AI is one of the most profound things we’re working on as humanity. It’s more profound than fire or electricity.

said Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, during the January 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos. Similar views have been expressed by many influential thinkers and leaders. Some, including Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking or Stuart Russell, address this profoundness in a cautionary wording. Elon Musk might be the foremost example, with his (in)famous stance on “AI as an existential threat to humanity”.

At the same time, AI is widely perceived as one of the greatest forces behind digitalisation. Every day we hear of its transformative business potential and new applications.

It is clear that AI already hugely impacts our lives.

For the good to outweigh the bad in the long term, we must shape this influence. So that AI does not become an existential threat, but an engine of progress.

How to gain an understanding of what AI is, recognising hype from reality?

Where to find reliable information, so you can form your own opinions?

Here is your resource guide on

AI for curious minds,

in 20 recent must-read books.

A few words on the list and selection criteria:

• My picks are subjective, yet most have been widely praised, as evidenced by awards nominations and top spots on bestsellers lists, especially in tech/biz and AI categories.
• All books are popular science (no academic treatises, technical textbooks or science-fiction included). The variety provides a broad AI knowledge, with a few specific angles important to us all (from the field of medicine to creativity, regulation and geopolitics). Analysis ranges from sociological, philosophical to business.
• The majority of presented books are the latest releases (mostly Autumn 2019 & 2018) with a few also recent, yet already classic, exceptions (from 2016-2017).
• The list’s order does not constitute a ranking. All books presented below, in my opinion, are worth your time and money (and efforts, in a few more challenging cases). Obviously, there is some content overlap between the books, but having read them all, I attest that each provides something new. Or you can always skip some parts, right? Paraphrasing the words of Umberto Eco, libraries are made of reference books, besides those we’ve read cover to cover.
• If I had to pick one as my “AI desert island book”… this would be a pickle! Choose for yourself, here’s my rounded selection of the latest top 20 works.
• My list contains the following information about each book:

(i) brief description

(as provided by the authors and/or publishers);

(ii) the book’s highlights

(my recommendation as to why it is worth reading);

(iii) links for purchasing each book on Amazon, Audible and The Book Depository

(click on the name of your shop of preference or visit your local bookseller).

Top 20 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Books for 2020

[click on each title to go to its description, highlights and links to bookshops or scroll down for all]

• Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine by Hannah Fry

• Artificial Intelligence: a Guide for Thinking Humans by Melanie Mitchell

• AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee

• The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb

• Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Times of AI by Paul R. Daugherty

• Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again by Eric Topol

• The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think by Marcus du Sautoy

• Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control by Stuart Russell

• Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb

• Rage Inside the Machine: the Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All by Robert Elliott Smith

• Robot Rules: Regulating Artificial Intelligence by Jacob Turner

• Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O’Neil

• How Smart Machines Think by Sean Gerrish, Kevin Scott

• You Look Like a Thing and I Love You. How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It’s Making the World a Weirder Place by Janelle Shane

• The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity by Byron Reese

• A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control by Kartik Hosanagar

• Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind by Susan Schneider

• Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark

• Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

• Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

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Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine

by Hannah Fry

In the words of Hannah Fry:

“It’s a book about how we’ve slowly handed over control to computers – how there are algorithms and artificial intelligence hiding behind almost every aspect of our modern lives – and what that means for our society.  Cambridge Analytica might have made the headlines recently, but these algorithms are everywhere. In our hospitals, our courtrooms, our police stations and our supermarkets. This is a book that takes stock of where we are now, and where we are headed in the not-to-distant future. It’s a story of the good, the bad and the downright ugly of modern machines, asking how much we should rely on them over our own instincts, and what kind of world we want to live in.

It’s been shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society Book prize AND the Bailie Gifford Prize – a major international award for non fiction. And they don’t shortlist any old nonsense you know. So you know for a fact that it’s going to be good.”

Book’s highlights: 

• It’s a page-turner. Witty and funny, on top of being (obviously) highly informative.
• Proof that even when dealing with serious issues and delivering well-researched work the narrative can be accessible. This “chatting with a friend” charm makes it all the more captivating and entertaining. Provocative, too.
• Comprehensive. Packed with explainers and examples from many fields affected by algorithms: justice and crime, medicine, transport, arts.

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Artificial Intelligence: a Guide for Thinking Humans

by Melanie Mitchell

This book’s description makes us want to learn more:

“No recent scientific enterprise has proved as alluring, terrifying, and filled with extravagant promise and frustrating setbacks as artificial intelligence. The award-winning author Melanie Mitchell, a leading computer scientist, now reveals its turbulent history and the recent surge of apparent successes, grand hopes, and emerging fears that surround AI.

In Artificial Intelligence, Mitchell turns to the most urgent questions concerning AI today: How intelligent—really—are the best AI programs? How do they work? What can they actually do, and when do they fail? How humanlike do we expect them to become, and how soon do we need to worry about them surpassing us? Along the way, she introduces the dominant methods of modern AI and machine learning, describing cutting-edge AI programs, their human inventors, and the historical lines of thought that led to recent achievements. She meets with fellow experts like Douglas Hofstadter, the cognitive scientist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the modern classic Gödel, Escher, Bach, who explains why he is “terrified” about the future of AI. She explores the profound disconnect between the hype and the actual achievements in AI, providing a clear sense of what the field has accomplished and how much farther it has to go.

