In this, our latest episode of the CodeX Book Club (now at chapter 11) we highlight the new board book, Robbie the Robot Learns to Read. The children’s book is written by Noah Waisberg, who is active within CodeX.

★★★★ Robbie the Robot Learns to Read
Author: Noah Waisberg (CEO, Kira Inc. which builds machine learning contract analysis software).
Illustratrator: Erin Windrim, graphic designer.
(Both Waisberg and Windrim are based in Toronto.)
Editor: Steve Obenski (Chief Marketing Officer at Kira), based in the Washington, D.C. area.
Quick Study Press
ISBN 978-0-9949418-0-0

This charming “board book” is sweet, inspiring and it rhymes! Perfect for people of all ages who are interested in machine learning.

Here’s how the website (robbiereads.com) describes the book: “Robbie the robot has a problem: he yearns to read, but doesn’t know how. Robbie’s quest to pick up this skill isn’t just plot, some 250 rhyming words, and cute illustrations: it serves as an example of how machine learning works. As far as we can tell, it’s the first and only children’s book on machine learning.”

Of course, it’s not to be confused with Robby the Robot who apprears on Forbidden Planet, featuring Walter Pigeon, Ann Francis and Leslie Nielson (1956).
Source: Wikipedia.

Waisberg says he “found himself explaining the basics of machine learning over and over again. Meanwhile, he had a son (Issac), then another (Elijah), and spent lots of time reading to them.”

From that, says Waisberg, he got the idea for this simple book, “and with the help of his coworkers (including three with Ph.Ds in computer science) and family, Robbie the Robot Learns to Read was created.”

Before Kira Systems, was an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and speaks a at a lot of conferences, including SXSW Interactive  2015 where he spoke on “Will Your Net Lawyer Be a Machine” with Nicole Bradick of the Potomac Law Group.  (Too kewl!) He’s a grad of the New York University School of Law.

The books are available in the U.S. on Amazon for $10.00. Ironically, they are not yet available in Canada. But keep checking.

—Monica Bay (CodeX Fellow)