precision, Weinberger masterfully explores how AI illuminates the relationship between language and reality. He shows how by preserving the particular over the general, AI can change how we understand fairness, causality—and ourselves.”—Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law, Computer Science, and Public Policy, Harvard University“A marvelous, erudite contemplation of what machine learning means for humanity today. To Weinberger, these new machines preserve patterns of difference that older computer systems ignored—and this changes our sense of fairness, data, and what generalizations are. A delight to read.”—Bruce Schneier, coauthor of Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship"Beautiful Particulars is a playful book with a poignant message: AI works through particulars, not generalizations. Getting your head wrapped around this notion will change how you see AI. And luckily, Weinberger’s pithy book weaves together stories, snark, and philosophy to offer a road map."—danah boyd, Geri Gay Professor of Communication, Cornell University; author of Data Are Made, Not Found