Interweaving stories about the science and the people behind it, Artificial Intelligence brims with clear-sighted, captivating, and approachable accounts of the most interesting and provocative modern work in AI, flavored with Mitchell’s humor and personal observations. This frank, lively book will prove an indispensable guide to understanding today’s AI, its quest for “human-level” intelligence, and its impacts on all of our futures.”

Book’s highlights: 

• This book DOES contain some technical details. Yet, laid out in a very accessible manner, which only helps us understand the AI methods: workings of neural networks, machine learning and so on. This “how” lays the groundwork to capture all the following “who, what, when, where, why”.
• All “hard” information is skillfully interwoven with personal experiences. Great storytelling.
• This book seems a diary of sorts. Accompanying the author on the journey to understand what computers can do and will be able to accomplish in the near future.
• Along auditing the current state of affairs in AI and forecasting, the author explores the Big Questions around our “humannes”.

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AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order

by Kai-Fu Lee

As Kai-Fu Lee presents:

“If robots do everything, then what are we going to do?”

That’s what a kindergartener asked Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, the renowned AI specialist and cofounder of Sinovision, a Chinese early-stage ventures firm. In his new book, AI Superpowers, he answers that question in depth.

When it comes to understanding our AI future, we’re all like inquisitive children. We’re full of questions without answers, trying to peer into the future. Everyone wants to know what AI automation will mean for our jobs and for our sense of purpose. AI Superpowers helps you figure that out. It’s for anyone who wants to know how current and future technological progress will affect our work, home and life – and why.

We need to ask questions and report findings. AI Superpowers asks and answers.

Book’s highlights: 

• MUST-READ, for it offers a less known “Chinese outlook” on the AI-ruled future, already being test-driven in China. A truly unique view – of an insider to the fascinating and mysterious world of the Chinese tech market and society.
• Given that the author has at the same time an “external” (the familiar “Western” or, more so, American) perspective, the book comes with high expectations of delivering balanced and reliable information, not propaganda. Even though the book seems slightly biased, still, it is a treasure trove on Chinese tech entrepreneurship.
• Personal transformation journey of the author is a very relatable and humane story weaved into the tech and business narrative.
• For developing one’s own, critical and nuanced, stance, I recommended following with The Big Nine (tech giants seen through a Western democratic/capitalist lens).

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The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity

by Amy Webb

In Amy Webb’s own words:

“My new book is a call-to-arms about the broken nature of artificial intelligence, and the powerful corporations that are turning the human-machine relationship on its head. AI’s destiny is in the control of nine big corporations in the U.S. and China. The American portion of the Big Nine—Amazon, Google, Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Facebook—have big ideas about how to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges, but they’re beholden to the whims of Wall Street and have only a transactional relationship with Washington. Meanwhile, China’s portion—Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent—are very much tethered to Beijing and the demands of the Chinese Communist Party. All of us are caught in the middle, as our data are mined and refined in service of building the future of AI. I’ve written The Big Nine in three parts. In the first, you’ll learn what AI is and the role the Big Nine have played in developing it. We will also take a deep dive into the unique situations faced by America’s Big Nine members and by Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent in China. In Part II, you’ll see detailed, plausible futures over the next fifty years as AI advances. The three scenarios you’ll read range from optimistic, pragmatic and catastrophic, and they will reveal both opportunity and risk as we advance from artificial narrow intelligence, to artificial general intelligence to artificial superintelligence. These scenarios are intense—they are the result of data-driven models, and they will give you a visceral glimpse at how AI might evolve, and how our lives will change as a result. In Part III, I will offer tactical and strategic solutions to all of the problems identified in the scenarios along with a concrete plan to reboot the present. Part III is intended to jolt us into action, so there are specific recommendations for our governments, the leaders of the Big Nine, and even for you.”

Book’s highlights: 

• Fantastic mix of science and geopolitics, all analysed in the broader social context. Namely, addressing the question of whether AI will ultimately serve us, humans, or “the three American masters” of Washington, Wall Street and Silicon Valley and/or its Chinese equivalent, the Communist Party.
• Very clearly and helpfully structured. The historical introduction lays the foundations of AI through the prism of the tech giants role in its creation.
• Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist. Her identification of the socioeconomic, geopolitical and business trends is science, more than art. So, the presented scenarios of our future are grounded in data and modelling techniques, making them more frightening than any sensationalism. On the plus side, the following call-to-action shall sound all the more loudly and urgently.
• Great pairing with AI Superpowers, for getting a fuller picture on the world of big tech.

