How this book was researched · AI, from the Parts Up

Every fact has a note to its source, and every claim was checked and graded before it shipped.

ARead in the original source.
BConfirmed in a catalog or citation record.
CConfirmed in a scholarly book or article that was read.
DSeen only in a snippet or summary. Never ships.

How sure each claim is. The grade for every claim is kept in a research log.

What gets a note. Dates, numbers, quotes, firsts and "who did what." Definitions, analogies and the made-up numbers in the illustrations don't, and the illustrations say so.
Which sources. The original first: papers, patents, manuals, a person's own words. Then books from university and established presses, peer-reviewed articles, and museums. Encyclopedias appear only as "read more." Blogs, forums, press releases and search snippets aren't sources.
Companies on their own products. When a company describes its own product, the text says so ("Anthropic says…"), and its own documentation is the reference for current features and prices.
Quotes. Word for word, with the page number where there is one, and short.
When sources disagree. The claim is left out, or both sides are given with both notes. Legends the sources doubt are left out or labeled as legend.
Format. Notes and the bibliography follow the Chicago style. A copy of every cited web source is kept in a private archive.

Using this book

This is the 1st web edition, October 2026. Every page has a Cite this page button at its foot, with the page in Chicago, APA, MLA and BibTeX.

The one exception is the diagram of the parts of an AI system in Chapter 11, offered as SVG and PNG downloads: it is free to use in your own slides and talks, with credit to Steve Sparks and a link to aifromthepartsup.com.

Quoted material and figures from other sources remain their owners'.

Go deeper: what this book is not

An educational overview, not legal advice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or Microsoft. Product names, features, plans and prices change often; each company's own documentation, and for data questions your organization's compliance office and your signed agreements, are the reference.