1. Foundations7 lessons
  2. Inside the Model5 lessons
  3. How Learning Works5 lessons
  4. From Model to Assistant5 lessons
  5. AI literacy basicsLearning path · 6 lessons · with learning record

The book

KI einfach verstehen

Coming soon

Everyone is talking about AI. This book shows you what’s behind the answers.

You type a question. Seconds later, an answer appears that sounds as though someone has thought it through. “KI einfach verstehen: How AI Really Works” explains how that happens, step by step, with examples from everyday life, from the first token to the finished answer. You don’t need any prior knowledge, there are no formulas to work through, and there’s no hype. Around 260 pages, in hardcover, paperback and as a Kindle e-book.

Front cover: dark green with the title “KI einfach verstehen” above a glowing network of dots and the band “How AI Really Works”.
Back cover: blurb “Everyone’s talking about AI. But what’s really going on in there?”, three pillars understand, check, try it, and an introduction of the authors.
Spine with the title “KI einfach verstehen”.
Drag the book to turn it, or use the arrow keys. Home resets it.

Tap or click the image to zoom in. Zoomed in, the view follows your mouse or finger.

What you can expect

  • UnderstandHow words become numbers, what a model learns during training and how it builds an answer word by word. Every term is explained before it’s used.
  • CheckWhat AI can and can’t do, why it sometimes sounds convincing even when it’s wrong, and how you can check its answers in everyday use.
  • Try it outQR codes in the book take you to live demos on this website, so you can test what you’ve just read about right in your browser.

What’s inside

The book covers the first three topics on this website. Together they lay the foundation: afterwards you know how a language model is built, how an answer comes about and how the model learns in the first place.

  1. Part 1Foundations7 chapters
  2. Part 2Inside the Model5 chapters
  3. Part 3How Learning Works5 chapters

Look inside

Leaf through the first pages exactly as they appear in the book: front matter, contents, preface and the opening of Chapter 1.

Read all of Chapter 1 online for free

Who this book is for

This book is for you if you …

  • are curious about AI but have no prior knowledge,
  • use ChatGPT or similar tools and want to know how they work,
  • already know a little about technology and want an explanation that goes beyond the basics,
  • want to join the conversation without working your way through technical literature.

Three editions, the same content

Every edition contains the complete book. You just choose how you’d like to read it.

  • HardcoverA sturdy binding, made to keep or give as a gift.$27.99
  • PaperbackLight enough to take along, with room for your notes.$18.99
  • Kindle e-bookOn your Kindle, phone or tablet, with links you can tap to open the demos.$6.99

Planned prices for the English edition. Available on Amazon once the book is out.

Read for free, support the project with the book

Everything in the book is also available to read on this website: free, with no sign-up and no paywall. That won’t change. The book is for anyone who prefers reading on paper, writing notes in the margins or simply holding something in their hands.

Buying it also supports the project. The prices are deliberately set as supporter prices: what the book earns goes back into new lessons, illustrations, demos and the technology behind the site, just like the merch.

The authors

  • Silvio Lindstedt works in IT security and builds open-source software, these days mostly with AI. He started “KI einfach verstehen”.

  • Maik Gräfendorf reads every chapter through the reader’s eyes and checks whether it makes sense without prior knowledge. Wherever he stumbles, the text gets reworked.

Together they run ki-einfach-verstehen.de, the very website you’re on. You can read and try out every chapter of the book here for free. Here as in print, they explain AI honestly, thoroughly and without the hype.

When will the book be out?

The book is taking shape from the lessons on this website: each of the three topics becomes a part of the book, each lesson a chapter. It comes out once every lesson in these three topics is complete. So far, 11 of 17 lessons have been published, and you can read every one of them right now: Browse the topics.

News about the book appears first on X: Follow @silviolindstedt.