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Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Times of AI

by Paul R. Daugherty

This book, authored by Accenture leaders, aims to “provide the missing and much-needed management playbook for success in our new age of AI.”. Specifically, as described on its website:

“Look around you. Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a futuristic notion, it’s here right now—such as software that senses what we need, supply chains that “think” in real time, and robots that respond to changes in their environment. 21st century pioneer companies are already using AI to innovate and grow fast. The bottom line is this: Businesses that understand how to harness AI can surge ahead. Those that neglect it will fall behind. Which side are you on?

In Human + Machine, Accenture leaders Paul Daugherty and Jim Wilson show that the essence of the AI paradigm shift is the transformation of all business processes within an organization—whether related to breakthough innovation, everyday customer service, or personal productivity habits. As humans and smart machines collaborate ever more closely, work processes become more fluid and adaptive, enabling companies to change them on the fly—or to completely reimagine them. AI is changing all the rules of how companies operate.

Based on the authors’ experience and new research with 1,500 organizations, the book reveals how companies are using the new rules of AI to leap ahead on innovation and profitability, as well as what you can do to achieve similar results. It describes six entirely new types of hybrid human + machine roles that every company must develop, and it includes a “leader’s guide” with the five crucial principles required to become an AI-fueled business.”

Book’s highlights: 

• An early adopters’ view from the frontlines of the forecasted marriage of humans and machines, hailing the third wave of business transformation based on this symbiosis. So far, so good (looks like a good match ?).
• The titular “reimagining of work” calls for augmenting (rather than purely automating) business processes with AI. So that humans can focus on what we do best (i.e. exercising judgment) and machines on what they do best (i.e. performing repetitive tasks). The authors believe in “true” innovations, not only improvements. They present their roadmap on how to get there, MELDS. The five principles for becoming an AI-fueled business: mindset, experimentation, leadership, data and skills.
• Across the full spectrum of AI books from this list, Human + Machine appears (almost overly) optimistic. One thinks: “No wonder, this is a book by management consultants selling their know-how. Their products & services. It’s a sales pitch!”. Hence, a critical approach is advised. Yet, still, this know-how is a product in very high demand, given that every business is expected to align with the digitalising economy. Leaders work for achieving results (measured by profitability), and in the short to mid-term AI can bring significant optimisations to most business. For that, this work is a great playbook. A guide to digital transformation. While the book is not a replacement for specialist consulting, it definitely is a good starting point and remarkable value for money (£23 and a few hours of your time, as it’s a pleasant read).

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Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again

by Eric Topol

Description by the publisher states:

“One of America’s top doctors reveals how AI will empower physicians and revolutionize patient care.

Medicine has become inhuman, to disastrous effect. The doctor-patient relationship–the heart of medicine–is broken: doctors are too distracted and overwhelmed to truly connect with their patients, and medical errors and misdiagnoses abound. In DEEP MEDICINE, leading physician Eric Topol reveals how artificial intelligence can help. AI has the potential to transform everything doctors do, from notetaking and medical scans to diagnosis and treatment, greatly cutting down the cost of medicine and reducing human mortality. By freeing physicians from the tasks that interfere with human connection, AI will create space for the real healing that takes place between a doctor who can listen and a patient who needs to be heard.

Innovative, provocative, and hopeful, DEEP MEDICINE shows us how the awesome power of AI can make medicine better, for all the humans involved.”

Book’s highlights: 

• Medical futurism at its finest. For the (yet) uninitiated: the author, on top of being an experienced cardiologist and expert in digital medicine, is a futurist. Hence, this book is a systematic exploration of the future of medicine, drawn from its present state (especially its deficiencies vs needs). The proposed predictions centre around the application of AI and big data. The author argues that technology, besides largely improving the quality of treatment (i.e. diagnostics, prognostics), will allow the medical staff to “get back to the roots” and focus on what is at the core, humans. In short, AI will make medicine human again.
• The message of titular “deepening” of medicine – which has become shallow; is a postulate worth exploring and understanding by the general public.
• Rich in knowledge and data. Although it’s a specialist field, it is presented in a very accessible manner. Equally, bursting with many examples from the personal journey of the author (as both a patient and a doctor) and various “battlefield stories”.
• The reader gets a good overall summary on the current issues in medicine/healthcare and AI; overview of AI research and application of AI in healthcare and what (potentially) lies ahead.
• Interesting analysis of both the “big topics”, such as ethical aspects of AI and human needs, as well as specific case studies of AI “from the ground”. It offers a unique insight into AI uses in medicine, including those still in development (though these might become dated in time).

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The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think

by Marcus du Sautoy

From the publisher:

“Will a computer ever compose a symphony, write a prize-winning novel, or paint a masterpiece? And if so, would we be able to tell the difference?

As humans, we have an extraordinary ability to create works of art that elevate, expand and transform what it means to be alive.

Yet in many other areas, new developments in AI are shaking up the status quo, as we find out how many of the tasks humans engage in can be done equally well, if not better, by machines. But can machines be creative? Will they soon be able to learn from the art that moves us, and understand what distinguishes it from the mundane?

In The Creativity Code, Marcus du Sautoy examines the nature of creativity, as well as providing an essential guide into how algorithms work, and the mathematical rules underpinning them. He asks how much of our emotional response to art is a product of our brains reacting to pattern and structure, and exactly what it is to be creative in mathematics, art, language and music.

