ENOUGH INTELLIGENCE: The Frugal Economy of AI

Enough Intelligence challenges the assumption that has organized the entire field of artificial intelligence: that more capable always means more valuable. Drawing on the Indian practice of jugaad, frugal problem-solving under constraint, and on field observations from classrooms, clinics, shops, and institutions across four continents, Babu George argues that most of the real-world value of AI is created not at the powerful frontier but at the sufficiency frontier, the point where a cheap, accessible tool first becomes good enough to do the job. The book introduces a practical way of thinking about when enough is genuinely enough, takes on the strongest objections to its own case, and shows why constraint sharpens rather than dulls the people working under it. Across chapters on economics, education, health, labor, the environment, and public policy, it explains why the most original uses of this technology are likely to come from the places and people the industry currently overlooks, and grounds the argument in the small-model shift and the energy realities of the mid-2020s. Written for general readers, business and nonprofit leaders, educators, and anyone who has wondered whether the free tool was secretly the smart choice, it offers both a fresh way to see the AI economy and a set of habits for using these tools with clarity, control, and far less waste.

Pagina's: 105, Paperback, Independently published