Marcus finds out how long it might be before machines come up with something creative, and whether they might jolt us into being more imaginative in turn. The result is a fascinating and very different exploration into both AI and the essence of what it means to be human”

Book’s highlights: 

• A book by a mathematician who ventures into the fields of art and maths (algorithms and AI), exploring the potential of new (algorithmic) creators and novel ways of creating. Also, as most books here, providing a close look on consciousness and what it means to be human (not only vis-a-vis machines).
• Multidisciplinary. At the intersection of art & maths/computer science, but also philosophy and evolutionary sciences.
• Beautifully shows the artistry of mathematical formulas in its rich analogies.
• Creativity (perhaps together with emotions) is considered the most (or even last) human trait, therefore impossible to be replicated by machines and algorithms. So we believe. But… is it?
• At the centre of analysis lies the human drive to create something “new and surprising and that has value”. As the author calls it, the “human code”:

“The extraordinary ability to imagine and innovate and create works of art that elevate, expand and transform what it means to be human.”

• Scattered with great anecdotes which make the book a funny and pleasant, hard to put down, read.

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Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control

by Stuart Russell

As described on the publisher’s website:

Book’s highlights: 

• This is a MUST-READ. REALLY.
• Stuart Russell is the co-author (with Peter Norvig) of the most popular academic book on AI/machine learning and a foremost academic in the field. Yet, this book is not an academic textbook. It’s an almost conversational letter to us all, lucidly explaining why AI is different than any other phenomena we created or dealt with before. It lays bare why, if not managed properly, AI can become an existential threat to humanity.
• Exploration of “What if we succeed in creating a machine smarter than us, humans?”.
• Clear, thorough and nuanced analysis. From the position of authority (an industry guru, even), but also an empathetic individual with foresight and care.
• Comprehensively explained concepts behind AI, in some historical and very practical settings.
• The author provides concrete ideas and the solution on what steps shall we take now, ASAP, to avoid disasters in the not so distant future.
• Great audio version.

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Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence

by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb

On its rich in useful tools website, described as:

“Artificial Intelligence does the seemingly impossible, magically bringing machines to life – driving cars, trading stocks, and teaching children. But facing the sea change that AI will bring can be paralyzing. How should companies set strategies, governments design policies, and people plan their lives for a world so different from what we know? In the face of such uncertainty, many analysts either cower in fear or predict an impossibly sunny future.

But in Prediction Machines, three eminent economists recast the rise of AI as a drop in the cost of prediction. With this single, masterful stroke, they lift the curtain on the AI-is-magic hype and show how basic tools from economics provide clarity about the AI revolution and a basis for action by CEOs, managers, policy makers, investors, and entrepreneurs.

When AI is framed as cheap prediction, its extraordinary potential becomes clear:

Prediction is at the heart of making decisions under uncertainty. Our businesses and personal lives are riddled with such decisions.

Prediction tools increase productivity—operating machines, handling documents, communicating with customers.

Uncertainty constrains strategy. Better prediction creates opportunities for new business structures and strategies to compete.

Penetrating, fun, and always insightful and practical, Prediction Machines follows its inescapable logic to explain how to navigate the changes on the horizon. The impact of AI will be profound, but the economic framework for understanding it is surprisingly simple.”

Book’s highlights: 

• Written by economists whose specialism is the study of the last technological revolution: the internet.
• An interesting angle of analysis: (i) economics, focused on strategic decision making + (ii) prediction, as a subset of AI the most widely applicable. Hence, as the authors explain:

“Economics provides a well-established foundation for understanding uncertainty and what it means for decision making. As better prediction reduces uncertainty, we use economics to tell you what AI means for the decisions you make in the course of your business.”

• Fantastic strategy book. A must for business leaders and policymakers.
• Very clear and easy to follow structure. It resembles a textbook, with its key point summaries at the end of each chapter.
• This book is intended to be a framework. It provides many examples of practical applications and… predictions (pun intended!). As the authors note, these may quickly become dated, but not the core message.

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Rage Inside the Machine: the Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All

by Robert Elliott Smith

 An intro to the book, as per its website:

“We live in a world increasingly ruled by technology, which now shapes and governs our lives seemingly as much as laws and regulations. But unlike laws and regulations, the influence of tech in our lives too often goes unchallenged by citizens and governments. We comfort ourselves with the old refrain that technology has no morals and is free of prejudice – only its users are fallible.

But is this actually true? Dr Robert Smith thinks that, in today’s world, this is dangerously not the case.

Having worked in the field of artificial intelligence for over 30 years, Smith reveals evidence that the mechanical actors in our lives do indeed have, or at least express, morals: they’re just not the morals of the progressive modern society we imagined we were moving towards. Instead, we are beginning to see increasing incidences of machine bigotry, greed, segregation and mass coercion.

It is easy to assume that this is the result of programmer prejudice or the product of dark forces manipulating the Internet. But what if there is something more fundamental and explicitly mechanical at play, something inherent in the technology itself?

Offering a rigorous, fresh perspective, Rage Inside the Machine challenges the long-held assumption that technology is an apolitical and amoral force. Shedding light on little-known history and investigating the complex connections between scientific philosophy, institutional prejudice, and new technology, this book demonstrates how centuries-old, non-scientific ideas are encoded deep within our modern technological infrastructure, and it reveals how new thinking and research could help us fix it.”

Book’s highlights:

• Strictly speaking, this isn’t a book on AI, but what’s behind AI: algorithms (just like O’Neil’s Weapons of Mass Destruction). Particularly, it focuses on the prejudices and biases of omnipresent algorithms: from Google search through social media to industry-specific applications.
• An explanation of why/how we got to where we are and how this status quo can be corrected – as it sure needs to.
• There are numerous fora where problems are discussed (whether in books or journal articles or conferences). Not always, though, solutions, or at least some ideas which could form a basis for solutions to presented problems follow. In this book, we find a proposal for promoting tolerance and diversity in the algorithmic world. Uplifting and not impossible to achieve. An enlightening call to action.
• Trivia: Does this book have its own emoji… Yes, it does. It’s called Flamer. Borrowed from slang, it depicts “A person who directs a vitriolic or abusive message at someone on the Internet or via email.”. A… troll, in other words?

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Robot Rules: Regulating Artificial Intelligence

by Jacob Turner

As per the book’s website description:

“This book explains why AI is unique, what legal and ethical problems it could cause, and how we can address them. It argues that AI is unlike any other previous technology, owing to its ability to take decisions independently and unpredictably. This gives rise to three issues:

• Responsibility – who is liable if AI causes harm

• Rights – the disputed moral and pragmatic grounds for granting AI legal personality

• Ethics surrounding the decision-making of AI

Robot Rules suggests that in order to address these questions we need to develop new institutions and regulations on a cross-industry and international level. Incorporating clear explanations of complex topics, Robot Rules will appeal to a multi-disciplinary audience, from those with an interest in law, politics and philosophy, to computer programming, engineering and neuroscience.”

Book’s highlights: 

• By way of disclaimer, a confession to start with: I am a lawyer. Hence, lawyers might receive this book differently. For example, with our familiarity with or a higher threshold of acceptance for specialist language (“legalese”) or even in viewing the need for regulation as urgent, which could be biased. Yet, this book is addressed to a multi-disciplinary audience. And its language is to be comprehended by the general public (even when sometimes requiring to re-read a passage).
• Legal deliberations aside, this book nicely explains how AI is different than anything we dealt with before. And, as a result, how it, accordingly, requires “special” treatment. This is a turning point in law. Law has always regulated humans. Now, we might be standing at the verge of change, with new subjects (or objects?) to be regulated. Robots. It opens up a new debate on ethics, morals, humanity. Which needs to be mirrored by law.
• Law is treated as a tool of protection. The author provides ideas on how to control those who create AI (its makers) and their creations (AI itself). Who shall establish the standards of protection and accountability? We may see it as “regulation and liability: specialist legal issues”, not my business. Or, as seems more appropriate, practical considerations for every person, every sector. In light of how AI affects us all already and will affect further in the nearest future. A timely discussion.

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Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

by Cathy O’Neil

The publisher introduces this book as follows:

“A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life — and threaten to rip apart our social fabric

We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we get a car loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated.

But as Cathy O’Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated, and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination: If a poor student can’t get a loan because a lending model deems him too risky (by virtue of his zip code), he’s then cut off from the kind of education that could pull him out of poverty, and a vicious spiral ensues. Models are propping up the lucky and punishing the downtrodden, creating a “toxic cocktail for democracy.” Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.

Tracing the arc of a person’s life, O’Neil exposes the black box models that shape our future, both as individuals and as a society. These “weapons of math destruction” score teachers and students, sort résumés, grant (or deny) loans, evaluate workers, target voters, set parole, and monitor our health.

O’Neil calls on modelers to take more responsibility for their algorithms and on policy makers to regulate their use. But in the end, it’s up to us to become more savvy about the models that govern our lives. This important book empowers us to ask the tough questions, uncover the truth, and demand change.”

Book’s highlights: 

• A book on mathematical models (as they underpin the big data) which is engaging and relatable, thanks to its good storytelling. We learn about people deemed “unworthy” by these models. Readers learn how an informed society is at risk.
• It opens our eyes, as is needed, right from the beginning. Starting with its title, pointing to the gravity of the matter at hand. The richness of varied examples shows how much can go not as planned or plain wrong with the applications of mathematical models.
• The topic is analysed and presented from a perspective of both, the expert (briefly even the maker and the researcher) and the “affected” (for lack of a better word) that all of us have become.
• Presents the mechanisms of the damaging models – those ultimately working in unfair, discriminatory or otherwise damaging ways against the interests of people. Frequently this is an unintended consequence, as the mechanism is well-meaning (good intentions pave the road to hell?).
• Another important and timely voice in the discussion on ethics around AI and big data and its models (which is what AI is based on and hence this book’s place in AI ranking).

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How Smart Machines Think

by Sean Gerrish, Kevin Scott

As summarised by the publisher:

“Everything you’ve always wanted to know about self-driving cars, Netflix recommendations, IBM’s Watson, and video game-playing computer programs.

The future is here: Self-driving cars are on the streets, an algorithm gives you movie and TV recommendations, IBM’s Watson triumphed on Jeopardy over puny human brains, computer programs can be trained to play Atari games. But how do all these things work? In this book, Sean Gerrish offers an engaging and accessible overview of the breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and machine learning that have made today’s machines so smart.

Gerrish outlines some of the key ideas that enable intelligent machines to perceive and interact with the world. He describes the software architecture that allows self-driving cars to stay on the road and to navigate crowded urban environments; the million-dollar Netflix competition for a better recommendation engine (which had an unexpected ending); and how programmers trained computers to perform certain behaviors by offering them treats, as if they were training a dog. He explains how artificial neural networks enable computers to perceive the world—and to play Atari video games better than humans. He explains Watson’s famous victory on Jeopardy, and he looks at how computers play games, describing AlphaGo and Deep Blue, which beat reigning world champions at the strategy games of Go and chess. Computers have not yet mastered everything, however; Gerrish outlines the difficulties in creating intelligent agents that can successfully play video games like StarCraft that have evaded solution—at least for now.

Gerrish weaves the stories behind these breakthroughs into the narrative, introducing readers to many of the researchers involved, and keeping technical details to a minimum. Science and technology buffs will find this book an essential guide to a future in which machines can outsmart people.”

Book’s highlights: 

• This book has a geekish charm to it. Captivating.
• Packed with real-life examples of applications and use cases, described by the insider. Sometimes requiring to pause and take a moment to comprehend. Although, this book is described as non-technical. Well… largely and in comparison with some serious machine/deep learning books undoubtedly it is. Well worth the occasional efforts.
• Great book for tech enthusiasts, especially those interested in entering the field of data science.
• As per the author’s intentions: this book shall be, also, very useful to decision-makers who wish to explore and evaluate the potential of applying AI in their fields. Having said that, most examples are very narrow and also mostly specific to gaming.
• Many fun examples of deployment from the gaming industry.
• Tip: Online version available for FREE on Project Muse.

Image Source: GOODREADS

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You. How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It’s Making the World a Weirder Place

by Janelle Shane

In the words of its publisher:

“AI is everywhere. It powers the autocorrect function of your iPhone, helps Google Translate understand the complexity of language, and interprets your behavior to decide which of your friends’ Facebook posts you most want to see. In the coming years, it’ll perform medical diagnoses and drive your car–and maybe even help our authors write the first lines of their novels. But how does it actually work?

Janelle Shane, a scientist and engineer, is also the go-to contributor about computer science for the New York Times, Slate, and the New Yorker. Through her hilarious experiments, real-world examples, and illuminating cartoons, she explains how AI understands our world, and what it gets wrong. More than just a working knowledge of AI, she hands readers the tools to be skeptical about claims of a smarter future.

A comprehensive study of the cutting-edge technology that will soon power our world, YOU LOOK LIKE A THING AND I LOVE YOU is an accessible, hilarious exploration of the future of technology and society. It’s ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY meets THING EXPLAINER: An approachable guide to a fascinating scientific topic, presented with clarity, levity, and brevity by an expert in the field with a powerful and growing platform.”

Book’s highlights: 

• First things first: “You look like a thing and I love you” turned out to be the (supposedly) best pick-up line. At least according to AI trained by the author. This book is full of many hilarious gems of this kind. In large part, it’s a book on pranking AI.
• A quirky, fun and informative read which has won over many popular authors, the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Grant included.
• Uplifting – artificial comprehension has its limits! For now, at least. Even if it’s a temporary respite of the short-term, it gives the reader a sigh of relief that maybe the robots are not taking over just yet. Future overlords still have a lot to learn. AI still largely relies on humans. It’s more likely that AI will be our partners and co-workers than our replacements.
• This book is very tongue-in-cheek. It does not diminish its value as a great source of information on how AI works and its specific applications. The author breaks down how AIs work in search of an answer to “(When) can we trust AI?”.
• Great to consume in bite-sized chunks. Although once you start reading, you will want more of the fun.
• If you’re craving more visit Janelle Shane’s blog, AI Weirdness.

Image Source: GOODREADS

The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity

by Byron Reese

As presented by the publisher:

“As we approach a great turning point in history when technology is poised to redefine what it means to be human, The Fourth Age offers fascinating insight into AI, robotics, and their extraordinary implications for our species.

In The Fourth Age, Byron Reese makes the case that technology has reshaped humanity just three times in history:

– 100,000 years ago, we harnessed fire, which led to language.

– 10,000 years ago, we developed agriculture, which led to cities and warfare.

– 5,000 years ago, we invented the wheel and writing, which lead to the nation state.

We are now on the doorstep of a fourth change brought about by two technologies: AI and robotics. The Fourth Age provides extraordinary background information on how we got to this point, and how—rather than what—we should think about the topics we’ll soon all be facing: machine consciousness, automation, employment, creative computers, radical life extension, artificial life, AI ethics, the future of warfare, superintelligence, and the implications of extreme prosperity.

By asking questions like “Are you a machine?” and “Could a computer feel anything?”, Reese leads you through a discussion along the cutting edge in robotics and AI, and, provides a framework by which we can all understand, discuss, and act on the issues of the Fourth Age, and how they’ll transform humanity.”

Book’s highlights: 

• This book provides a brief account of human history via the lens of economics and technological progress. For example, the interaction of capital accumulation with technology which leads to widening income inequality. In simple terms: the tech-enabled get richer, the rest much poorer. Silicon Valley vs the rest?
• We are almost, but not just yet, on the verge of another turning-point in the history of humanity. The author wants to prepare us for the age of AGI (general AI), providing some wisdom from history as a date-set and advice on how to shape this future. An optimistic overview of what awaits ahead (but not so soon, yet already mandating us to prepare).
• This book is not very opinionated while being thorough in presenting and exploring the past and the potential future. Gets us, readers, thinking and drawing our own conclusions.
• We’re wondering with the author how much can we, humans, delegate to machines. In other words… the familiar “what it means to be human”.
• The book’s vision (in final chapters) is quite utopian. Yet, again, worth exploring.

Image Source: GOODREADS

A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control

by Kartik Hosanagar

From the publisher’s description:

“A Wharton professor and tech entrepreneur examines how algorithms and artificial intelligence are starting to run every aspect of our lives, and how we can shape the way they impact us

Book’s highlights: 

• A great introduction to algorithms. Plus, a convincing argument for the “algorithmic bill of rights”.
• Relevant to current political debates and many practical dilemmas we’re facing.
• Measured in its stance, firmly between overly optimistic and frightening doom and gloom.
• Filled with real-life examples, atop political and scientific arguments. All served lightly – in a very pleasant and absorbing read.

Image Source: GOODREADS

Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind

by Susan Schneider

Published in 2019 by Princeton University Press | Hardback, 192 pages | RRP £22

From the book cover (and the author’s website):

“Humans may not be Earth’s most intelligent beings for much longer: the world champions of chess, Go, and Jeopardy! are now all AIs. Given the rapid pace of progress in AI, many predict that it could advance to human-level intelligence within the next several decades. From there, it could quickly outpace human intelligence. What do these developments mean for the future of the mind?

In Artificial You, Susan Schneider says that it is inevitable that AI will take intelligence in new directions, but urges that it is up to us to carve out a sensible path forward. As AI technology turns inward, reshaping the brain, as well as outward, potentially creating machine minds, it is crucial to beware. Homo sapiens, as mind designers, will be playing with “tools” they do not understand how to use: the self, the mind, and consciousness. Schneider argues that an insufficient grasp of the nature of these entities could undermine the use of AI and brain enhancement technology, bringing about the demise or suffering of conscious beings. To flourish, we must grasp the philosophical issues lying beneath the algorithms.

At the heart of her exploration is a sober-minded discussion of what AI can truly achieve: Can robots really be conscious? Can we merge with AI, as tech leaders like Elon Musk and Ray Kurzweil suggest? Is the mind just a program? Examining these thorny issues, Schneider proposes ways we can test for machine consciousness, questions whether consciousness is an unavoidable byproduct of sophisticated intelligence, and considers the overall dangers of creating machine minds.”

Book’s highlights: 

• A philosophical book. Or rather, on philosophical issues, which are at the core of AI. And being human. All the intertwined concepts in the debate ongoing for centuries.
• Science gets into the conversation with philosophy, given that the author, besides being a philosopher, is a self-confessed technotopian. This fascination is shared with us, readers.
• Overwhelmingly, on consciousness. Can consciousness be artificial? Can AI be conscious? What does it mean to be conscious? What does it mean to be human?
• Also touching on related topics, like personality (and personal identity), cognitive enhancements and the brain uploading (and deletion!).
• A primer on mind-body issues.

Image Source: GOODREADS

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

by Max Tegmark

Published in 2018 by Penguin | Paperback, 384 pages | RRP £9.99

As presented by the publisher:

“In this authoritative and eye-opening book, Max Tegmark describes and illuminates the recent, path-breaking advances in Artificial Intelligence and how it is poised to overtake human intelligence. How will AI affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology—and there’s nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who’s helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

Book’s highlights: 

• On a more entertaining side. Especially for those familiar with other works of the author (previous books or the blog). Chatty (for example interwoven with little science-fiction stories), sometimes to the point of name-dropping. Funny in many parts. All this makes it an easy read.
• Perhaps a bit dreamy of a vision for our future. Yet perfectly plausible, if the required action is taken. The main point is that it’s not enough to say AI is potentially lethal. We must take action to make it less of a danger and more of a beneficial-for-all tool.
• Enlightening parts on consciousness and ethics await for the readers in later chapters.
• This book references and builds on many previous works on AI. So, it can serve as a good intro or a refresher to what else is worth reading (or watching). It also dispels common myths and clarifies basic terms and concepts in the AI discourse.
• If you were wondering: Life 1.0 refers to the life where both hardware and software are evolved (as opposed to designed). Life 2.0: life with the evolved hardware, but a designed software. Life 3.0: you guessed it, both software and hardware are designed. More in the book.

Image Source: GOODREADS

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

by Nick Bostrom

Published in 2016 by Oxford OUP | Paperback, 432 pages | RRP £9.99

Quoting the publisher’s description:

“The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. Other animals have stronger muscles or sharper claws, but we have cleverer brains.

If machine brains one day come to surpass human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become very powerful. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on us humans than on the gorillas themselves, so the fate of our species then would come to depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.

But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed AI or otherwise to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?

To get closer to an answer to this question, we must make our way through a fascinating landscape of topics and considerations. Read the book and learn about oracles, genies, singletons; about boxing methods, tripwires, and mind crime; about humanity’s cosmic endowment and differential technological development; indirect normativity, instrumental convergence, whole brain emulation and technology couplings; Malthusian economics and dystopian evolution; artificial intelligence, and biological cognitive enhancement, and collective intelligence.

This profoundly ambitious and original book picks its way carefully through a vast tract of forbiddingly difficult intellectual terrain. Yet the writing is so lucid that it somehow makes it all seem easy. After an utterly engrossing journey that takes us to the frontiers of thinking about the human condition and the future of intelligent life, we find in Nick Bostrom’s work nothing less than a reconceptualization of the essential task of our time.”

Book’s highlights: 

• This is not an easy read. Yet, it is ultimately worth the efforts. Also, the picture emerging upon reading the book makes the reader frightened (quote: humans playing with AI are like little kids fiddling with a bomb). Or, motivated to act let’s hope!).
• More on the academic side of popular science. Perhaps even addressed to some senior staff and decision-makers, like those setting policies at national and international level.
• One of the first – and so, already a classic – in the recent wave of “AI as the greatest, and highly likely, last human invention” books. Groundbreaking. A predecessor, in many ways.
• Mixing philosophy with computer science and analytics, the author lays clear arguments for taking the charge over this new era, when we effectively introduce a second intelligence species on to the planet. In doing so, Bostrom also touches on engineering, natural sciences, medicine and social sciences. A very comprehensive approach to AI.
• A final straw in debunking the “null hypothesis”, we’re urged to re-assess and take charge over controlling the risks and dangers associated with superintelligence.

Image Source: GOODREADS

Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow

by Yuval Noah Harari

Published in 2017 by Vintage | Paperback, 528 pages | RRP £10.99

Most likely, this book needs no introduction. Yet, for the sake of completeness, as described at the source:

“Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow examines what might happen to the world when old myths are coupled with new godlike technologies, such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering.

Humans conquered the world thanks to their unique ability to believe in collective myths about gods, money, equality and freedom – as described in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. In Homo Deus, Prof. Harari looks to the future and explores how global power might shift, as the principal force of evolution – natural selection – is replaced by intelligent design.

What will happen to democracy when Google and Facebook come to know our likes and our political preferences better than we know them ourselves? What will happen to the welfare state when computers push humans out of the job market and create a massive new “useless class”? How might Islam handle genetic engineering? Will Silicon Valley end up producing new religions, rather than just novel gadgets?

As Homo sapiens becomes Homo deus, what new destinies will we set for ourselves? As the self-made gods of planet earth, which projects should we undertake, and how will we protect this fragile planet and humankind itself from our own destructive powers? The book Homo Deus gives us a glimpse of the dreams and nightmares that will shape the 21st century.”

Book’s highlights: 

• A masterpiece, not only for the devoted legions of Sapiens‘ fans. Upon examining and understanding our past, this book moves on to the future. It seems incomprehensible and scary, yet also stimulating. It’s a call to action, for we, humans, can still change our destiny.
• Alternative scenarios offer provocative arguments and eye-opening challenges. They serve as fertile ground for discussion on the Big Topics, such as freedom, purpose, meaning and our planet.
• In weaving the vision of our future, readers are served an intellectual feast. Paradoxically (to the arguments proposed on its pages), we are left in doubt, wondering, how could an intellect and virtuoso of the like of Harari, be ever replaced (daren’t I say outgrew) by a machine?

***

Let me know what do you think of this list in comments.

Anything missing or missed?

What were your impressions having read (some of) these?

Which book is your absolute top choice?

Thank you for reading ?

Looking forward to your comments and questions.

DISCLAIMER:

• All books from this list have been purchased independently.
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Karolina Jackowicz

Karolina Jackowicz is a (re)inventor. With analytical mind – lawyer by education. As curious and empathetic spirit – mediator by profession. At heart, driven by creative urge with a get-go attitude – a habitual process improver turned manager, serving as legal tech start-up’s CEO. When not on the road: swimming, reading or walking basenji Amiś.